Tech Firms Log On to San Francisco's Mayoral Race

In San Francisco, 16 candidates for mayor will battle in one of the most competitive contests in years. And to influence the race's outcome, Silicon Valley technology players are getting involved in the election to an unprecedented degree.

In the past several weeks, founders of San Francisco-based Salesforce.com Inc., Twitter Inc., Zynga Inc. and Yelp Inc., along with several investors in those companies, have contributed thousands of dollars to try to keep interim mayor Ed Lee in office. They support Lee's policies that have shaved millions of dollars from some Web companies' tax liabilities in an effort to ensure they remain based in the city. One high-profile result of their effort is an online video that appeared last month and that has since gone viral. It features San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson and musician and Bay Area native MC Hammer singing to the latter's 1990s hit "2 Legit 2 Quit," with new lyrics that endorse Mayor Lee. The video, which also features cameos from other celebrities and Silicon Valley executives, was funded by an independent-expenditure committee made up of tech figures including start-up financier Ron Conway and entrepreneur Sean Parker of Napster and Facebook Inc. fame. Mayor Lee, a low-key bureaucrat who became interim mayor in January after predecessor Gavin Newsom was elected California's lieutenant governor, is attracting star-studded tech support because of two tax moves this year aimed at keeping tech companies in San Francisco. In April, Mayor Lee backed a payroll-tax break that benefited social-media firm Twitter. And in May, he helped pass a stock-option-tax break that helped game-maker Zynga.