News: State and Local News
In 2018, the average elected candidate in Mountain View raised just $23,000, less than half of the $63,000 brought in by the average elected Palo Alto city council candidate that year
One of the most expensive Bay Area cities in which to live, Palo Alto, California is also an increasingly expensive city in which to run for office.
During the 2018 election, the four candidates running for city council in Daly City, competing for three citywide seats, brought in a total of $123,000. Of all the money raised, only half came from individual donors, and just 10 percent came from city residents.
During the 2018 election cycle, candidates for mayor and city council in San Jose collectively brought in $1.9 million — less than 40 percent of which came from San Jose residents.
Berkeley's new system of publicly funded elections has empowered candidates to run for office based on the strength of their community support, reduced the influence of special interests in Berkeley elections, and amplified the voices of small donors in the political process.
As Oregon state legislators consider a package of bills to limit the influence of money in politics, a new MapLight report outlines hows megadonors and Portland’s “donor class” have an outsized impact on Oregon elections.
Two oil and gas companies with extensive interests in Colorado donated $1.7 million to a Republican “dark money” organization last year while it was working to defeat the state’s Democratic candidate for governor, Jared Polis.
A new MapLight analysis of campaign finance records in Missouri found that organizations seeking to influence the 2018 Missouri elections spent more than $15 million on state candidate races and ballot measures.
A new bill introduced in California by Assemblyman James Gallagher, R - Yuba City, would increase transparency into campaign finance records at the local level by requiring local election officials to post campaign finance records online within 48 hours of filing deadlines.
With less than two weeks until the 2018 election, contributions to California’s 11 ballot measures have surpassed $350 million.