Oil and real estate groups are dishing out money on California Democrats. Here’s where

It doesn’t matter who California power brokers like Gov. Gavin Newsom or the state Democratic Party have endorsed for this week’s primary election.

They can’t stop big business, oil and real estate groups from pouring money into primaries to support the moderate Democrats lobbyists think will keep an open door for them in the Capitol.

Big businesses are working through so-called independent expenditure committees that can’t coordinate with candidates directly.

But the interest groups have cut checks — to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars — to finance materials like mailers and TV ads to boost their favored candidates. The money can help determine which contender clears a legislative district’s top-two primary to reach the general election in November.

“There are grudge matches and personal matches going on, all kinds of interesting things that happen,” said Paul Goodwin, a Democratic political campaign researcher. “But it’s led to a lot more money being spent in these campaigns, a lot more different types of campaign spenders.”

Here are four interesting Democratic contests seeing an influx of outside money.

From Stockton to Modesto

The race to represent the northern San Joaquin Valley’s Senate District 5 is a contentious one.

There’s Assemblywoman Susan Eggman of Stockton, backed by the California Democratic Party, Newsom, a slew of local officials and major labor organizations.

Democratic challenger Modesto City Councilman Mani Grewal has garnered endorsements from the woman he’s trying to replace, Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, and law enforcement.

Also in his corner: oil and real estate.

An independent expenditure committee funded by Valero, Chevron, Marathon Oil and other petroleum companies has poured about $750,000 into boosting Grewal’s campaign. That includes at least $460,000 on advertising, billboards and mailers through Feb. 10, finance records show.

The California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee by the Association of Realtors is also helping Grewal, though it’s not spending money to advocate for his campaign.

Its strategy is to discredit Eggman.

The committee has dumped at least $387,000 in TV ads, mailers and radio hits against Eggman, according to expenditure reports.

Grewal’s campaign declined an interview request and would not discuss his platform.

Eggman consultant Andrew Acosta said some groups are attracted to Grewal because he’s promoted himself as a moderate.

“Calling yourself a different kind of Democrat, anyone can do that,” Acosta said. “Where does the guy really stand on issues? I have no idea.”

Labor committees also spent thousands to support Eggman — one mailer uses big oil to compare Grewal and Trump — and the Equality California Political Action Committee, which represents the state’s largest LGBTQ civil rights group, launched $9,000 in social media ads for her campaign on Thursday night.

“Big Oil and Donald Trump are pushing their agenda in California,” one mailer against Grewal reads. “Where does Mani Grewal stand?

East Bay battleground

Over in the East Bay, incumbent Democrat Steve Glazer has a financial leg up over Marisol Rubio in the race to maintain his Senate seat.

Glazer’s 7th Senate District running from Concord to Livermore along Interstate 680 is a perennial battleground. He won it in a 2015 special election that saw $12.1 million in political spending.

This year, a committee called Keep California Golden that’s accepted money from Phillip Morris, real estate and building industry groups spent about $125,000 on Feb. 10 in digital ads for Glazer.

Another $75,000 plus came from a group funded by health care, energy, food and beverage and tech companies called Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy.

“We’re very strong for Steve,” said David Townsend, who runs the committee, adding that the group works on economic, not social, issues. Townsend explained it’s the centrists of both parties who work across party lines “to try and get anything done.”

“The progressives are really, pretty left,” Townsend added. ““The party endorsement has become so progressive, and the party really has been taken over by the Bernies, Service Employees International Union, the California Teachers Association.”

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and a chunk of the Senate support Glazer.

Rubio who was endorsed by powerful labor groups, including SEIU, CTA and the California Labor Federation. Rubio described her race as a worker-driven, individual-contribution campaign, though a union committee spent more than $50,000 on mailers for her campaign, according to finance reports.

“My opponent is relying on corporate, real estate, developers,” she said. “He’s relying on businesses to fund him.”

Mojave Desert showdown

Republican Assemblyman Tom Lackey of Palmdale has much to lose depending on which Democrat survives Tuesday’s Assembly District 36 primary to face him in November.

It’s a crowded field, but committees have focused their attention on two Democrats.

Johnathon Ervin serves in the Air Force Reserve and works as an engineering manager for Northrop Grumman, according to his campaign website.

He’s met with moderate Democrats in the Capitol, said campaign consultant Bobby Gravitz, and would consider joining their caucus. He’s a viable candidate in a purple district, with Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon’s endorsement to boot.

Ervin’s Democratic rival is Steve Fox, a former Assemblyman elected in 2012 who served one term. His tenure is blemished by sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation allegations that resulted in a six-figure settlement with a former employee.

A group called California Alliance for Progress and Education, an Alliance of Small Business Organizations, has spent $113,000 against Ervin in the final days ahead of the primary. The real estate committee has spent close to $200,000 against Ervin and for Fox,, with lumps of money going toward mailers, signs, and radio and digital ads. The investment is largely seen as a way to block Ervin from the general election, political strategists say.

It’s a method that’s caught the “deep disappointment” from the Legislative Women’s Caucus leadership, who sent a letter to the association’s president Jared Martin demanding an end to its support of a candidate who’s faced repercussions for “inappropriate behavior.”

“His actions caused pain to our entire Capitol community, especially staff members,” chair and vice chair Sen. Connie Leyva and Assemblywoman Monique Limón wrote. “Your actions demonstrate poor judgment and cause serious harm to your name and profession.”

Fox declined to comment for this article.

Los Angeles dynasties

It’s a showdown of two political family dynasties among a packed Dem field in this Los Angeles County Race.

Moderate candidate Sylvia Rubio has two sisters in the Capitol, Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio and Sen. Susan Rubio, both Democrats from Baldwin Park.

Lisa Calderon’s last name should be familiar to most Californians. She’s the stepmom of current Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, whose father Charles and uncles Tom and Ron Calderon also served in the Legislature.

Rubio’s campaign is also buoyed by a flood of cash from an energy group funded by oil companies. Expenditure records show lumps of tens of thousands of dollars spent on Rubio’s campaign.

But on one day at the end of January, the group reported $603,000 spent on mailers, TV production and cable buys for Rubio.

Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy also spent more than $270,000 for Rubio from late 2019 through mid-February, according to finance records.

Calderon’s campaign isn’t without help. Labor committees have spent hundreds of thousands to support her candidacy.

“The race is a referendum on (oil companies,” said Matthew Reilly, Calderon’s consultant. “Lisa has had the support of working people, nurses, teachers, all of our friends in labor from the start, because they know that she has a long history as an activist.”