Sixty people — among them some of the biggest names in San Francisco politics — are vying for seats on a committee most city residents have never heard of, whose policy votes are purely advisory, whose monthly meetings stretch on for hours and that doesn’t pay its members a dime.

This raises an obvious question.

“Why am I running, again?” quipped Jon Golinger, a North Beach attorney who is one of the 60 candidates. “Oh well — too late now.”

Joking aside, Golinger is the driving force behind the effort to reclaim the progressive majority on the under-the-radar Democratic County Central Committee — the “D-triple-C,” in local political parlance.

The battle between Golinger’s progressive “Reform Slate” and the moderate side’s “Progress Slate” is already making the June 7 contest the costliest DCCC race in city history. Campaign finance reports show that the 60 candidates have raised a total of at least $868,000 so far, and the figure is expected to top $1 million by election day.

But why the expensive electoral combat? One reason: The San Francisco Democratic Party’s political endorsements are valuable. They may help shape the outcome of the November election, when the odd-numbered supervisorial districts and a number of interesting ballot measures will be before voters.

Twenty-four open seats on the DCCC are up for grabs. Another seven are automatically given to state and federal Democratic officeholders. Whoever wins in June will be seated in July, and the following month they will vote on their endorsements.

“Certainly in the short term, the November elections are on everybody’s mind,” Golinger said.

Shifting factions

The committee has bounced between progressive and moderate control for years. Since 2012, it has been chaired by Mary Jung, a longtime Democratic Party activist and political moderate whose day job is director of government and community relations for the San Francisco Association of Realtors.

The progressives say that under Jung, the DCCC has become too beholden to real estate interests. They point, for example, to the committee’s endorsement of a “no” vote on the June 2014 ballot measure to require voter approval for waterfront construction projects that exceed the zoned height limits. The measure won handily, with about 60 percent of the vote.

The Reform Slate is composed of 22 progressives, including Supervisors Norman Yee, Eric Mar, Jane Kim, David Campos and Aaron Peskin. It also features other big names, including John Burton, chairman of the California Democratic Party, and former Supervisors Tom Ammiano, Bevan Dufty and Sophie Maxwell.

Its insignia includes a Democratic donkey kicking its hind legs in the air in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

“He’s the Reform Donkey,” Golinger said. “He’s kicking the real estate lobby’s behind. He’s fired up and furious about the state of San Francisco politics.”

The Progress Slate comprises 23 more moderate candidates. They include Jung and Supervisors Scott Wiener, Mark Farrell, London Breed and Malia Cohen. It also includes former Supervisor Tom Hsieh Sr. and his son, political consultant Tom Hsieh Jr.

Power player

That slate has hired Nathan Ballard, a political consultant who is also working for the Police Officers Association and recently represented the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee, to serve as its consultant and spokesman.

The Progress Slate definitely has the financial advantage. Two political action committees, San Francisco United for Progress and Progress for San Francisco, are raising money on behalf of the moderate candidates for the DCCC. So far, money to those committees appears to be coming mostly from developers, real estate interests and tech titans.

The moderates say Peskin is really behind the Reform Slate, though Golinger has been more visible. Peskin chaired the DCCC before Jung and has re-emerged on the city’s political scene after reclaiming his old seat on the Board of Supervisors in November.

Ballard called the notion that the DCCC is out of step with the city’s Democrats absurd.

Moderate critic

“They’re the ones who are out of step for thinking the solution to the housing crisis is to stop building housing,” Ballard said. “The committee has been run professionally under Mary’s leadership and has done its job.”

Another wrinkle in the DCCC race is current member Alix Rosenthal’s proposal to give all the current supervisors and the mayor automatic seats on the committee to free up the 24 elected seats for those without as much name recognition or campaign financing.

The progressives fought the proposal on the basis that it was an attempt to change the rules close to an election, and Rosenthal withdrew it.

She said that if she wins — a big if, with so many supervisors and other big names in the running — she will bring the proposal back. She also wants to place a limit on the amount any one person can give to a candidate for DCCC. There is no limit now, compared with the $500 limit for city races, including mayor and supervisor.

Heather Knight is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf