Campaign receipts, outside spending and lobbying payments

What the totals measure

Dark Money Map’s published snapshot shows approximately $1.04 billion in committee receipts, $58.0 million in independent expenditures and $7.8 million in lobbying-service payments. These are totals for the included records, not a complete accounting of political money in California.

$1.04BCommittee receipts

The $1.04 billion figure combines reported 2026 receipts for the committees included in the snapshot. Each committee’s amount runs through its latest included statement date. Receipts describe incoming money, not cash on hand or total spending. Transfers between committees can appear in more than one committee’s receipts, so the aggregate is not a count of unique dollars entering politics.

$58.0MOutside support or opposition

The $58.0 million figure combines included independent-expenditure records marked as supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure. It describes spending by the reporting committee, not money received by the candidate. The support or opposition designation comes from the disclosure. The amount does not show whether the expenditure affected an election result.

$7.8MLobbying-service payments

The $7.8 million figure combines disclosed lobbying-service payments in the selected view. These records identify a payer, a recipient and a reported amount. It does not allocate that payment to a bill, position, lawmaker, city, or policy result.

Checking the underlying filings

To check a total, select the relevant record in the map and review its relationship type, reporting period and source. Compare records covering the same period, and check the original filing for amendments. The methodology page explains the snapshot’s selection and counting rules.