California Democratic candidates have raised $71.9 million more than Republicans


In California, state-level candidates have raised $227.4 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and May 21, 2022. Democratic candidates have raised $140.6 million and Republican candidates have raised $68.7 million. 

California Campaign Finance Snapshot (1/1/2021 – 5/21/2022)

Top 10 Democratic candidates, by donations (1/1/2021 – 5/21/2022)

In the 2022 election cycle, 257 state-level Democrats have filed campaign finance reports with the California Secretary of State. Here are the 10 Democratic candidates who have raised the most.

RankDemocratic CandidateTotal Raised
1.Gavin Newsom$9,378,324.45
2.Rob Bonta$8,666,465.12
3.Yvonne Yiu$5,968,301.23
4.Phil Ting$3,752,241.43
5.Eleni Kounalakis$2,930,582.96
6.Steven Glazer$2,513,334.00
7.Jim Cooper$2,194,933.27
8.Marc Levine$1,958,906.76
9.Brian Maienschein$1,924,849.06
10.Fiona Ma$1,781,399.90

Top 10 Republican candidates, by donations (1/1/2021 – 5/21/2022)

During the same time period, 137 Republicans have filed campaign finance reports with the California Secretary of State. These are the 10 Republican candidates with the highest reported donations for the 2022 election cycle so far.

RankRepublican CandidateTotal Raised
1.Larry Elder$17,034,480.38
2.John Cox$12,130,020.92
3.Kevin Faulconer$4,899,723.59
4.Lanhee Chen$2,420,121.44
5.Nathan Hochman$2,218,950.42
6.James Gallagher$1,754,039.63
7.Brian Dahle$1,493,967.90
8.Kevin Kiley$1,391,335.76
9.Jenny Rae Le Roux$1,336,283.66
10.Frank Bigelow$1,328,175.62

In some states, officeholders may accept donations to their campaign accounts when they are not up for election. Those donations are included in candidate campaign finance numbers.

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active California candidate PACs submitted to the California Secretary of State. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Report NameDue Date
Semiannual1/31/2022
1st Pre-Election – Primary4/28/2022
2nd Pre-Election – Primary5/26/2022
Semiannual8/1/2022
1st Pre-Election – General9/29/2022
2nd Pre- Election – General10/27/2022
Semiannual1/31/2023

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.