John Garamendi
Democrat
· CA-8 · 119th Congress
House Committee on Armed Services · House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Public Buildings · and Emergency Management
Influence Score
54.6
Moderately exposed
↑ +3.4
vs 118th (51.2)
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This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
3.7
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.1
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$1,153
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$302
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
4.7
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
7.0
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
0.0
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
0.0
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
12.2
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
3.8
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
4.0
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
7.4
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
JSTREETPAC
$3,000 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $32.99M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $66K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | 54.9 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 56.6 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 51.2 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 54.6 | Moderately exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY AMERICA
Total money from this network
$51,000
Number of funding networks contributing
1
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Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Network
SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY AMERICA
Share from this one network
3.5%
Amount from this network
$52,000
Total from all networks
$1,463,312
Networks contributing
226
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Who funds Garamendi
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$653,415
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Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
1.4%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
100.0%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Biggest clusters of timed money
UNITED AIRLINES
$500
SW LOGISTICS
$250
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
EDISON CHOUEST OFFSHORE
$13K
THE DUTRA
$11K
SINGH SEMICONDUCTORS
$10K
HALL FINANCIAL
$9K
NORTH SACRAMENTO LAND
$9K
THE GRUPE
$9K
EDISON CHOUEST OFFSHORE
$9K
SELF EMPLOYED DBA MCCORMACK SHEEP AND
$9K
HALL FINANCIAL
$7K
EB STONE SON
$7K
AKT DEVELOPMENT
$7K
MANSON CONSTRUCTION
$7K
MARCUS MILLICHAP
$7K
PARTNER AT KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD
$7K
ROSELYNE C SWIG
$7K
ROXBOROUGH POMERANCE NYE ADREANI LLP
$7K
SHERNOFF BIDART ECHEVERRIA BENTLEY LLP
$7K
THE PASHA
$7K
THE YUCAIPA COMPANIES
$7K
GUTTMAN INITIATIVES
$6K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against John Garamendi comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
By funding network
COURAGE CALIFORNIA SUPER PAC
$2K
TOGETHER WE THRIVE
$750
WOMEN SPEAK OUT PAC
$302
NEA ADVOCACY FUND
$67
SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION
$50
DIGNITY CA SEIU LOCAL 2015
$7
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
64 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $624K to John Garamendi across 140 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$624K
Shared contributors
64
Contributions
140
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 36 | 72 | $245K |
| 2024 | 42 | 59 | $262K |
| 2026 | 5 | 9 | $117K |
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Revolving Door
1 former staff member
who worked for John Garamendi or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IAIN HART | Rep. J. Garamendi: various roles, ultimately Dep. Chief of Staff 2018-2024; Del.… | ALLIANCE FOR AUTOMOTIVE INNOVATION | 1 | 1 | 2025–2025 |
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John Garamendi sits in the middle of this Congress on the index. There is a measured sponsor relationship, but the vote-alignment signal is weaker — money flows; the votes do not follow in lockstep.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required