SEC. 1.116. LIMITS ON LOANS TO CANDIDATES.
§ 1.116
Candidates for local office may loan their own money to their campaigns up to specified limits ($15,000 for supervisors and school/community college boards, $120,000 for mayor, $35,000 for assessor, public defender, city attorney, treasurer, district attorney, or sheriff), cannot charge interest on such loans, and any excess loan amounts are treated as non-repayable contributions. The Ethics Commission may adjust these limits to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Candidates can lend their own money to their campaigns, but only up to a certain amount depending on what office they're running for. Board supervisors and school board candidates can lend up to $15,000; mayoral candidates can lend up to $120,000; and candidates for assessor, public defender, city attorney, treasurer, district attorney, or sheriff can lend up to $35,000. They cannot charge themselves interest on the loan. If a candidate lends more than the allowed amount, the extra money counts as a campaign contribution and cannot be paid back to them.
- Controversial:Campaign finance rules, including limits on self-funding, are subjects of ongoing public debate about candidate fairness, access to office, and the role of personal wealth in elections.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) A candidate's loan of personal funds to the candidate's campaign may not exceed at any time more than:
(1) $15,000.00 for a candidate for the Board of Supervisors, Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District or the Governing Board of the San Francisco Community College District,
(2) $120,000.00 for a candidate for Mayor, or
(3) $35,000.00 for a candidate for Assessor or Public Defender, City Attorney, Treasurer, District Attorney or Sheriff.
(b) A candidate may not charge interest on any loan the candidate has made to the candidate's campaign.
(c) In addition to any other penalty, loans made by a candidate to the candidate's campaign in excess of the amounts in Subsection (a) shall be deemed a contribution to the campaign and may not be repaid to the candidate.
(d) Whenever the Ethics Commission adjusts the voluntary expenditure ceilings to reflect changes in the California Consumer Price Index, as authorized under Section 1.130, the Commission is authorized to adjust the loan amounts in this Section to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.
(Added by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; amended by Ord. 141-03, File No. 030034, App. 6/27/2003; Ord. 228-06, File No. 060501, App. 9/14/2006)
(Former Sec. 1.116 added by Ord. 365-94, App. 10/28/94; renumbered by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; repealed by Proposition O, 11/7/2000)