‘What the f*** did I burn all that money for?’ Democratic donors fume and scheme in San Fran

If Kamala Harris does run for Governor, she will have a hard time getting donors.  She has no record as Vice President, she is incoherent when talking, has been unable to discuss public policy.  Then she became the Democrat nominee for President with getting a single vote in the primaries.  To make matters worse, she took $2 billion in donations and lied to the donors and the public.

“Many donors are still smarting from their party’s defeat to President Donald Trump, and some have yet to entertain the thought of reopening their checkbooks. Six political strategists and donor advisors in the Bay Area told The Standard that their wealthy clients are holding off on giving. One adviser told a client in Congress not to even bother coming to California — “I’d be shocked if he raised $5,000,” the source said — while another said two billionaire clients felt they’d been “lied to” by the Democratic Party.

“This was such a gut punch of an election for so many Democratic donors — not to mention an expensive gut punch,” the latter source said. “A number of the people I’ve talked to were just like, ‘What the fuck did I burn all that money for?’”

American Bridge’s efforts are partly aimed at taking the mantle as the preeminent Democratic Super PAC, a spot most recently occupied by Future Forward. Many of the Bay Area’s most notable donors — including Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, to name a few — helped the data-driven Future Forward amass a record-breaking $900 million in the 2024 election cycle. But the group quickly developed a contentious relationship with Kamala Harris’ campaign after Joe Biden stepped down from the ticket, according to half a dozen sources familiar with Future Forward’s operations.”

Doubt if there is money for Harris to run for Governor.  Would a major donor trust her?  Few real people believe in her any more.

‘What the f*** did I burn all that money for?’ Democratic donors fume and scheme in San Francisco

As the party’s money machine cranks up for another fight, donors who bankrolled Kamala Harris still feel like they were “lied to” and “burned.”

By Emily Shugerman and Josh Koehn, SF Standard,  3/15/25     https://sfstandard.com/2025/03/15/democrat-donors-bay-area-american-bridge-donald-trump-kamala-harris/

In between exclusive dinners at the high-end bistro Prospect and the lush Terrace Courtyard at the Ritz-Carlton, more than 100 Democratic Party donors flooded into San Francisco’s downtown Four Seasons this week to hear why things went so horribly wrong in 2024.

American Bridge, a Democratic Super PAC that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent elections, hosted the three-day Democracy Matters conference in San Francisco as part of its national tour to get a jump on the 2026 midterms. The group, which has held listening sessions with Latino and white men who were Democrats before turning MAGA, plans to continue its series of speaker panels and intimate dinners with top-dollar donors in Boston, Chicago, and New York.

“I think people appreciate that we got our ass kicked,” said Bradley Beychok, co-founder of American Bridge. “We’re on the floor. We’re dusting off. We’re coming with a plan that is fresh.”

Many donors are still smarting from their party’s defeat to President Donald Trump, and some have yet to entertain the thought of reopening their checkbooks. Six political strategists and donor advisors in the Bay Area told The Standard that their wealthy clients are holding off on giving. One adviser told a client in Congress not to even bother coming to California — “I’d be shocked if he raised $5,000,” the source said — while another said two billionaire clients felt they’d been “lied to” by the Democratic Party.

“This was such a gut punch of an election for so many Democratic donors — not to mention an expensive gut punch,” the latter source said. “A number of the people I’ve talked to were just like, ‘What the fuck did I burn all that money for?’”

American Bridge’s efforts are partly aimed at taking the mantle as the preeminent Democratic Super PAC, a spot most recently occupied by Future Forward. Many of the Bay Area’s most notable donors — including Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, to name a few — helped the data-driven Future Forward amass a record-breaking $900 million in the 2024 election cycle. But the group quickly developed a contentious relationship with Kamala Harris’ campaign after Joe Biden stepped down from the ticket, according to half a dozen sources familiar with Future Forward’s operations.

The two sides disagreed on issues from what should be featured in ads — Future Forward was almost singularly focused on economic issues — to when and how much of its nearly $1 billion campaign stronghold should be shared with other groups or spent on influencer campaigns. Harris’ team wanted to spread the money across voter mobilization groups that targeted specific demographics, while Future Forward wanted to focus on data-driven digital ads. 

A source with Future Forward told The Standard the group distributed more than $175 million to 70 organizations during the 2024 campaign and spent millions of dollars on joint ad campaigns with groups like with Emily’s List, Unidos Action, and the Indian American Impact Fund.

When Harris lost every swing state and the election, her campaign and other Democratic operatives were quick to point the finger at Future Forward, which had an outsize role in controlling purse strings compared with the multiple big-ticket Super PACs that supported Trump.

“There are a lot of unhappy people,” said an adviser to several California campaigns. “And, honestly, I was just wondering: What happens when you run something that takes a billion dollars from people and is a colossal disaster?” 

The answer to that seems to be: recede from the spotlight. Future Forward’s role in future elections will almost certainly be scaled back, sources told The Standard. Into this void has leaped American Bridge, which launched its revival tour and arrived in San Francisco looking to resuscitate the Democratic brand. 

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who is running to succeed Gavin Newsom as California’s governor, gave a speech on messaging at the opening-night dinner at Prospect. Discussions over the three-day event included “Demographics Are Not Destiny,” “How to Stop Losing the Culture War and Campaigns,” and “Gender Warfare: What’s Going on With Men?” On the final day, guests were encouraged to take a free copy of UC Berkeley professor Arlie Russell Hochschild’s new book “Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right.”

Quentin James, founder and president of the Collective PAC, which focuses on building Black political power, said he thinks American Bridge will be “crucial” to the future of the Democratic Party because of a lack of leadership on Capitol Hill. “We need more outside institutions stepping up, because, unfortunately, the Democratic Party as an institution is failing,” he said.

Despite promises of a “fresh” vision, the conference’s speaker list seemed rooted in administrations well past their sell-by date. Panelists included Clinton-Gore strategist Paul Begala, former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, former Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, and Clinton-era strategist James Carville, who has been suggesting that Democrats lay low while the Trump administration and economy implode.

“I think we should just be dignified and determined,” Carville told The Standard. “This is very much a crisis point that we’re at as a country. So, this is not a time to speak in cadence, not a time to shout, not a time to wave your arms.”

Jamaal Bowman, a former congressman from New York who recently launched a progressive Democratic PAC called Built to Win, takes issue with this strategy of keeping a low profile, suggesting it is a privilege reserved for white men. Bowman called the lineup at the American Bridge event a “good old boys club.”

“You’re an Obama alum, great. You’re a Clinton alum, great,” Bowman said. “But if your strategy is to continue to go after the moderate, usually white/independent voter, and do better at that versus this whole treasure trove of young people and working-class people of color, you’re continuing to miss the mark.”

However, the road to redemption must start somewhere, and Democrats need money to gas up the tank. Beychok said American Bridge expects to have a “bigger footprint” in upcoming elections, and Carville added that Democrats should focus on gaining momentum through incremental election victories. 

“If we go to this group right here and come back in December, and we won the Virginia governor’s race by eight points, these will be some excited people,” Carville said. “There’s gonna be some checkbooks opening big time.”