Alex Padilla
Democrat
· CA Senate · 119th Congress
Senate Committee on Rules and Administration (Chair) · and Border Safety (Chair) · Joint Committee of Congress on the Library · Joint Committee on Printing · Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · and Mining · Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Waste Management · Environmental Justice · and Regulatory Oversight · and Nuclear Innovation and Safety · and Nuclear Safety · and Water · Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Senate Committee on the Budget · Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Agency Action · and Federal Rights · and the Law
Influence Score
84.1
Most exposed
↓ -0.9
vs 118th (85.0)
— ◊ —
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
7.3
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.3
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$27,438
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
8.4
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
9.8
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
4.6
/ 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
11.2
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
8.7
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
7.7
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
8.4
/ 12
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $164.46M 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 — $329K.
— ◊ —
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 | 54.8 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 85.0 | Most exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 84.1 | Most exposed |
— ◊ —
Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
ILLINOIS FUTURE PAC
Total money from this network
$6,906,215
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.
Network
SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY AMERICA
Share from this one network
2.9%
Amount from this network
$75,400
Total from all networks
$2,557,942
Networks contributing
467
— ◊ —
Who funds Padilla
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$1,302,889
— ◊ —
Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
98.4%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
0.0%
— ◊ —
Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
3
Money that arrived near votes
$25K
Distinct donors
8
Distinct employers
3
Share of their total fundraising
3.81%
Biggest clusters of timed money
ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ
$13K
CITADEL SECURITIES
$7K
COTCHETT PITRE MCCARTHY LLP
$5K
MARINHEALTH HOSPITAL
$25
MARINHEALTH HOSPITAL
$25
MARINHEALTH HOSPITAL
$25
MARINHEALTH HOSPITAL
$25
L3HARRIS - INTERSTATE ELECTRONICS
$10
L3HARRIS IEC
$10
LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
$10
— ◊ —
Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HUESTON HENNIGAN LLP
$118K
E J GALLO WINERY
$54K
HOMEMAKER
$50K
COMCAST
$36K
PARKIA
$35K
ADVANCED NUTRIENTS
$29K
CAPITOL ADVOCACY
$28K
AIRBNB
$28K
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON
$27K
DREYER BABICH BUCCOLA WOOD CAMPORA
$27K
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
$25K
KAISER PERMANENTE
$24K
ANDELL
$23K
LIAN
$23K
STUDENT
$23K
COTCHETT PITRE MCCARTHY LLP
$21K
BOUNDARY STONE
$20K
MANPOWER
$19K
MASIMO
$18K
EDISON INTERNATIONAL
$18K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Alex Padilla comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$58K
Disclosed outside spending
$40K
Dark-money outside spending
$18K
Share that is dark money
31.25%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$0
Groups hiding their donors
3
By funding network
DGA ACTION
$10K
CARE ACTION NOW INC.
$7K
ALICE B. TOKLAS LGBTQ DEMOCRATIC CLUB FEDERAL PAC
$3K
DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE FOR ACTION
$2K
DOLORES HUERTA POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$1K
DEMOCRATS OF SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY
$1K
PARTY_C00429563
$838
PARTY_C00405233
$710
OHLONE AREA UNITED DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN
$606
PLANNED PARENTHOOD ADVOCACY PROJECT LOS ANGELES COUNTY ACTION FUND
$329
PARTY_C00406256
$291
SANTA BARBARA WOMEN'S POLITICAL COMMITTEE (FED)
$149
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF ORANGE AND SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES' COMMUNITY ACTION FUND PAC
$22
SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION
$10
NEVADA ADVOCATES FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD AFFILIATES PAC (NAPPA PAC)
$2
Groups that hide their donors
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.
DOLORES HUERTA ACTION FUND
$237K
EQUISLABS
$105K
EMILIO HUERTA
$3K
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS
$106.15M
GLORIA PAGE
$104K
PECHANGA BAND OF INDIANS
$55K
PETER JOSEPH
$24K
MARK SQUIRE
$20K
RUDY SALAS FOR CONGRESS
$18K
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE
$2.13M
— ◊ —
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.
214 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $553K to Alex Padilla across 303 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$553K
Shared contributors
214
Contributions
303
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 209 | 275 | $393K |
| 2024 | 6 | 10 | $143K |
| 2026 | 6 | 18 | $17K |
— ◊ —
Revolving Door
2 former staff members
who worked for Alex Padilla or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZACHARY COMMINS | Policy Advisor, Office of Senator Alex Padilla | CARPI & CLAY, INC | 2 | 2 | 2024–2025 |
| THERESA PETERSON | John Chambliss Staff to Senator Padilla | THE PETERSON GROUP LLC | 1 | 1 | 2024–2025 |
— ◊ —
Alex Padilla ranks among the most exposed members of this Congress — the top tier on the index. The markers run across several of the twelve categories for the same funding network: contributions, outside spending, lobbying inside the policy areas this member regulates, vote alignment, and contribution timing among them. The score measures financial exposure in the public record; it is not a finding of intent or wrongdoing.
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