Donors raise nearly $130M in the battle over California redistricting

Donors have contributed more than $128.8 million so far in the fight over whether to redraw California’s congressional lines with supporters of the ballot measure raising over twice as much as opponents.

The fundraising so far marks one of most expensive ballot measure efforts in California's history.

Proposition 50, the statewide proposition slated for a Nov. 4 special election, would allow new congressional maps that would benefit Democrats to stand through 2030. (You can check here to see if where you live is affected.) If approved, the ballot measure would temporarily upend California’s nonpartisan approach to drawing congressional lines that’s been in place since 2008.

The ballot measure was approved by the California Legislature back in August, escalating tensions between California Democrats and President Donald Trump, who first urged Texas lawmakers to redraw their state’s maps to favor Republicans.

Five of the districts that would be most heavily impacted under the plan are in Southern California.

Last Thursday was a key filing deadline for Prop. 50 campaign finance disclosures, giving us the clearest picture yet of how much money is flowing in this race and who’s been donating to each side.

Here’s what the numbers show as of Tuesday.

How much money has each side raised?

Out of the total $128.8 million raised, the “yes” campaign has raised more than $88.6 million, while the “no” campaign has raised about $40.1 million.

Multi-million dollar fundraising is pretty common for high-stakes statewide propositions, and this is no exception. For comparison, here are some of the most expensive ballot measure campaigns in recent years. You'll see in every case below, the side that raised more money was successful:

• $176 million for Prop. 33, a failed 2024 measure that would have allowed cities to pass stronger rent-control laws. The “yes” campaign raised nearly $51 million while the “no” campaign raised $125 million. 
• $408 million for Prop. 27, a failed 2022 measure that would have legalized online sports betting in California. The “yes” campaign raised more than $170 million while the “no” campaign raised more than $238 million, making Prop. 27 the most expensive ballot measure campaign in California history.
• $225 million for Prop. 22, a successful 2020 measure that created a carve-out for app-based drivers, like those working for Uber and Lyft, to work as independent contractors rather than employees. The “yes” campaign raised more than $205 million while the “no” campaign raised just under $20 million. 

Who’s donating money to the Prop. 50 campaigns?

The “no” campaign: The largest individual donor to this campaign so far is Charles T. Munger Jr., who's donated $32.8 million. He’s a Palo Alto-based physicist, former chair of the Santa Clara Republican Party and son of the late billionaire Charles Munger, former vice chair of Berkshire Hathaway. Earlier this month, he wrote an op-ed for the New York Times detailing his reasons for opposing Prop. 50.

“I oppose gerrymandering in any state, regardless of the party responsible for initiating it,” he wrote.

Another $5 million came from the No on 50 Congressional Leadership Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based Super PAC (an independent group allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns) dedicated to electing Republicans to the House of Representatives.

Outside of Munger and the Congressional Leadership Fund, there are more than 190 donors to the “no” campaign so far, some of them individual contributors and others ballot measure committees.

The “yes” campaign: Fundraising in support of Prop. 50 is made up of more than 65,000 different funders so far. This is quite a list to unpack, so here are some highlights among top spenders:

• The Fund for Policy Reform: This is the biggest contributor to date for the “yes” campaign, with $10 million in donations. It’s a Delaware-based lobbying firm founded by billionaire George Soros. The fund has contributed to California state ballot measure campaigns before, notably to support Prop. 64 (a 2016 measure voters approved to legalize recreational marijuana) and Prop. 10 (a failed 2018 measure that would have expanded cities’ abilities to enact rent-control laws). 
• HMP: This stands for the House Majority PAC, a Super PAC dedicated to electing Democrats to the House of Representatives. This group has contributed a total of about $10 million so far.
• Labor groups: Top contributors include the California Teachers Association Issues PAC ($3 million), the California Nurses Association ($2.6 million) and Dignity California SEIU Local 2015 ($2 million). These groups have traditionally contributed large sums to the California Democratic Party and party-endorsed ballot measure campaigns or candidates. 
• Billionaires: Sequoia Capital chairman Michael Moritz ($2.5 million), Cargill heiress and philanthropist Gwendolyn Sontheim ($2 million) and Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings ($2 million) are all among top donors. All three have previously contributed to campaigns supported by the California Democratic Party.

The takeaway

There is a lot of money flowing in the Prop. 50 race, much of it coming from outside California and falling heavily along partisan lines — largely Democrats support Prop. 50 and Republicans oppose it. And with more than a month to go before the election, there’s still a lot of time for more fundraising.

Need more information about Prop. 50 to make your choice for the election? Here’s our full voter guide. You can also ask us any of your election questions below, and we’ll follow up by email with an answer.