FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 7, 2025

Third Generation San Franciscan, Nonprofit Executive, and Former City Commissioner Begins Campaign with Endorsements from Treasurer Fiona Ma, Senator Scott Wiener, and Leaders from Every D10 Neighborhood

(San Francisco, CA) – Today, Theo Ellington, a third-generation San Franciscan, Bayview native, nonprofit executive, and former city commissioner, announced he is running for the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco’s District 10 in the November 2026 election. 

Ellington launched his campaign with early endorsements from State Treasurer and former Supervisor Fiona Ma, State Senator and former Supervisor Scott Wiener, former Mayor London Breed, Supervisors Stephen Sherill, Danny Sauter, and Matt Dorsey, and leaders from every neighborhood in District 10. 

“These are the neighborhoods that made me,” said Theo Ellington. “As I raise the fourth generation of San Franciscans right here, I want to make sure my kids have more opportunities than I did. Our neighborhoods must receive the same focus, urgency, and investment as the rest of San Francisco. We must be a place where families can afford to live, feel safe, and thrive for generations to come.”

Ellington was raised in Bayview by a single mom who worked as a Candlestick Park concessionaire at Giants and 49ers games. He attended local public schools and was the first in his family to graduate college. Growing up, he saw the violence on local streets and was determined to try to change things. 

“The challenges we face today aren’t theoretical. I’ve lived them,” said Ellington. 

Ellington would go on to hold the powerful accountable as a young documentary filmmaker and build a coalition to prevent discriminatory Stop and Frisk policing from coming to San Francisco. He led one of the largest environmental justice cases in U.S. history, when he organized local families in a class action lawsuit against Tetra Tech, a multi-billion-dollar corporation that covered up the existence of toxic soil and falsified records about land in Hunters Point Shipyard.

As a City Commissioner appointed by Mayor Ed Lee, Theo helped lead the creation of more than a thousand affordable homes. He led the Salvation Army SF’s efforts to double the organization’s homeless services citywide, and oversaw its COVID response. As the first Public Affairs Director for the Golden State Warriors, he helped bring the team home to San Francisco, and helped create more than 3,000 good-paying jobs alongside millions of dollars in workforce development, small business investment, public transit improvements, and educational programs.

Today, Ellington is helping lead an arts and cultural renaissance as Executive Director of the Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House–the city’s most historic theater and an iconic cultural institution known for launching the next generation of local artists of color. He’s also a Policy Director at Brownstein, a legal and policy firm. 

Theo and his wife, Seray, a registered nurse, are raising their three boys less than two miles from where Theo himself grew up.

“Southeast San Francisco is at a crossroads,” says Ellington. “We have so much potential, but we’re tired of calling out for more. It’s time to do more. Together, we can build a more affordable, equitable, and safer San Francisco for all of us. The future of the City starts right here.”

District 10 includes the neighborhoods of Bayview-Hunters Point, Candlestick Point, Central Waterfront, Dogpatch, India Basin, Little Hollywood, McLaren Park, Potrero Hill, Silver Terrace, Sunnydale, Bayshore Heights, and Visitacion Valley. Incumbent Supervisor Shamann Walton terms out in November 2026. 

www.TheoEllington.com

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