$14 million raised in the race for California governor


The general election for Governor of California will take place on Nov. 8, 2022. In total, candidates running for California governor have raised $14.0 million, received no loans, and spent $15.4 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and May 21, 2022.

While certified results from the open primary are still pending, here’s the breakdown for the two candidates who are projected to advance to the general election:

Active Gubernatorial Candidates’ Campaign Finance, 1/1/2021- 5/21/2022

CandidatePartyContributionsLoansExpenditures
Gavin Newsom (Incumbent)Democratic$9,378,324.45$0.00$9,971,540.51
Brian DahleRepublican$1,493,967.90$0.00$1,632,054.35

The remaining $3.1 million raised in the race for California governor went to candidates who are not projected to advance to the general election or have withdrawn. There were 26 active candidates in the open primary for California governor.

Total fundraising in nine gubernatorial races in the 2022 election cycle

A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for re-election and number of candidates in a race, can influence donor activity. Here is how total fundraising by all candidates for California governor compares to the eight other gubernatorial races with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA for the 2022 election cycle:

RankStateTotal DonationsTotal CandidatesActive CandidatesElection StageAvailable Reporting Period
1Florida$106,753,1151210Primary Election1/1/2021 – 3/31/2022
2Texas$72,717,055245General Election1/1/2021 – 5/14/2022
3Pennsylvania$55,727,674205General Election1/1/2021 – 6/16/2022
4Arizona$24,376,8841512Primary Election1/1/2021 – 3/31/2022
5Ohio$22,113,46895General Election1/1/2021 – 6/3/2022
6Michigan$20,716,429167Primary Election1/1/2021 – 4/20/2022
7California$13,997,678322General Election1/1/2021 – 5/21/2022
8Wisconsin$13,933,407109Primary Election1/1/2021 – 3/13/2022
9Minnesota$8,263,0721411Primary Election1/1/2021 – 3/30/2022

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.