A number of Bay Area Jewish and Israeli tech and business professionals have joined a new “radically centrist” political group called Garry’s List, drawn in part to its rhetoric about school reform.
Garry Tan, CEO of S.F.-based venture capital firm Y Combinator, started the tax-exempt organization, which seeks to influence California politics while remaining nonpartisan. Last week in Mountain View, Tan hosted about 300 people for a launch event that included elected officials and political candidates, as well as several dozen Israeli and American Jews.
“I felt l saw history unfolding,” an Israeli American who works in banking told J. “It was Republicans. It was Democrats. We were all speaking the same language.”
No stranger to politics, Tan helped fund the successful recall effort in 2022 against then-S.F. District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a progressive prosecutor who drew the ire of conservative and moderate factions in San Francisco. Tan is now mobilizing his influence and money behind this new 501(c)(4) group, which he said has already raised more than $1 million primarily from himself and his friends.
The guest list at the March 4 event included tech professionals from across the state, offering them a chance to schmooze with politicians and candidates seeking office. They included S.F. DA Brooke Jenkins, who replaced Boudin; San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who is a gubernatorial candidate; Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen; Gus Mattammal, one of eight people running to become the next state superintendent of public instruction; and Ethan Agarwal, who has joined three others seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Santa Clara).
California’s primary election is on June 2.
“This is the most consequential room in California politics right now,” Tan told attendees.
Jenkins, in a brief speech, said there has long been a misconception in San Francisco politics that pursuing votes and donations from Silicon Valley is a waste of time.
“You are a whole population of people that are being ignored politically, and that cannot continue,” Jenkins, who isn’t up for election until 2028, said to loud applause.
Garryslist.org rolled out in February. It posts articles drafted by Tan and polished with AI about issues ranging from San Francisco’s drug problem to taxes on CEOs to “math illiteracy” in California schools. It also includes a chatbot that responds to questions about politics. Voter guides and in-person events are in the works, according to Tan. He also sends a weekly email with local news and analysis.
J. spoke with eight Jewish attendees, all but one of whom requested that their names not be used. A consistent theme that emerged was about California’s politics shifting too far to the left — with progressive politics pushing anti-Israel bias in public schools and in political discourse more broadly, attendees agreed.
An Israeli American mother who works in tech said that what attracted her to Garry’s List was the sense the Jewish community is not alone in feeling that public school education has become too radicalized. She said she spoke with event attendees from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds who feel the same way.
“This is not liberalism anymore. This is not Martin Luther King. This is Malcolm X. It’s not equality, anymore. It’s equity,” said the parent, who describes herself as a lifelong liberal. “I think that antisemitism and anti-Zionism are just a symptom of something much, much deeper.”
Another attendee, Diana Blum, a neurologist in Palo Alto and critic of the political activism of California’s teachers unions, said she no longer feels the Democratic Party automatically has her vote.
“We’re done with this one-party system and the bullshit and the rhetoric,” Blum said.
An Israeli American father of three in Mountain View said he registered to attend the Garry’s List launch after seeing Tan promoting it on X. He told J. that he felt energized and validated by a centrist political agenda and a rejection of the status quo.
“We want a sane space in politics where nothing is extreme and nobody wants crazy things. It feels like we don’t have that, especially with California being a one-party state,” he said. “Like many people, we all believe in the same core things. Let’s just keep it reasonable and not turn on each other.”
While Garry’s List advocates for centrism, Tan said he is willing to endorse progressives.
“I just felt so optimistic,” Blum said about the gathering. “I think the people in that room are putting politics aside for principles.”