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Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer gives Newsom $200K to defeat recall

FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2015, file photo, Yahoo President and CEO Marissa Mayer delivers the keynote address at the first-ever Yahoo Mobile Developer's Conference, in San Francisco. Mayer stands to collect a $44 million severance package if she leaves after Verizon completes its purchase of the once-mighty internet company. Mayer hasn't announced plans to leave, but industry observers say she's unlikely to stay after the $4.8 billion sale closes early next year.

Yahoo President and CEO Marissa Mayer delivers the keynote address at the first-ever Yahoo Mobile Developer's Conference, in San Francisco on Feb. 19, 2015. | AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File

By Jeremy B. White

Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has contributed $200,000 to beat back an effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, deepening the governor’s substantial Silicon Valley support.

The outlay from Mayer bolsters Newsom’s massive cash advantage over Republican rivals and further demonstrates the extensive support Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, can marshal from California’s powerful tech industry. After leaving Yahoo, Mayer co-founded Sunshine, a company using artificial intelligence to build consumer-focused apps.

The bigger picture: The technology industry has stepped up to shield Newsom. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings led the way with $3 million, and Newsom has received six-figure infusions from investor Ron Conway, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Laurene Powell Jobs, president of the Emerson Collective and widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Republicans seeking to replace Newsom have been unable to match that, although Oracle co-founder and prominent Republican donor Larry Ellison has contributed $32,400 to celebrity and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner. That’s the maximum amount donors are allowed to give to candidate accounts.

Newsom has been able to raise contributions without limits because California does not cap money given to ballot measure committees, and the recall itself is considered a ballot measure. Republicans have recently launched their own ballot-measure committees in addition to their candidate accounts, but they have not generated anywhere near the sums Newsom has.