5 things you need to know from The Bee’s CA campaign finance investigation
As California lawmakers get down to business this month, the city’s lobbyists and consultants are still contending with the arrest and indictment of Governor Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson.
The federal corruption probe around Williamson cracked open a window to Sacramento’s campaign finance ecosystem, showing the sometimes questionable ways that lawmakers, lobbyists, consultants and interest groups use accounts to trade money, time and access.
A Sacramento Bee review of more than 100 accounts and lobbying records reveals how two types of accounts in particular — ballot measure committees and campaign accounts held by ex-lawmakers — are commonly used to shore up political connections and help elected officials live large, while spending little, if anything, on campaigns those accounts were ostensibly designed to support.
You can read The Bee’s full investigation here, but here are five things you should know:
1. Former Senate President pro Tem Mike McGuire used a ballot measure committee to fund a $40,000 Super Bowl trip — without spending that committee’s money on a ballot measure. McGuire’s “Progress for California” ballot measure committee spent roughly $40,000 on tickets, lodging, meals and transportation for a three-day Super Bowl trip to Las Vegas in February 2024, according to campaign finance records. Anheuser-Busch, a Super Bowl sponsor, also gifted McGuire ticket packages worth $33,750. McGuire’s campaign said the trip was a fundraiser held with his predecessor, former Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins. But despite its name, McGuire’s committee — which has raised more than $850,000 since late 2023 — has not donated to any ballot measure.
2. Ballot measure committees allow special interests to give lawmakers tens, sometimes hundreds, of thousands of dollars with few limits. Unlike candidate campaign accounts, ballot measure committees can accept unlimited contributions from a single donor. The Bee found that dozens of such committees controlled by current and former lawmakers are funded almost entirely by labor unions, corporations, tribes and industry groups that regularly lobby the Legislature. In exchange for “suggested donations,” donors often gain access to private fundraisers at concerts, sporting events, resorts and destination trips — venues where details about who attends and what is discussed are largely undisclosed.
3. Many lawmaker-controlled ballot measure committees spend little or nothing advocating for actual ballot propositions. While some ballot measure committees do fund campaigns for or against initiatives, The Bee found others that spent tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars primarily on fundraising events, travel, meals and consulting fees. McGuire’s committee is one example: Though he donated more than $150,000 to support Proposition 50 in 2025, those checks came from a different campaign account tied to his run for higher office — not from “Progress for California.”
4. Former lawmakers often keep campaign accounts open after leaving office and use them to build influence while working in lobbying or public affairs. California law allows former elected officials to retain and spend money from dormant campaign accounts even if they are no longer running for office. The Bee found that some ex-lawmakers use these accounts to make large political contributions, attend exclusive events, or donate to organizations connected to their private-sector work. Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, for example, has transferred campaign funds into successive future-election accounts for nearly two decades without running again, while giving more than $1.3 million to political candidates and causes as a partner at a lobbying firm.
5. Nearly all of this spending is legal, but ethics and transparency advocates say oversight hasn’t kept pace. Experts interviewed by The Bee said California’s campaign finance system has significant loopholes that allow money and access to be traded without violating the law. The Fair Political Practices Commission, the state’s political watchdog, has about 100 staff members overseeing thousands of candidates and officeholders and often relies on complaints to open investigations. As a result, critics say enforcement tends to focus on smaller violations while larger, more systemic practices remain largely untouched.
Read more about our investigation into California’s campaign finance system.
Sacramento Local Engagement & Retention Reporter Kat Tran contributed to this story by using AI tools to help summarize the original investigative story that was reported and written by Kate Wolffe and Nicole Nixon. Any summarized content is reviewed by reporters and editors before publication in compliance with McClatchy Media’s AI policy.
