The interactive index covers all local campaign finance laws in California through 2024

SACRAMENTO, Calif — Today, California Common Cause updated its California Municipal Campaign Finance Index (MCFI), an innovative index and report that summarizes campaign finance laws in every California city, to reflect the 2024 changes in local campaign finance laws across the state. 

The MCFI is intended to aid activists, members of the press, academics, and elected officials as they study and report on local campaign finance or as they work to implement policies to curb the outsized influence of big money in local politics. The updated index documents and analyzes all city-imposed campaign finance reforms across California as of December 2024.

“California has long been a trailblazer in campaign finance reform, implementing regulations to curb the negative effects of big money on the local level, but there is still work to be done,” said Sean McMorris, transparency, ethics, and accountability program manager for California Common Cause. “As our report shows, cities can implement impactful reforms that build on and improve existing state laws. This is an invaluable tool that can be used to further aid local reform work that puts Californians first in their local democracies.”

In 2023, California Common Cause published the first Municipal Campaign Finance Index, an organized accounting of all California cities with self-imposed (not state-mandated) campaign finance reforms. The MCFI is an interactive spreadsheet that can be downloaded and utilized for reference, research, and reform efforts. 

The MCFI was co-published with a comprehensive 2023 report that summarizes and explains its findings. The report also provides an overview of various campaign finance laws, a brief history of campaign finance reform in California, and a look at the future of reform. Today’s publication provides an update to keep the MCFI current.

Updates in the 2024 MCFI:

• The majority of changes from 2022 to 2024 consist of inflation-adjusted campaign contribution limits, affecting the average contribution limit across California cities.
• Consequently, the average contribution limit for cities with limits lower than the state’s default contribution limit (currently $5,500) increased from $711 in 2022 to $777 in 2024, with the most significant average increase coming from medium-sized cities of 50k-100k residents. 
• The City of Escondido repealed its campaign finance laws, decreasing the number of California cities with self-imposed campaign finance reforms to 179.
• The City of Yucaipa established unlimited campaign contributions for local elections, increasing the number of cities with unlimited campaign contributions to 14.
• The new city of Mountain House increased the total number of California cities to 483.
• At least 194 out of California’s 483 cities now hold by-district elections.
• Of California’s 483 cities, 142 have self-imposed campaign contribution limits, 327 are beholden to the State’s default contribution limit, and 14 have no contribution limits.