Days after GrowSF’s Garry Tan announced his intention to step away from local politics, TogetherSF delivered similarly shocking news. The group, founded by billionaire Michael Moritz, said it would “merge” with Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, leaving TogetherSF’s chief executive Kanishka Cheng without a job.

TogetherSF and Neighbors for a Better San Francisco are the two wealthiest groups in the Astroturf Network, each backed by at least one billionaire. Moritz’s decision to pull away from local politics appears to have been triggered by a poor showing in the November  election and a recent ethics charge. In October, San Francisco activist Emily Mills filed a complaint with the California Attorney General contending that TogetherSF had practiced “electioneering” in violation of its non-profit status. In response, TogetherSF was called upon to create a political action committee if it wished to engage in future political activity.

The “merger” comes after TogetherSF and Neighbors spent more than $10 million in the November election with little to show for their efforts. Both groups pushed Proposition D, a ballot measure that proposed reforming the city’s charter giving ever more authority to San Francisco’s already powerful mayor. TogetherSF spent at least $7.8 million on failed Prop D with roughly $3 million coming from Moritz alone. Their candidate for the city’s top office, former District 2 Supervisor Mark Farrell, finished a distant fourth and only two of their six candidates for Board of Supervisors won. 

Moritz and William Oberndorf, the billionaire behind Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, tried to put a brave face on the so-called merger. In a prepared statement, Moritz said “streamlining efforts, whether at City Hall or between political organizations, will help promote a better San Francisco for everyone.” Oberndorf added, “the power of collaboration” would make the combined entity “better equipped to make a lasting impact on the future of San Francisco” 

Coming as it does after a disastrous election, Moritz’s move has the unmistakable look of a venture capitalist dumping a failed investment. Chris Larsen, another billionaire active in San Francisco politics, called the November 2024 election a serious setback. “We as a business community, we as a pragmatic community, we screwed up,” Larsen told Mission Local. He lamented that it will take years before charter reform reappears on a San Francisco ballot.

It’s uncertain what — if any role — Moritz will play at Neighbors for a Better San Francisco. What is also unclear is the future of TogetherSF’s four-year plan to remake the city, according to an internal document obtained by the Phoenix Project. In it, TogetherSF signaled its intentions to run ballot measures in future aimed at reforming the city’s nonprofit contracting process and returning the city to at-large supervisorial elections. 

To that end, TogetherSF said it would grow “an engaged (and enraged) community…[to] sustain [a] movement of community dissatisfaction” by shining “light on SF’s failures.” A clear example of that strategy was “That’s Fentalife!,” a $300,000 advertising campaign mocking the city’s overdose crisis. Posters around the Tenderloin were put up stating, “Don’t forget to add Narcan to the family Christmas list!” casting ridicule on the use of overdose reversal medication in a neighborhood stricken with overdoses.  

Although Moritz proudly calls himself a Democrat and Oberndorf is a Republican mega-donor, they share much in common. Both are fans of privatizing public schools who supported the ouster of three members of the San Francisco School Board. Both have aggressively campaigned against higher taxes on businesses and wealthy individuals. They’ve  called for streamlining the process for developing market-rate housing.

Today, the  players in the Astroturf Network are licking their wounds. They find themselves on the outs with a mayor they actively opposed. Sources close to newly elected Mayor Daniel Lurie said he will not work with Jay Cheng, the subject of alleged campaign violations including one that resulted in a $54,000 ethics fine. “We don’t owe them a goddamn thing,” said a Lurie administration insider.

Even, so it’s too early to count the Astroturf Network out. The prospect of further enriching themselves is far too tantalizing to keep them from meddling in San Francisco politics.