Juan Vargas
Democrat
· CA-52 · 119th Congress
House Committee on Financial Services · Community Development · and Insurance · and Capital Markets · Illicit Finance · and International Financial Institutions · International Development · and Monetary Policy · House Committee on Foreign Affairs · North Africa · and Global Counterterrorism · and International Terrorism · Civilian Security · and International Economic Policy · and Trade
Influence Score
47.1
Least exposed
↑ +4.2
vs 118th (42.9)
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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
3.9
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.1
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$2,510
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$750
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
3.3
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
7.1
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
0.7
/ 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
11.7
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
4.2
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
2.0
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
3.2
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$15,997 direct
DMFI PAC
$1,290 outside spending
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $9.27M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing Japan, China, South Korea. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $19K.
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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 | 46.5 | Least exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 46.9 | Least exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 42.9 | Least exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 47.1 | Least exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Total money from this network
$43,500
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
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.
Share from this one network
2.1%
Amount from this network
$30,000
Total from all networks
$1,406,877
Networks contributing
200
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Who funds Vargas
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
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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
5.2%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
1.50×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
38.5%
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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
2
Money that arrived near votes
$2K
Distinct donors
2
Distinct employers
2
Share of their total fundraising
0.58%
Biggest clusters of timed money
PIMCO
$1K
SEMINOLE INVESTMENT MGMT
$1K
C3 RISK INSURANCE SERVICES
$500
FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK - SF
$250
FISHER INVESTMENTS
$250
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
CAPITAL COMPANIES
$13K
ELLIOT MANAGEMENT
$12K
ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT
$12K
CAPITAL COMPANIES
$7K
LIQUID ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS
$7K
THE DONNA BENDER
$7K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$6K
BLACKSTONE
$6K
CAROLYN ROWAN APPAREL
$6K
ELLIOT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
$6K
ELM GROVE STRATEGIES
$6K
FACEBOOK
$6K
HUNTER CREEK ADVISORS
$6K
MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT
$6K
NEW YORK CITY COMMISSION
$6K
OAK HILL ADVISORS L P
$6K
OREGON HEALTH SCIENCE UNIV
$6K
SABAN CAPITAL
$6K
SCHUSTERMAN INTERESTS
$6K
SELF COREY MORRIS-SINGER
$6K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Juan Vargas comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$10K
Disclosed outside spending
$10K
Dark-money outside spending
$8
Share that is dark money
0.08%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$0
Groups hiding their donors
1
By funding network
COURAGE CALIFORNIA SUPER PAC
$2K
DMFI PAC
$1K
REFORM LEADERS PAC
$750
TOGETHER WE THRIVE
$750
DEMOCRACY PAC
$195
PLANNED PARENTHOOD ACTION FUND OF THE PACIFIC SOUTHWEST PAC
$107
NEA ADVOCACY FUND
$67
SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION
$30
DIGNITY CA SEIU LOCAL 2015
$7
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.
130 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $268K to Juan Vargas across 184 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$268K
Shared contributors
130
Contributions
184
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 48 | 56 | $102K |
| 2024 | 76 | 85 | $117K |
| 2026 | 41 | 43 | $49K |
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Revolving Door
2 former staff members
who worked for Juan Vargas or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MARIAH CARRAY | Professional Staff Member, Committee on Homeland Security (2021-2023); Leg Asst,… | INVARIANT LLC | 6 | 6 | 2025–2025 |
| CARLA PIERRE | Intern, Office of Congressman Juan Vargas (D-CA) | THE RABEN GROUP | 4 | 30 | 2023–2025 |
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Juan Vargas ranks among the least exposed members of this Congress relative to their colleagues. Money may flow, but the votes do not track the top funding networks. Least exposed is a relative position, not a finding of no exposure.
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