State Sen. Susan Rubio has a strong position in Sacramento. As chairman of the Insurance Committee, Democrat Baldwin Park could help pass or repeal any legislation affecting that industry.
Due to a law meant to prevent corruption, Rubio cannot accept campaign donations from insurance lobbyists — or any other lobbyists — while she raises money for her 2026 re-election to the Legislature. State law prohibits California lobbyists from donating to the campaigns of state legislators.
But there are no such restrictions on lobbyists who donate to campaigns for federal office, even when the candidate is a state representative. So as Rubio runs for Congress this year, she could get donations for her federal campaign from lobbyists who might seek to sway her votes in Sacramento.
And it is.
Rubio received nearly $43,300 in contributions from registered state lobbyists in her campaign to replace retiring Rep. Grace F. Napolitano in California's 31st Congressional District. It's a small sliver of her total money raised as of Feb. 14, but it's the most lobbying money of any California lawmaker running for federal office. Many of those who have donated to Rubio's campaign in Congress represent companies that lobby bills that are heard before the committees where she sits as a state lawmaker, including the Insurance Committee and those that oversee policy related to health care and alcohol, energy and utility regulations.
Eight state legislators are competing for Congress this year. It received six donations from lobbyists, in amounts varying widely, to the tune of $96,090.
Donations are legal and make up a small portion of candidates' total fundraising. However, some watchdogs say they should be banned because of the risk that lobbyists' money could influence lawmakers' decisions on the work they do at the state level.
“It doesn't mean they'll vote out, but the potential is there,” said Sean McMorris, program director at the government watchdog group Common Cause.
His organization was part of the coalition that 50 years ago introduced the California Political Reform Act, a law that banned lobbyist donations to state legislators.
Bob Stern, co-author of the law, said the state ban was implemented because “legislators were receiving huge sums of money from the people who were lobbying them, and we thought there should be a disconnect between lobbying and campaign contributions.”
In practice, Stern said, the effects of the ban have been limited, as companies that employ lobbyists can still provide direct support to candidates, as can their political action committees. But he said there was “symbolism” to the separation.
Rubio's campaign manager, Giovanni Ruiz, said that all contributions she received from individuals were “based solely on relationships of mutual respect” and that she opposed issues that donors had lobbied for in the past.
Ruiz also noted that her opponent Gil Cisneros, who has invested $4 million of his own money in his campaign, is significantly outspending Rubio.
Silicon Valley congressional candidate, Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), received $21,650 from lobbyists, representing 2% of fundraising. He joined the latest race to replace retiring Rep. Anna G. Eshoo in early December, just months before the March primary.
State Sen. Dave Maine (D-Irvine), who is running to replace Rep. Katie Porter for the Orange County seat, has received about $16,500 in lobbyist donations, representing 1% of his total fundraising since he launched his campaign at the beginning of 2023. .
Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), who is vying to replace Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Los Angeles), received $4,000, and her challenger, Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank), received $6,500 from lobbyists. These totals represent less than 1% of all their fundraising.
Portantino and Friedman have both been vying for the Los Angeles congressional seat for more than a year.
Central Valley congressional candidate State Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) has received about $4,000 from lobbyists — an amount that represents 6.1% of her fundraising since she launched her campaign in August 2023.
Hurtado told the Times that lawmakers should be able to receive those donations, but acknowledged that “money has the power to corrupt people, plain and simple.”
Since August, Hurtado has raised less than $100,000; She said she was in debt for putting her own money into the race. She told the Times that the only money she doesn't accept is from the cannabis industry.
Friedman went further, saying she sees potential problems and would support a law preventing federal campaigns from accepting money from state lobbyists.
Friedman noted that her campaign was rejecting all corporate political action committee money and called that a more prominent issue in races like hers. She described the lobbyist contributions she and her colleagues received as small compared to the “enormous amount of money” from her lobbying clients.
Portantino and Low Woman did not respond to requests for comment.
Two state lawmakers running for Congress have not received any donations from lobbyists: Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera), who is also running for Napolitano's San Gabriel Valley seat and launched his campaign last summer, and Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield). . , who is running for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's vacant Bakersfield seat. Fong launched his campaign in December.
Because of the limited disclosures required by the state, lobbyists are not required to publicly report which lawmakers they have tried to influence on various bills, making it difficult to draw direct lines between their lobbying efforts and their donations. But campaign finance and lobbying records show that many candidates received donations from lobbyists who work with companies seeking to influence policy in areas where they have power, based on their committee positions.
Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) is one of several state lawmakers running for Congress.
(Robert Gurley / Los Angeles Times)
Sacramento lobbyist Mandy Lee gave Rubio $3,300, the maximum donation allowed. Her company represents the American Casualty Insurance Association, a major trade group for home, auto and business insurance companies. The association lobbied for bills that were heard in the Senate Insurance Committee chaired by Rubio. Lee also donated $500 to Min.
Rubio's spokesman noted that the senator's relationship with Lee long preceded her election to the Legislature.
Rubio also received $2,000 from lobbyist Paul Gladfelty, whose firm represents Travelers Insurance.
“It is not uncommon for state lobbyists to make personal contributions to congressional candidates we know and believe, which is permitted by state law. “Before I ran for Senate for legislative office, I had the opportunity to establish a personal friendship,” Gladfelty said via text message, adding that his friendship with Rubio “exists regardless of her committee assignments.”
Lobbyists Suella Fernandez and Kirk Kimmelshaw, owners of Fernandez-Jensen Kimmelshaw Government Affairs, have both donated to Maine and Rubio's campaigns. Their company's clients include the Regional Water Authority and the Northern California Water Association, which lobbied bills that were heard in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, which Maine chairs.
Their firm also represents Southern California Edison, which routinely lobbies bills in Maine and Rubio's Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee; the beer company Anheuser-Busch, which lobbies the commission that regulates alcohol, of which Rubio is a member; And the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association of America, which lobbies the health committee to which Rubio belongs.
Lobbyist RJ Cervantes, whose clients include trade associations for cryptocurrency and electronic payment companies, gave $3,300 to Low, who serves as co-chair of the Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus, a group of lawmakers who want to promote a tech-friendly climate in California.
Cervantes, Kimelshaw, Fernandez and Lee did not respond to requests for comment.
Jessica Levinson, a professor of election law at Loyola Law School and former chair of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, sees the situation as less clear-cut than Common Cause's McMorris sees. She said she doesn't think it's unethical for state lawmakers to accept donations from lobbyists for their congressional campaigns, since there is a “very real openness in the law” that allows them to do so.
“It's up to voters to decide whether this bothers them or not,” Levinson said. “I think for most voters, he's at the bottom of the list.”
