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H6CA45191

VO, CHUONG Challenger

 ·  CA-45 (House)
0.9
Influence Score · 2026
Lightly backed
Non-incumbent — only contributions, independent expenditures, and dark-money exposure are scored. Lobbying, vote alignment, bundle timing, and trade direction require committee assignments and roll-call records, neither of which exist for a non-sitting candidate. Maximum reachable score is about 23, on a challenger-only scale — incumbents are scored 0–100 across all twelve axes, so the two are not directly comparable. See methodology.

Score components

AxisRawNormalized (pts)Coverage
Direct contributions $221K 0.84 2026 cycle, principal committee
Outside spending — direct support $0 PACs that directly supported this candidate
Outside spending — indirect (OPPOSE against opponents) $4K OPPOSE spending against opponents in the same race, attributed proportionally
Outside spending — OPPOSE against this candidate $0 PACs that spent to defeat this candidate (not scored on this axis)
Total outside spending in favor $4K 0.08 direct + indirect — drives the outside-spending axis
Lobbying exposure Requires committee assignment
Vote alignment Requires voting record
Contribution timing — money arriving near key votes Requires recorded-vote calendar
Dark-money exposure 0.0000 0.00 Disclosed-vs-dark outside spending share
Personal trade direction Requires STOCK Act filings

Race matchup  CA-45

Candidate Party Status Direct $ Outside $ Score Tier
TRAN, DEREK DEM Inc. $830K $9.98M 47.3 Moderately exposed
STEEL, MICHELLE REP Chal. $5.68M $2K 8.3 Substantially backed
VO, CHUONG REP Chal. $221K $4K 0.9 Lightly backed
FORDE, BRIAN DEM Chal. $0 $4K 0.1 Lightly backed

Challenger and open-seat scores reflect contributions, outside spending, and dark-money exposure only — a maximum of about 23. They are not directly comparable to incumbent scores, which run 0–100 across all twelve axes. Compare the dollar columns (Direct $, Outside $) for a like-for-like view.