Inside the last-minute scramble to combat a massive anti-Gloria donation

Why it matters: The committee is now in an arms race in a mayoral election that promises to inundate voters with election ads for the final month of the contest.

State of play: Stephen Cushman, the long-time philanthropist and political power broker who was named Mr. San Diego in 2013 and was leading the mayor's push for a 1,000-bed shelter at Kettner and Vine as a special consultant, is spearheading the fundraising.

• The PAC will also support District 3 Council member Stephen Whitburn's re-election.

The intrigue: Cushman told Axios he formally stepped aside from working on the mayor's re-election campaign and took a leave of absence from his consultant role in the mayor's office to jump into fundraising after he heard of the massive contribution against Gloria.

• "I am not talking to anybody that has anything to do with Kettner and Vine," he said. "Bluntly, I am spending full-time raising money for this independent expenditure. That is all I'm doing."
• Nearly two weeks ago, Cushman was chairman of the finance committee for Gloria's campaign when he started chasing down rumors of a $1 million donation to the conservative Lincoln Club from someone named "Rick." That turned out to be under-the-radar attorney Steven Richter.
• "At that point I decided, 'I'm not where I need to be,'" Cushman said.

Zoom in: Cushman jump-started the effort with a $15,000 donation of his own after renaming what had been a general purpose committee to reflect that it was now focused on re-electing Gloria and Whitburn, whose district includes the proposed Kettner and Vine shelter.

• The committee previously supported Jordan Marks' successful run for county assessor, recorder, clerk, and Janessa Goldbeck's unsuccessful run for county supervisor.

Follow the money: Major regional organizations have already made donations with political committees for the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation giving $100,000 and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce giving $85,000.

• $10,000 came from Dan Floit, an investor and developer whose company owns the Centre City Building, which is surrounded by six city-owned blocks Gloria's administration is trying to redevelop into a new civic center.
• IQHQ, the developer behind a mostly-empty project that attempted to create a life-sciences hub downtown, gave $10,000.

• Dan Feder, a real-estate investor specializing in apartment buildings, donated $8,000.
• $25,000 came from David Wick, an investor who has worked with the de la Fuente family, an Otay Mesa developer.

The other side: On Sept. 12, Richter gave a rare, $1 million donation to the conservative Lincoln Club, which then created a committee supporting Gloria's independent challenger Larry Turner.

• That committee has spent about $400,000 on behalf of Turner so far.

What they're saying: Jared Sclar, a political strategist running the committee with Cushman, wouldn't say how much they hope to raise.

• "What we can say is, when the other side put up $1 million to support Larry Turner, they should expect that there is an equal and opposite reaction to any action that they may take," Sclar said.
• "What's difficult is, everyone else has been raising money for a year, so it's a difficult time to come in and start raising money, but I'm overwhelmed by the support we've received," Cushman said.

What's next: Campaign disclosures do not yet reflect any donations from labor unions, but Cushman said they've received commitments and the checks should arrive soon.