It seems the San Francisco mayoral frontrunners have some unconventional supporters.
According to The Examiner, tech titan Steve Parker signed a six-figure check to San Franciscans For Jobs and Good Government, the group supporting Mayor Ed Lee in his bid for a full term.
Parker (the bad-boy tech prodigy who was arrested for hacking at 16, founded Napster at 19 and presided over Facebook until his release after a sticky cocaine incident, only to turn around and brilliantly invest in bringing Spotify to the US) is known for his smart investments and is not alone in his support for Lee. After Lee helped keep companies like Twitter in San Francisco (offering generous tax breaks in the process), other tech stars like Marissa Mayer, Ron Conway and Marc Benioff hopped on the bandwagon.
As if a six-figure Ed Lee endorsement from Parker wasn't enough, AllHipHop.com reported that Senator Leland Yee came forward with an endorsement announcement of his own: support from famed Bay Area rapper Too Short.
The rapper, famous for 90s rap songs like "Getting' It" and more recent hits like "On My Level" with Wiz Khalifa, will appear at a Yee fundraiser next week at Rasselas Jazz Club to help push votes for the mayoral candidate. Too Short will meet with supporters before performing, and hopes to help invigorate young voters to participate in the upcoming elections.
While some local voices have expressed outrage over Yee's association with Too Short, who often raps about drugs, prostitution and domestic violence, both Yee and Too Short have defended the partnership.
"Too Short is a character," said the rapper (nee Todd Shaw) to the L.A. Times. "I don't live his kind of pimp life, and I personally don't believe what he believes…Everybody knows rappers don't do all they say they do."
Point taken. No one ever cites Mrs. Smith's penchant for assassination attempts when Angelina Jolie hosts a fundraiser.
Yee's staff also came to the rapper's defense. "Does Leland agree with everything Too Short has ever said or sung about? No, of course not," said Laura Hahn, a member of Yee's campaign staff in an interview with SFGate. "Too Short wanted to use his celebrity to help elect Leland Yee and to get young people involved in the political process. We think it's a good thing."
If it gets more people to the polls, we think it's a good thing, too.