The Ballot Book Blog

Data-driven insights into California politics, from local school boards to statewide races.

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New Feature

Local Campaign Finance Data Now Available

Oct 7, 2025 • 3 min read

We've added comprehensive local campaign finance data for 185 California jurisdictions. Explore political committees, campaign contributions, and spending activity for 25 counties and 160 cities across the state.

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New Feature

Tracking Local Candidates Just Got Easier

Sep 17, 2025 • 3 min read

We've built an automated system that crawls the web and campaign finance databases to discover early candidate announcements for 2026 California local elections. The tool searches multiple sources to create centralized candidate lists for city councils, county supervisors, school boards, and county-wide offices—giving you a head start on understanding your local political landscape months before official ballots are finalized.

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Election Analysis

How Trump, Harris, and Newsom Fared in California’s Proposed Districts

Aug 19, 2025 • 23 min read

Last week, California’s proposed congressional maps were released — but voter registration and census snapshots only tell part of the story. Using our precinct-level database, we re-tallied past elections to show how Trump, Harris, Newsom, and others would have performed inside these proposed districts. The result is a clearer picture of how the lines could reshape California’s political landscape, district by district.

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Campaign Finance

2026’s Self-Funding Hopefuls Face a Tough Track Record

Aug 13, 2025 • 5 min read

Self-funding might buy name recognition, but in California’s biggest races it rarely buys victory. With the 2026 governor’s race already featuring major self-funders, our analysis of a decade’s worth of statewide and legislative campaigns shows why big checks haven’t translated into consistent wins—and why primaries are the one area where self-funders see better odds.

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Campaign Finance

Bianco’s Donor Base in the LA Media Market Could Signal a GOP Edge

Aug 7, 2025 • 5 min read

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has raised slightly more than rival Steve Hilton in California’s GOP gubernatorial primary—but the real story is where his money comes from. A broad base of small-dollar donors concentrated in the Los Angeles media market suggests Bianco may already have meaningful name recognition in the state’s most vote-rich region, giving him a strategic edge as the race unfolds.

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Campaign Finance

What Early Money Tells Us About California's 2026 Governor Race

Aug 6, 2025 • 13 min read

Early fundraising patterns in California's 2026 Democratic governor primary reveal how candidates are building their campaigns and where they see their paths to victory. From small-dollar grassroots networks to self-funding strategies, geographic distribution and donor analysis offers insights into the strategic landscape of what promises to be a highly competitive race.

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New Feature

Introducing Our (Free) 2026 Primary Campaign Finance Overview

Aug 4, 2025 • 3 min read

California's June 2026 primary election is heating up, and we've just launched a comprehensive new tool to help you track the money behind every major race. Our new Campaign Finance Primary Overview gives you a complete financial picture of all candidates running for statewide and legislative offices, with data on fundraising, spending, cash on hand, and debt for over 200 candidates.

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Campaign Finance

How Legislators Trade Grassroots Support for Institutional Money

Jul 29, 2025 • 4 min read

California legislators often start their political careers fueled by local, grassroots donations. But as they settle into office, much of that early support fades, replaced by a heavy reliance on institutional donors. Our analysis of campaign finance data since 2012 reveals how quickly individual donor retention drops—and how much money is left on the table when legislators fail to maintain those early relationships.

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Election Analysis

What’s Driving the Latino Shift — Trump or the Party?

Jul 23, 2025 • 3 min read

Following the 2024 election, Latino voters showed a notable shift toward Donald Trump compared to 2020. But does this reflect a broader Republican trend or a phenomenon unique to Trump? Analyzing over 18,000 California precincts, The Ballot Book breaks down voting and registration data to explore the nature of this shift.

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Popular Analysis
Local Campaign Finance Data Now Available
Oct 7, 2025 • New Feature
Tracking Early Fundraising in the 2026 Governor’s Race
Jun 17, 2025 • Campaign Finance
Bianco’s Donor Base in the LA Media Market Could Signal a GOP Edge
Aug 7, 2025 • Campaign Finance
How Trump, Harris, and Newsom Fared in California’s Proposed Districts
Aug 19, 2025 • Election Analysis
Tracking Local Candidates Just Got Easier
Sep 17, 2025 • New Feature
Which California Assembly Candidates Over or Underperformed in 2024?
Feb 24, 2025 • Election Analysis
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Election Analysis Campaign Finance New Feature