#Super #Pacs aplenty❗️
Outcry over taxes is just one of the ways the tech sector is ramping up its influence campaign.
Several Super Pacs have popped up over the past few months and tech is injecting these committees with tens of millions.
McCuan said this strategy is helpful for the ultra-wealthy because it allows them to
stay behind the scenes,
while donating limitless money.
“You could create some amorphous sounding organization like
‘Californians for All That is Good and Right Under the Sun’,” McCuan said.
“And who knows what the hell that is, but that entity becomes the vehicle to which others give money … and it becomes very difficult to unpeel and unfurl what is going on.”
#Meta launched two new Super Pacs last fall, which are focused on dialing back AI regulation and supporting AI-friendly candidates.
The company contributed
$45m to one, the "American Technology Excellence Project", which will operate in several states but hasn’t yet established a committee in California.
The other, "Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across" (Meta) California, is state-specific and has received one
$20m contribution from Meta.
The social media giant has also matched #Google in infusing a separate Super Pac called "California Leads" with a total of $10m.
Ron #Conway, a longtime Democratic tech donor, has also donated $100,000 to this committee,
which says it aims to support favorable candidates in the state but will not just focus on issues affecting the tech industry, according to Politico.
The #crypto industry is getting into Super Pacs too, debuting a group called "Grow California".
The committee opened with $10m from crypto executive Chris #Larsen and evangelist Tim #Draper.
Larsen told the New York Times he plans to give $30m more.
The focus of Grow California is to “rebuild a state capital” and shape the state’s legislature.
“We have a group of people who are not acting in a pragmatic way.
They’re not looking for balance. They’re completely #fucking owned by one side,”
Larsen, who’s the chair of crypto company #Ripple, told Politico.
“So we’re going to work on taking out those people who are not working for the people of California.”
While the tech industry is now pushing its influence at the state level,
San Francisco has already experienced many of these same tactics at the city level.
Backed with Silicon Valley money, several different
501(c)(4) groups formed over the past couple election cycles
to throw support behind preferred mayoral and board of supervisor candidates.
They also bankrolled successful recall campaigns for a progressive district attorney and members of the school board.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/15/california-billionaires-state-elections
