The campaign over Gavin Newsom’s maps is one of California’s most expensive ever

by Jeremia Kimelman

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With five weeks until election day, the fight over changing congressional districts in California to favor Democrats has already become one of the most expensive ballot measures in recent state history.

The official campaigns supporting and opposing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50 reported raising more than $215 million as of Oct. 2, with more than $100 million raised in September alone –  the third most of any proposition for at least the past decade. Campaigns only spent more money on Prop. 22 in 2020, which upheld the independent contractor status of Lyft and Uber drivers, and Prop. 27 in 2022, which would have legalized online gambling..https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/XEUYI/4/

The campaign to support Prop. 50, led by Newsom, raised more than $138 million with $49 million, or about 40% of the total, coming from donors who gave less than $100. Most of those contributions were reported by the House Majority PAC. Five major donors collectively contributed a little more than $25 million. They were:

• $10 million: House Majority PAC, a SuperPAC focused on electing Democrats to Congress;
• $10 million: George Soros’ Fund for Policy Reform, which focuses on drug policy and electoral reform, according to IRS filings;
• $6.9 million: MoveOn.org, a liberal grassroots organization;
• $3 million: The California Teachers Association, a powerful union with close ties to Democrats;
• $3 million: The National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the country that gives overwhelmingly to Democrats.

Newsom also transferred $2.6 million from his 2022 gubernatorial campaign. More than 68,000 unique contributors gave money to the “Yes” campaign, according to a CalMatters analysis of data from the California Secretary of State.

The groups opposing the redistricting measure are relying on two major donors who gave more than 90% of the $77 million raised for their campaign. They have a smaller share of small donors, raising $8,300 from people who gave less than $100. Below are the top five donors.

Click here to read the full article in CalMatters