Clint Reilly, San Francisco power broker and Examiner owner, dies at 79

Clint Reilly, a combative political strategist who helped shape major California campaigns before building a San Francisco real estate and media empire that included the newspaper he once fought in court, has died. He was 79.

The San Francisco Examiner, which Reilly purchased in 2020, announced Sunday that its president and owner had died over the weekend. The company did not disclose the precise date, place or cause of his death.

Reilly was one of the most prominent and polarizing figures in California political consulting during the final decades of the 20th century. He advised candidates including Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, then ran unsuccessfully for San Francisco mayor himself in 1999.

He later became a major downtown landlord, hospitality operator, philanthropist and publisher. His holdings included the historic Merchants Exchange Building, the Julia Morgan Ballroom, the Nob Hill Gazette and the Examiner.

"Clint was a legendary San Franciscan, a pioneering businessman and unparalleled civic steward who cared deeply about The City, its people and its institutions," the Examiner said in announcing his death.

Mayor Daniel Lurie also praised Reilly's civic and philanthropic work.

"San Francisco has lost a civic leader who left a lasting mark on our city," Lurie said. "Alongside a successful career in business and politics, Clint Reilly remained deeply committed to his community-helping promote local journalism and founding Bay Scholars to expand educational opportunities for students from low-income families. My thoughts are with his wife, Janet, his daughters, and all who knew and loved him."

Reilly's acquisition of the Examiner completed an extraordinary circle in a relationship that had been defined for decades by litigation, personal conflict and an argument over the future of newspaper competition in San Francisco.

In 1993, Reilly accused then-Examiner Executive Editor Phil Bronstein of attacking him during a meeting at the newspaper's offices. Reilly left with a broken ankle and sued Bronstein, publisher William Randolph Hearst III and Hearst Corp. The case was settled out of court.

Seven years later, Reilly sued in federal court to stop Hearst from buying the San Francisco Chronicle and ending the longtime business arrangement between the city's two major daily newspapers.

Reilly argued that the transaction would hurt readers and advertisers by diminishing competition and eliminating an independent editorial voice. A federal judge ultimately allowed the deal to proceed, and Hearst acquired the Chronicle while selling the Examiner to the Fang family.

In December 2020, Reilly bought the Examiner and SF Weekly from their Canadian owner for an undisclosed price.

"I feel newspapers are incredibly important to the life and well-being of a community," Reilly told the Chronicle at the time. "If we can help the Examiner have a greater impact, we will be helping the city, the Peninsula and the Bay Area come back from the deleterious impact of this awful pandemic."

The Examiner, founded in the 19th century and once the flagship of William Randolph Hearst's newspaper empire, had passed through several owners and business models before Reilly's purchase.

Under Reilly's ownership, it returned to a broadsheet format while expanding its digital and newsletter operations.

Reilly was born Jan. 13, 1947, in Oakland, the eldest of 10 children in a working-class East Bay family. His father was a milkman.

He spent nine years preparing for the priesthood and earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from St. Patrick's Seminary before leaving several years short of ordination.

As a seminarian, Reilly took part in social justice research and activism. He later said he entered politics because it appeared to offer a way to improve people's lives on a broad scale.

After leaving the seminary, he briefly worked for Planned Parenthood and began organizing political campaigns. He supported himself for a time by operating a waterfront store that sold salvaged and secondhand goods.

His political breakthrough came in 1979, when he managed Quentin Kopp's campaign for San Francisco mayor. Kopp forced incumbent Dianne Feinstein into a runoff before losing.

Reilly went on to build a full-service political consulting firm that combined polling, voter data, advertising and precisely targeted campaign mail. He became known for reducing races to a small number of forceful themes and delivering them through polished, sometimes-harsh advertising.

He worked on campaigns for Boxer, Pelosi, Feinstein, Riordan, former San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan and California gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Brown, among others. His style brought him high fees, national recognition and frequent controversy.

Pelosi, who said Reilly managed her first campaign for Congress in 1987, remembered him Monday as a close friend and gifted political strategist whose influence extended well beyond campaigns.

"Clint loved our city and dedicated his remarkable talents, boundless energy and extraordinary generosity to making San Francisco a stronger, more vibrant and more compassionate place," Pelosi said in a statement. "He was brilliant, irreverent, fiercely loyal and impossible to forget."

Pelosi credited Reilly with helping develop and promote the slogan for her first congressional campaign: "A Voice That Will Be Heard."

"The guy's a genius," Riordan told the Los Angeles Times in a 1994 profile. "He's weird. But he's a genius."

He ended his professional consulting career in 1995 and increasingly turned his attention to commercial real estate.

That year, he acquired the Merchants Exchange Building, a landmark Financial District property. His companies later assembled a portfolio of downtown office buildings, event spaces and hospitality businesses.

Politics remained an abiding interest. In 1999, Reilly spent millions of dollars running for mayor on a platform that focused heavily on Muni and what he portrayed as failures under then-Mayor Willie Brown.

Reilly finished fourth in the first round, receiving about 12.5% of the vote. Brown went on to defeat Supervisor Tom Ammiano in a runoff.

Reilly entered publishing in 2016 with his purchase of the Nob Hill Gazette. His media portfolio later expanded to include Gentry Magazine, the Examiner and SF Weekly, whose print publication was suspended in 2021.

His philanthropic work included founding Bay Scholars in 2008. The nonprofit provides scholarships to students from lower-income families to attend private college-preparatory high schools in the Bay Area.

The Examiner said Reilly's companies would continue their commitments to employees, business partners and the community.

Reilly is survived by his wife, Janet, and daughters, Jill and Ava. Information about memorial services was not immediately released.

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