Layered PAC Money Trace · California · Outside spending only

Tom Steyer

California Governor 2026 Primary · Election 2026-06-02
What this report measures: independent expenditures (IEs) reported on FEC Schedule E — money spent by outside Super PACs to support or oppose this candidate. It does not include the candidate's own campaign-committee fundraising, which is shown below for context.
$107.22M
Outside (PAC) spending — total
$3.49M
Outside spending in support
$103.73M
Outside spending in opposition
4
Outside spending committees
For context — Tom Steyer's OWN campaign committee (STEYER FOR GOVERNOR 2026 ↗):
$133.96M raised · $254.36M spent
This own-committee total is reported separately and is not included in the outside-spending numbers above.
How to read these numbers

Outside spending is currently 80.0% of what the candidate's own committee has raised. The election is in 8 days — outside spending is now in its final disclosure window.

✓
NO AIPAC-NETWORK MONEY DETECTED
checked against roster of 6 committees + 18 individuals
Report ID California_Governor_2026_Primary_Tom_Steyer_final_report · Generated by the California money-trace pipeline · Depth 3, min material transfer $50,000. Every figure traceable to the California Cal-Access bulk dump.

What this report is about

There's a race for California Governor 2026 Primary. One of the candidates is Tom Steyer. This report tracks the outside money in the race — money spent on TV ads, mailers, and digital ads by groups that aren't Tom Steyer's own campaign. Those groups are called Super PACs.

Super PACs can spend unlimited money on ads, as long as they don't coordinate directly with the candidate. They have to report every dollar to the federal government — which is what makes investigations like this possible.

The headline, in everyday words

About $107,215,465 has been spent on outside ads attacking Tom Steyer so far. That's substantial gubernatorial money. We're at the late stretch — We're in the final weeks. Outside groups are deploying their full budgets now; the picture below is close to the final tally.

The biggest spender is California is Not for Sale, No on Steyer for Governor 2026, a Coalition of Housing Advocates, Labor and Small Business, which spent $103,725,632 — about 97% of all the outside money in this race. That group is funded by: Californians for Resilient and Affordable Energy ($26.1M, 44%), JOBSPAC ($17.5M, 29%), California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committe ($14.1M, 24%). So when you see an ad attacking Tom Steyer, there's a real chance these donors paid for it.

The AIPAC piece

The detector checked every committee and donor in this race against a curated list of 7 AIPAC-aligned committees and 18 known pro-Israel mega-donors. No matches. Pro-Israel money does not appear to be a factor in this race.

What to watch for

Election in 8 days. The numbers below are close to final. Watch for last-minute 24-hour FEC reports (required for IE spending in the final 20 days).

One thing worth knowing about who's behind the ads

The 4 groups doing the outside spending often share back-office infrastructure — the same treasurer, the same office address, the same political vendors. That doesn't mean they're 'the same group' — it means a handful of political operatives run multiple Super PACs out of the same office. It's legal and common, but worth knowing: when you read about 'six different groups' supporting a candidate, they often share the same plumbing behind the scenes. The detailed analysis tab shows exactly which.

The bottom line

  1. Most early ad money supporting Tom Steyer comes from the funders named above.
  2. Outside money is attacking Tom Steyer from groups with their own funding stack.
  3. Pro-Israel money is not a factor in this race based on the disclosed filings.
  4. All of this is legal and public — every dollar in this report comes from the FEC's own filings.

The headline, in one paragraph

Outside-spending committees disclosed $107.22M in independent expenditures opposing Tom Steyer in the California Governor 2026 Primary. 4 committees filed; the largest, California is Not for Sale, No on Steyer for Governor 2026, a Coalition of Housing Advocates, Labor and Small Business, accounts for 97% of that total.

AIPAC-network check
NOT DETECTED

No AIPAC-network committee or individual on the curated roster appears anywhere in this trace, at any layer.

Checked 0 committees and 0 distinct donor names against the roster of 1 committees and 18 individuals (last updated 2026-05-23).

Roster: skills/_shared/aipac_network.json (last updated 2026-05-23). Detector: skills/_shared/aipac_detect.py. Negative and positive findings are both auditable — running these checks against the same trace will reach the same conclusion. Match confidence on individual donors is medium (name-only); analysts should verify employer/location to rule out homonyms before publication.

Where the money flowed

Each ribbon shows a disclosed money flow. Donors and parent committees on the left → spending committees in the middle → the candidate on the right. Width is proportional to dollars.

donor → PAC transfer PAC support spending PAC opposition spending

Spending committees in this race

California is Not for Sale, No on Steyer for Governor 2026, a Coalition of Housing Advocates, Labor and Small Business
FEC 1489677 ↗  ·  16
Independent expenditures in this race
$103.73M
$0 support $103.73M oppose
TOP_PAC_FUNDER_43PCT PAC_AGGREGATE_100PCT
Treasurer
Negrete, Laiza
Registered address
Sacramento, CA, 95815
Cycles active
Total receipts (2026)
$59.75M

Who funded this PAC

Committee Californians for Resilient and Affordable Energy, No on Steyer for Governor 2026
$26.10M (43.7%)
Committee JOBSPAC, a Bi-Partisan Coalition of California Employers, Sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce
$17.50M (29.3%)
Committee California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee - California Association of Realtors
$14.10M (23.6%)
Committee California Building Industry Association PAC
$2.00M (3.3%)
Committee California Correctional Peace Officers Association PAC
$50,000 (0.1%)
Operational & media vendors
Top operational vendors (Schedule B)
VendorPaid#Category
Steyer Tom $28.05M 19 Survey/Research
Polaris Campaigns, Inc. $27.79M 13 Advance Payment - Digital Media/Oppose/Tom Steyer/Governor/Statewide
Bearstar Strategies, Inc. $2.84M 5 Digital Media/Oppose/Tom Steyer/Governor/Statewide
Ampersand $2.53M 5 Digital Media
Google Ads $2.13M 2 Digital Media
Top media vendors (Schedule E)
VendorPaidIEsOther candidates targeted
No media vendors recorded.
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC PAC)
FEC 1401119 ↗  ·  16
Independent expenditures in this race
$3.33M
$3.33M support $0 oppose
SINGLE_FUNDER_98PCT Few donors
Treasurer
Reding, Sandy
Registered address
Oakland, CA, 94612
Cycles active
Total receipts (2026)
$4.09M

Who funded this PAC

Oth California Nurses Association
$4.01M (98.0%)
Committee California Nurses Association Political Action Committee (CNA-PAC)
$80,000 (2.0%)
Operational & media vendors
Top operational vendors (Schedule B)
VendorPaid#Category
Steyer (I) Tom $1.37M 1 Travel Expenses, Web Costs, Texts, Production and Digital Ads (Estimate)
Sage Media Planning and Placement $640,000 2 Digital Ads/Support Tom Steyer
Nurses and Working Families for Kepner for State Senate 2026 sponsored by labor organizations $300,000 2 MON
The Trade Desk $272,863 1 Digital Ads
Progressives for John Erickson for Senate 2026 $200,000 2 MON
Top media vendors (Schedule E)
VendorPaidIEsOther candidates targeted
No media vendors recorded.
United Domestic Workers of America Independent Expenditure PAC
FEC 1367550 ↗  ·  16
Independent expenditures in this race
$143,089
$143,089 support $0 oppose
SINGLE_FUNDER_100PCT TOP_PAC_FUNDER_100PCT PAC_AGGREGATE_100PCT Suggestive name Few donors
Treasurer
Reed, William
Registered address
San Diego, CA, 92115
Cycles active
Total receipts (2026)
$988

Who funded this PAC

No itemized donors disclosed.
Operational & media vendors
Top operational vendors (Schedule B)
VendorPaid#Category
Aguirre for Board of Supervisors 2025 sponsored by Service Employees International Union Local 221 Working Families to Support Paloma $600,000 4 MON
Jesse Lopez for Assembly 2026 Sponsored by OC Action Orange County Family and Worker Power for $300,000 2 MON
Kepner for State Senate 2026 Sponsored by Labor Organizations Nurses and Working Families for $250,000 2 MON
Erickson for Senate 2026 Progressives for John $210,000 4 MON
PowerPAC.org Voter Fund, a Sponsored Committee of PowerPAC.org $164,000 4 MON
Top media vendors (Schedule E)
VendorPaidIEsOther candidates targeted
No media vendors recorded.
Courage California State PAC
FEC 1367190 ↗  ·  16
Independent expenditures in this race
$17,036
$17,036 support $0 oppose
SINGLE_FUNDER_93PCT TOP_PAC_FUNDER_93PCT PAC_AGGREGATE_94PCT
Treasurer
Kao, Irene
Registered address
Los Angeles, CA, 90017
Cycles active
Total receipts (2026)
$674,585

Who funded this PAC

Committee Progressive Era PAC
$630,000 (93.4%)
Operational & media vendors
Top operational vendors (Schedule B)
VendorPaid#Category
Courage Campaign $316,550 2918 Voter Guide, Sabrina Cervantes,
Google, Inc. $101,807 130 Emails, David Johnson, Support
Courage Campaign Super PAC $85,136 164 Voter Guide
UNKNOWN $81,858 65 Voter Guide Emails
Kaufman Legal Group $67,189 131 OFC
Top media vendors (Schedule E)
VendorPaidIEsOther candidates targeted
No media vendors recorded.

Cross-level donor overlap

A donor who funds more than one committee in the same chain is a corroborating coordination signal — lawful explanations exist, but it's worth follow-up.

  • IND::CALIFORNIA NURSES ASSOCIATION — — across None committees in this chain
  • 1035434 — — across None committees in this chain
  • 1294628 — — across None committees in this chain
  • IND::PG&E CORPORATION — — across None committees in this chain
  • 1069777 — — across None committees in this chain
  • IND::CITIBANK — — across None committees in this chain
  • IND::BANK OF MARIN — — across None committees in this chain
  • IND::TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED (DISCLOSED ON COMMITTEE'S FEC FORM 3X) — — across None committees in this chain
  • 1490270 — — across None committees in this chain

Top donors — wider network footprint

For each top-tier donor in this race chain, the renderer pulled their complete cycle giving record across all Super PACs. A high multiplier means the donor is part of a much larger outside-money network.

PG&E CORPORATION
— · — · OAKLAND, CA
$12.75M
Into this race chain
$270.57M
Total cycle giving
4
Distinct PACs funded
21.2×
Multiplier (wider network reach)
Also funded: JOBS PAC SPONSORED BY THE CALIFORNIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ($226.00M); CALIFORNIA BUSINESS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE ($31.50M); CALIFORNIANS FOR RESILIENT AND AFFORDABLE ENERGY, NO ON STEYER FOR GOVERNOR 2026 ($12.57M); COMMITTEE TO ENGAGE AND EMPOWER CALIFORNIA VOTERS ($500,000)
California Nurses Association
N/A · N/A · Oakland, CA
$7.45M
Into this race chain
$371.43M
Total cycle giving
5
Distinct PACs funded
49.9×
Multiplier (wider network reach)
Also funded: NEWSOM BALLOT MEASURE COMMITTEE; SAFETY FOR ALL, ($154.30M); CALIFORNIA NURSES ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (CNA-PAC) ($101.52M); OPPORTUNITY PAC -- A COALITION OF TEACHERS, HEALTH CARE WORKERS, NURSES, FACULTY MEMBERS, SCHOOL EMPLOYEES, AND PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS ($57.60M); NEWSOM FOR GOVERNOR 2018, SPONSORED BY CALIFORNIA NURSES ASSOCIATION; NURSES FOR ($56.00M)
PG&E CORPORATION AND AFFILIATED ENTITIES
— · — · San Francisco, CA
$5.50M
Into this race chain
$222.98M
Total cycle giving
8
Distinct PACs funded
40.5×
Multiplier (wider network reach)
Also funded: JOBS PAC SPONSORED BY THE CALIFORNIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ($220.00M); CALIFORNIANS FOR JOBS AND A STRONG ECONOMY ($1.52M); COMMITTEE TO ENGAGE AND EMPOWER CALIFORNIA VOTERS ($592,000); WOMEN IN POWER (WIP PAC) ($520,000)
EDISON INTERNATIONAL AND AFFILIATED ENTITIES
— · — · Rosemead, CA
$5.25M
Into this race chain
$212.07M
Total cycle giving
3
Distinct PACs funded
40.4×
Multiplier (wider network reach)
Also funded: JOBS PAC SPONSORED BY THE CALIFORNIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ($210.00M); CALIFORNIANS FOR JOBS AND A STRONG ECONOMY ($1.44M); CALIFORNIA LATINO LEADERSHIP PAC ($630,000)
SEMPRA ENERGY
— · — · SAN DIEGO, CA
$4.50M
Into this race chain
$182.35M
Total cycle giving
3
Distinct PACs funded
40.5×
Multiplier (wider network reach)
Also funded: JOBS PAC SPONSORED BY THE CALIFORNIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ($180.00M); LEGISLATIVE ACTION PAC ($1.20M); LCCC PAC, A BI-PARTISAN COALITION OF MUNICIPAL, COUNTY, LATINO APPOINTED AND ELECTED LEADERS PAC ($1.15M)

This is the wider-audience summary. The full analyst-grade markdown report — with every endpoint, every caveat, the request-for-comment letter drafts, the PDF review queue, the FCC scaffold, and reproducibility instructions — lives at reports/California_Governor_2026_Primary_Tom_Steyer_final_report_final_report.md in the same folder.

How to read flag badges
  • Single funder ≥80% — one source provides almost all of the committee's money. The clearest shell-PAC fingerprint.
  • Top PAC funder ≥40% — concentrated, but with at least some donor diversity.
  • PAC aggregate ≥50% — most receipts come from other PACs rather than individuals.
  • Suggestive name — committee name matches a known shell-PAC linguistic pattern (e.g. "Americans for…", "Citizens for…").
  • Few donors (≤3) — three or fewer disclosed contributors.
  • Single-cycle activity — committee was active only during one election cycle.

One flag is suggestive, not probative. Two or more flags together is publishable analysis. Zero flags is not a clean bill of health — it just means none of these specific fingerprints fired.

How this report is reproducible

Every dollar figure comes from the FEC's public API. To re-run this trace end-to-end:

export FEC_API_KEY="<your_key>"
python infrastructure/skills/fec-money-trace/fec_run.py \
  --candidate "Tom Steyer" \
  --cycle 2026 \
  --race "California Governor 2026 Primary" \
  --election-date 2026-06-02 \
  --depth 3 \
  --min-transfer 50000

Primary endpoints used: /candidates/search/, /schedules/schedule_e/ (independent expenditures), /schedules/schedule_a/ (receipts), /schedules/schedule_b/ (disbursements), /committee/{id}/ (Form 1 registration).

Named individuals are public donors of record under federal campaign finance law and appear in primary-source FEC filings. They are listed for disclosure transparency, not as accusation. Any narrative use of these names should give each individual an opportunity to respond before publication — request-for-comment letter drafts are already produced and live in followups/comment_letters/.