San Francisco’s biggest recall bankrollers love Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema

Two wealthy Bay Area executives who’ve helped bankroll special recall elections of California politicians are now throwing their financial support behind U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., according to FEC filings reviewed by SFGATE.

The two executives, David Sacks and William Oberndorf, have already come under fire for their prodigious spending in statewide and San Francisco city elections that have sought to unseat prominent left-wing and liberal politicians from their posts. Together, the duo spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an ultimately successful effort to remove San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, plus three members of the San Francisco Board of Education, during separate recall elections. Sacks and his wife Jacqueline also donated more than $100,000 to groups seeking to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom from office during last year’s recall, while Oberndorf gave more than $30,000 to a Republican who hoped to replace Newsom. (Those efforts failed.)

In giving to Sinema, Sacks and Oberndorf are once again sticking a thorn in the side of progressives. Sinema has drawn the ire of her own party for — among other things — refusing to change filibuster rules to pass legislation on voting rights and abortion protections. She and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin have utilized Democrats’ narrow majority in the senate (51-50 with the vice presidential tiebreaker) to their advantage. Without enough senators to break the 60-vote threshold required by the filibuster, Democratic party leaders have often found themselves beholden to the wishes of the two “moderate” Democratic senators. 

Together, Sinema and Manchin have squashed votes on bills that would have protected voting rights and access to abortion. They were also responsible for derailing the $3.5 trillion spending package that Democrats hoped to pass last year. That spending plan would have paid for a number of Democratic wish-list items, including universal pre-kindergarten, subsidized child care, paid family and medical leave, free community college and expanded tax credits.

An SFGATE review of election finance records shows that Sacks — an investor who co-founded the San Francisco-based venture capital fund Craft Ventures — donated $5,800 to Sinema’s 2024 re-election campaign during the second quarter of 2022, which stretched from April 1 to June 30. That $5,800 figure is the maximum amount allowed for an individual contributor split between the primary and general elections.

Oberndorf — the billionaire founder of the San Francisco-based investment firm, Oberndorf Enterprises LLC — gave $10,800 to the “Sinema Leadership Fund,” a political action committee (PAC) that supports Sinema. The PAC redirected $5,800 from Oberndorf’s donation to Sinema’s 2024 re-election campaign. 

Sinema’s political fate in Arizona is years away from being decided, but is already on shaky grounds, which may explain why Sacks and Oberndorf have already sent along significant sums to her re-election efforts. Democratic Party financiers have signaled that they’ll run a Democratic opponent to Sinema in the 2024 senate primaries, and her Arizona counterpart — Sen. Mark Kelly — enjoys wide support in the state despite identifying more to the left than Sinema. 

Apart from Sinema, Sacks and Oberndorf also both recently gave to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who, while known for sometimes critiquing his own party, is a supporter of former President Donald Trump.

Most notably, in April, Sacks also gave a whopping $1 million to a super PAC that supports J.D. Vance, the Republican candidate for senate in Ohio. Vance — who was endorsed by Trump — has promoted the racist “great replacement theory” and falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Additionally, in late April, Sacks cut a check to the Republican National Committee for $100,000. And Oberndorf, as reported by SFGATE on Monday, recently donated $5,000 to Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate.