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Politics · North America

Outside groups spend more than $100 million on California legislative races

Outside groups have spent more than $100 million on California legislative races this election cycle, surpassing their 2024 total. California Leads has spent close to $14 million, while Legislative Action PAC and its offshoots have spent at least $6 million supporting Republican candidates.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 2 outlets' reporting · Full text read from 1 of 2 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 2 entries
2 outletsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 0 · C 1 · R 0 · 1 unrated
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What happened

Key facts

  • Outside groups have spent more than $100 million on California legislative races this election cycle (per mv-voice.com).
  • Outside-group spending on California legislative races this cycle has exceeded the 2024 total (per mv-voice.com).
  • California Leads, funded by Meta and Google, has spent close to $14 million this year (per mv-voice.com).
  • Legislative Action PAC and its offshoots have spent at least $6 million supporting Republican candidates since April (per mv-voice.com).
  • Outside groups are spending in competitive districts with Democratic and Republican candidates and in safely Democratic districts with candidates of different ideological positions (per mv-voice.com).
  • Grow California has spent $17.5 million this cycle and is funded by cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper (per mv-voice.com).
  • California Leads says it supports candidates focused on “real-world solutions rather than ideological fights.” (per mv-voice.com).
  • Groups may spend unlimited amounts on independent expenditures if they do not coordinate with campaigns (per mv-voice.com).

The brief

Outside groups have spent more than $100 million on California legislative races this election cycle, exceeding their total from 2024, according to the Mountain View Voice. The spending is directed at two kinds of contests: competitive districts with a Democrat and a Republican, and safely Democratic districts where candidates differ ideologically. The Mountain View Voice reports that California Leads has spent close to $14 million this year. Meta and Google fund the group; its major funders also include AT&T and oil and gas companies. The group says it backs candidates focused on “real-world solutions rather than ideological fights.”

The outlet says California Leads aims to help Republicans retain seats they flipped in 2024. It also reports that California Leads and Grow California are backing Hernandez with about $3 million. Hernandez’s campaign website says she will “fight for strict rules with real enforcement” on Big Tech profits. Grow California has spent $17.5 million this cycle, according to the Mountain View Voice. The outlet identifies cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper as its funders, and describes the group as a “counterforce” to union spending. That description is the group’s stated purpose as reported by the outlet; it does not establish how the spending affects particular races. The Mountain View Voice also reports that Legislative Action PAC and its offshoots have spent at least $6 million supporting Republican candidates since April. The outlet describes political action committees backed by unions and business interests as part of the broader outside spending exceeding $100 million. The outlet says groups can spend unlimited amounts on independent expenditures when they do not coordinate with campaigns. The spending figures it reports cover this election cycle, while the comparison is to 2024. Its account places the spending across both competitive contests and safely Democratic districts, rather than describing it as limited to one type of race.

Why it matters

  • California legislative candidates face more than $100 million in reported outside spending this cycle, including close to $14 million from California Leads and at least $6 million from Legislative Action PAC and its offshoots.
  • The spending reaches both competitive districts with Democratic and Republican candidates and safely Democratic districts where candidates differ ideologically.
  • California Leads’ major funders include Meta, Google, AT&T, and oil and gas companies; Grow California is funded by Chris Larsen and Tim Draper and has spent $17.5 million this cycle.
  • The reported mechanism is independent expenditures: groups may spend unlimited amounts when they do not coordinate with campaigns.

What to watch next

  • Whether California Leads continues spending to help Republicans hold seats it says they flipped in 2024.
  • Whether California Leads and Grow California continue backing Hernandez with about $3 million.
  • Whether Legislative Action PAC and its offshoots add to the at least $6 million they have spent supporting Republican candidates since April.
  • How outside-group spending is distributed between competitive districts and safely Democratic districts.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
2 source articles · 2 unique outlets
Coverage mix: Too few rated· 1 Center
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 50% · Unknown 50%
Coverage mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
1 outlet
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
2 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Limited coverage
  • Coverage is currently limited to 2 outlets.
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

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Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. California voters approved Proposition 9 in 1974, creating the Political Reform Act and the Fair Political Practices Commission, which oversees campaign-finance disclosure and enforcement.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. The California Supreme Court upheld the system in *Field v. Bowen* in 2011.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

The immediate precedent for California’s 2026 legislative campaign-spending environment was the 2024 election cycle, when outside groups also spent on races for seats in the state Assembly and Senate.

California’s legislative contests take place in single-member districts, and the state’s primary system, established by Proposition 14 in 2010, sends the two highest vote-getters to the general election regardless of party; that structure can produce same-party contests as well as contests between Democrats and Republicans.

Original sources

2 articles from 2 outlets

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