Marisol Cantú is a leader in Reimagine Richmond, a movement fighting for a system of care that is rooted in community, not criminalization. Jim Freeman is a civil rights attorney and director of the Social Movement Support Lab, which created the California Oligarch Index.
Most people understand that our politics are dominated by deep-pocketed interests. But very little is known about the specifics of who spends the most money, what they spend it on and why they choose to invest their resources that way.
For example, in the Bay Area city of Richmond, most residents are surprised to learn that the single largest campaign spender isn’t a tech billionaire or a large corporation such as Chevron, which had long dominated local politics; it's actually the Richmond Police Officers Association (RPOA). The RPOA has accounted for more than one-quarter of all spending citywide over the past seven years. Much of that investment was to support "tough-on-crime" candidates who were in favor of the same mass incarceration policies that police associations advocate for all across the country.
However, RPOA political activities have expanded far beyond candidate endorsement. They spearheaded the 2024 effort to change the local election process, establishing primary elections for mayoral and City Council races. They are also now advancing a ballot measure that would guarantee 50% of the city’s general fund for "public safety" each year, regardless of any negative impacts such a dramatic change would have on residents.
Support our election coverage. Golden State's reporting and analysis on all 14 propositions on the Nov. 3 ballot is free to read, but not to produce. You can help us by making a tax-deductible gift. It's the smartest donation you can make this election cycle.
While this latest proposal strikes many in the community as outlandish, because its primary proponent is the largest political spender in the city, all residents are now forced to grapple with these issues on the RPOA’s terms. Police officers are quite literally setting the political agenda for the city.
These dynamics aren't limited to Richmond, of course. All across the state, concentrated, largely unaccountable wealth is undermining democracy at both the state and local levels.
The California Oligarch Index was built to expose the most corrosive influences on our politics. Drawing on 20 years of public lobbying and campaign finance records, the index documents the ways in which extreme wealth has been used to dominate the policymaking agenda and impede efforts to create healthier, safer and more equitable communities across the state. It highlights prominent billionaires as well as the most politically active corporations, corporate advocacy groups and other allied groups (such as law enforcement associations) because those are the primary vehicles used by the ultra-wealthy to advance their political priorities.
The index highlights the 99 political spenders that were most active in opposing social justice efforts at the state level, including such familiar names as Chevron, Kaiser Permanente, Uber, Philip Morris and PG&E. Between 2005 and 2024, these 99 billionaires, corporations and advocacy groups spent a total of $5.8 billion just on state politics, more than the bottom 99.9% of California’s residents combined.
Much of this spending sought to prevent regulations that affect their industries directly. However, a surprising amount of their political spending has been directed at advancing a broader “oligarch agenda” that includes fighting healthcare reform, blocking efforts to address environmental harm, continuing the exploitation of immigrants and more.
Golden State staff
For example, a recent effort to pass single-payer healthcare was predictably opposed by insurance and pharmaceutical companies, but advocacy groups representing oil and gas companies, large retailers, law enforcement and large real estate interests also lobbied against it. Similarly, the California Association of Realtors and California Apartment Association – which represents large landlords – have both lobbied against numerous bills that would have helped address climate change.
These cross-cutting advocacy efforts are often led by the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Business Roundtable. Both organizations pool resources from wealthy individuals and corporations to advance the shared priorities of their members. They have been perhaps the largest obstacles to addressing California’s housing crisis, increasing funding for schools and other vital community needs, and eliminating poverty wages.
More and more, billionaires, corporations and allied advocacy groups are playing a severely outsized role in state and local politics, largely to prevent solutions to the problems that affect the vast majority of people. Over time, these oligarchs have also made corporate profitability arguably the single most important consideration in California politics.
The California Oligarch Index can help California residents understand the many harms inflicted by these dynamics, and ultimately why so many of the policies affecting their lives are not designed around their needs.
What do you think? Golden State is a public forum. Send your responses for possible publication to forum@golden-state.org.