Darrell Issa
Republican
· CA-48 · 119th Congress
Intellectual Property (Chair) · Artificial Intelligence (Chair) · and the Internet (Chair) · House Committee on Foreign Affairs · Global Health · and Global Human Rights · International Organizations · and Global Corporate Social Impact · House Committee on Science · and Technology · House Committee on the Judiciary · and Administrative Law · Regulatory Reform · and Antitrust
Influence Score
51.3
Moderately exposed
↑ +15.0
vs 118th (36.3)
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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
2.2
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
1.9
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$994,334
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$3,498
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
5.8
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
5.6
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
1.6
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
< 0.1
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
12.1
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
3.3
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
5.1
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
1.9
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$16,304 direct
REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (RJC-PAC)
$110 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $52.28M 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 — $105K.
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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 | — | — |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 53.3 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 36.3 | Least exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 51.3 | 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
$38,000
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
3.7%
Amount from this network
$39,500
Total from all networks
$1,080,120
Networks contributing
196
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Who funds Issa
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$1,376,194
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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
0.5%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
97.4%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
9
Money that arrived near votes
$19K
Distinct donors
9
Distinct employers
9
Share of their total fundraising
1.35%
Biggest clusters of timed money
LAW OFFICES OF CHARLES R AJALAT
$3K
TWINLOGIC STRATEGIES LLP
$3K
FRANKLIN SQUARE
$3K
DELL TECHNOLOGIES
$2K
LAW OFFICE OF VATCHE CHORBAJIAN
$2K
GOOGLE
$2K
LAW OFFICES OF GEORGE R SALEM
$1K
IRELL MANELLA LLP
$1K
LAW OFFICE OF LUKE F MCLEROY
$1K
APPLE
$500
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HARVEST SMALL BUSINESS FINANCE
$25K
ARMSCOR PRECISION INTL
$18K
1ST NATIONAL BANK
$13K
CASINO AZUL
$13K
COPART
$13K
INTERO DIGITAL
$13K
PHIL S BBQ
$13K
RECA
$13K
SOAPY JOE S
$13K
GOOGLE
$11K
MARATHON CONSTRUCTION
$10K
HAMANN CONSTRUCTION
$10K
VIBRANT TECH
$9K
HAMANN CONSTRUCTION
$9K
SILENCER SHOP
$9K
SUDBERRY PROPERTIES
$8K
FRANKLIN SQUARE
$7K
AL GAD MEFIA HOYSE
$7K
AMVET TECHNOLOGIES
$7K
ARADI PROPERTIES
$7K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Darrell Issa comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$231K
Disclosed outside spending
$231K
Dark-money outside spending
$8
Share that is dark money
0.00%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$0
Groups hiding their donors
1
By funding network
POLICE OFFICERS DEFENSE ALLIANCE PAC
$979K
CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION
$941K
PATRIOT MAJORITY PAC
$938K
POLE POSITION PAC
$344K
PAC FOR A CHANGE
$178K
FIGHT FOR A BETTER AMERICA
$77K
CONSERVATIVES FOR EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT
$60K
HOUSE FREEDOM ACTION
$57K
FIREFIGHTERS COALITION OF AMERICA PAC
$15K
ACTIVATE AMERICA
$10K
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FUND INC.
$2K
COURAGE CALIFORNIA SUPER PAC
$2K
THE GUARDIAN FUND
$902
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$862
REFORM LEADERS PAC
$157
Groups that hide their donors
1 smaller group under $500
$8
Likely donors behind the dark money supporting this member
Inferred
Donors who fund the disclosed PACs in the same network as the hidden groups above. "Coverage" is how many of that network's disclosed groups a donor funds — the more they fund, the more likely they also back the hidden group.
NEVADANS FOR STEVEN HORSFORD
$80K
TITUS FOR CONGRESS
$80K
SUSIE LEE FOR CONGRESS
$79K
GEORGE SOROS
$525.74M
SMP
$81.00M
BLACKPAC
$47.25M
AB PAC
$25.50M
HMP
$15.00M
HOUSE MAJORITY PAC
$15.00M
CARE IN ACTION PAC
$6.60M
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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.
43 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $47K to Darrell Issa across 80 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$47K
Shared contributors
43
Contributions
80
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11 | 30 | $17K |
| 2024 | 30 | 33 | $21K |
| 2026 | 17 | 17 | $9K |
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Revolving Door
3 former staff members
who worked for Darrell Issa or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOLLY FROMM | (continued) U.S. House Cmte on Oversight and Government Reform, Deputy General C… | THE NICKLES GROUP, LLC | 14 | 14 | 2025–2025 |
| JASON SCISM | Counsel, Oversight Committee; Counsel & Legislative Director, Rep. Darrell Issa;… | CAPITOL COUNSEL LLC | 6 | 7 | 2024–2025 |
| ADAM FROMM | Dir., Coalitions and Outreach, House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Sr. Polic… | GE HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGIES INC. | 1 | 1 | 2023–2023 |
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Darrell Issa 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