California has no shortage of rules governing money in politics. It has forms for the forms, disclosures for the disclosures, and a sprawling legal code meant to keep campaign cash from being used as buckets for personal finance. On paper, it is one of the most tightly regulated systems of its kind. In practice, it’s anything but.
The agency tasked with keeping it all in line—the Fair Political Practices Commission—is drowning. Multiple people who have worked inside the FPPC told The Sacramento Bee that there simply are not enough staffers to meaningfully enforce the Golden State’s campaign finance laws. Big cases take years. Small cases pile up. And lawmakers keep pushing the limits of what they can get away with.
One could read that as a condemnation of the FPPC itself. But it’s more accurate to say the situation is a sad commentary on the state of California. Across statewide and local races, California has tens of thousands of candidates, committees, and officeholders filing disclosures. The FPPC has roughly 100 employees to oversee all of it—lawyers, investigators, auditors, and support staff combined.
And lawmakers know it.
“It’s not surprising that legislators and governors tend not to give their watchdog enough resources to do the job,” said former FPPC Chair Dan Schnur. “Everybody loves oversight unless they’re the ones being overseen.”
In their reporting, the Bee documented a pattern of lawmakers exploiting leftover campaign accounts and ballot measure committees— legal vehicles that allow politicians to raise near-unlimited sums—for use as slush funds for travel, consultants, fundraising events, and political networking.
One such example is State Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire’s “Progress for California” committee, which raised over $850,000 and spent large chunks on trips and high-dollar events. Sen. The Democrat Senator spent $40,000 of those funds on a three-day trip to Las Vegas so he could attend Super Bowl LVIII.
McGuire, a “die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan” claimed the expense for a campaign fundraiser.
After that news story broke, one would think no lawmaker would make the mistake of attempting to repeat that gambit. Evidently, Assemblymember Blanca Rubio, (D-Baldwin Park), didn’t get the memo. The very next year, Rubio spent $63,000 on a three-day trip to New Orleans which coincided with the Super Bowl—all of which was charged to a ballot measure committee.
Another instance—this time with direct ties to both Governor Gavin Newsom and current gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra—involves the arrest and indictment of Dana Williamson. Williamson, a top aide to Newsom, was charged by a federal grand jury for conspiring to use one of Becerra’s dormant campaign accounts to funnel funds to the personal account of Becerra aide Sean McCluskie. Though they were caught, and McCluskie pleaded guilty, their scheme succeeded in pilfering around $225,000.
In addition to defrauding the United States, obstructing justice, and submitting false statements, Williamson wrongly claimed a $15,353 Chanel handbag and ring, a $10,000 transfer to a relative, $19,000 for a home HVAC system, and a $21,175 private jet charter were tax-deductible business expenses.
At least in this instance, justice was served. But it illustrates how, even when politicians leave office, the money doesn’t stop moving.
Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez termed out of office in 2008 but has continued to open campaign accounts for Senator and Treasurer across the last 17 years despite not actually running for office. The sole purpose of the accounts seems to be moving funds to get around campaign finance laws which prohibit lobbyists from making political contributions.
Núñez is a registered lobbyist—but because the money comes from campaign accounts rather than his personal or corporate account(s)—he has been able to make $1.3 million in contributions to candidates and causes. One of the recipients is Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who has repeatedly drawn scrutiny for at least 46 taxpayer-funded trips to Singapore, Cape Town, Dublin, Costa Rica, Chile, Egypt, Tokyo, Glasgow, and Dubai—trips for which “a significant chunk of records are missing [and which] the state has been unable to provide.”
Former Assemblymember Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) has done something similar with his “Daly for Insurance Commissioner 2026” account. Despite not actually running for Insurance Commissioner—and being a registered lobbyist—Daly has made thousands of dollars worth of contributions to friendly candidates.
There is also a phony “Dodd for Lt. Governor 2026” committee for former State Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa), who—spoiler alert—is not actually running for Lieutenant Governor. Instead, he has used the funds to pay over $10,000 for him, his wife, and several other people to attend the BottleRock Music Festival in Napa and the Protem Cup golf fundraiser in San Diego.
These are just a few examples. And none of this is secret.
Lawmakers and lobbyists operate in an open environment where they either know how not to run afoul of the law or—in more egregious cases—the odds of being caught quickly are low, penalties are often modest, and delays work in their favor.
And while they frequently and publicly take full advantage of that fact, rank-and-file campaign compliance consultants and treasurers in the private sector can be jailed for improper reporting.
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