San Diego, Ca. — MapLight, along with a coalition of local grassroots, civil rights and civic engagement organizations, has released a new report analyzing political donations in San Diego, finding that big-monied donors dominate local campaign funding. 

The report details the patterns and trends in campaign funding for candidates in San Diego, California, from 2016 through 2022. The report looks at who contributes to candidate campaigns, where these contributors are from, and the size of their contributions, finding that large donors have an outsized impact on campaign funding in San Diego.

This MapLight report was informed by California Common Cause, Engage San Diego, League of Women Voters of San Diego, Represent Us San Diego, Viet Voices, Voter’s Voice Initiative, and The Justice Workshop.

Key findings from the report show:

• A small number of individuals had a large impact. Two-thirds (67%) of all contribution dollars to City Council Candidates came from fewer than 800 individual donors, out of San Diego’s ~1.4 million residents.
• Most donations came from high-dollar contributors. Donors giving the maximum allowable amount made up 67% of candidate funds in 2022.
• Running a competitive campaign has become more expensive. The amount raised by the average winning City Council candidate has nearly doubled, from $165k in 2016 to $325k in 2022.
• Areas with a higher percentage of white, educated residents tended to contribute more to candidates. The top ZIP codes, in terms of total contribution dollars, had a larger percentage of white residents and individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• The real estate and construction industries had a large impact. Although these industries employ around 8% of the San Diego workforce, they contributed 17% of the campaign funding.

Substantial amounts of money were spent in support of and opposition to city council candidates in the 2022 election and the three prior elections studied, and the numbers are only continuing to rise. Average and total contributions are trending upward at a rate exceeding what could be explained by population growth alone. As the report highlights, large donors who contributed the maximum allowable amount made up the majority of funding for most candidates, and these large donors were mostly located in wealthier, more highly educated neighborhoods. 

In 2022, campaign funding was closely tied to electoral success. The report finds that, to be competitive in elections, it has become a practical necessity for candidates to secure funding from wealthier, more highly educated donors.

“With candidates so dependent on high-dollar fundraising, ordinary voters have less voice in who gets elected and whose interests elected officials prioritize,” said Daniel G. Newman, President of MapLight.

“In a city of over a million residents, we have fewer than 800 individuals giving a majority of donations to our city council candidates and effectively deciding our elections. It doesn’t have to be this way,” said Kim Knox, President of the League of Women Voters of San Diego. “This report should be a wake-up call inspiring our leaders to enact campaign finance reform that allows for fairer, more representative local elections.”

“Money in politics plays an important role in who believes they are capable of running for office and what policies they enact,” said Luis Montero-Adams, Director at Engage San Diego. “Right now, our system is out of balance and that impacts all of us.” 

“San Diegans deserve a local government where our representatives represent all of us,” said jean-huy tran, Executive Director at Viet Voices. “When we follow the money, we get to see who has a voice in our local politics, and who is silenced. This research shines a light on the inequities in our local elections and the urgent need for solutions that counteract this influx of big money dominating our local elections.”

“Democracy belongs to the people, not the highest bidder,” said David Shor, money in politics program manager for California Common Cause. “This report is critical for understanding how big money is shaping the political landscape of San Diego. When we know how money is moving through our local elections, we can better ensure that the voices of everyday San Diegans are not overpowered by the outsized influence of a small number of wealthy donors.”

To read the report, click here.