California lawmakers pull in more than $24 million in year’s first half

During one of the quieter stretches on the election calendar, members of the California Legislature raised more than $24 million in campaign money from January through June, state filings show.

The reports, due July 31, show that lawmakers also spent more than $14.7 million from January through June, and donated another $7.2 million to political parties and other candidate campaign committees.

The top fundraiser was Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, who collected more than $1.4 million, almost all of it related to her unsuccessful run for the East Bay’s 7th Senate District. The winner in that race, state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, ranked third in fundraising among lawmakers, with about $712,000 collected. Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, raised $951,000, according to her filings.

As of June 30, the Legislature’s 120 members collectively reported about $33 million cash on hand in more than 370 campaign committees. They also showed about $3.3 million in outstanding debt – either unpaid bills to consultants and other campaign vendors or loans to their campaigns.

The Legislature’s majority Democrats, meanwhile, significantly out-collected their Republican counterparts. Democrats’ campaign committees reported about $16.5 million in donations during the first six months of the year, compared to $7.8 million for Republicans.

Gov. Jerry Brown and other statewide officials reported $2.9 million in total donations – almost all of it from the $2.6 million in contributions to Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign for governor in 2018.

Tap or click on the chart below to see campaign-finance totals for members of the Legislature.

This story was originally published August 4, 2015 at 4:04 PM.