Jim Costa
Democrat
· CA-21 · 119th Congress
and Poultry (Chair) · House Committee on Agriculture · House Committee on Foreign Affairs · the Environment · and Cyber · and the Environment · House Committee on Natural Resources · and Wildlife
Influence Score
55.4
Moderately exposed
↓ -1.5
vs 118th (56.6)
— ◊ —
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
6.6
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.8
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$93,331
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$4,548
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
3.5
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
7.9
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
0.2
/ 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
12.0
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
6.5
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
2.7
/ 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
$41,197 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $17.49M 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 — $35K.
— ◊ —
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 | 55.2 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 54.5 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 56.6 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 55.1 | Moderately exposed |
— ◊ —
Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY AMERICA
Total money from this network
$191,900
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
7.8%
Amount from this network
$205,900
Total from all networks
$2,628,035
Networks contributing
343
— ◊ —
Who funds Costa
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$1,257,898
— ◊ —
Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
2.0%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
100.0%
— ◊ —
Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
1
Money that arrived near votes
$2K
Distinct donors
1
Distinct employers
1
Share of their total fundraising
0.16%
Biggest clusters of timed money
PRODUCERS DAIRY
$2K
— ◊ —
Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$6.70M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.43M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.33M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$5.67M
BOEING
$4.38M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$3.79M
BOEING
$3.61M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.32M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.12M
EY
$3.01M
CHARTER
$2.64M
COMCAST CC OF WILLOW GROVE
$2.63M
THE ELEVANCE HEALTH COMPANIES
$2.53M
CHARTER
$2.51M
UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES
$2.17M
COMCAST CC OF WILLOW GROVE
$2.07M
BOEING
$2.04M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$1.87M
BNSF RAILWAY
$1.84M
UNITED AIRLINES
$1.81M
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Jim Costa comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$103K
Disclosed outside spending
$99K
Dark-money outside spending
$5K
Share that is dark money
4.41%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$0
Groups hiding their donors
2
By funding network
COOPERATIVE OF AMERICAN PHYSICIANS INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE COMMITTEE
$208K
NEW LEADERS 2024
$144K
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS CONGRESSIONAL FUND
$54K
CENTER FORWARD COMMITTEE
$40K
VALLEY WORKS ACTION FUND
$32K
THE CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DBA AMERICANS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY
$5K
COURAGE CALIFORNIA SUPER PAC
$927
TOGETHER WE THRIVE
$750
DEMOCRACY PAC
$191
NEVADA ADVOCATES FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD AFFILIATES PAC (NAPPA PAC)
$120
NEA ADVOCACY FUND
$67
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
— ◊ —
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.
111 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $188K to Jim Costa across 134 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$188K
Shared contributors
111
Contributions
134
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 49 | 51 | $68K |
| 2024 | 53 | 56 | $75K |
| 2026 | 24 | 27 | $45K |
— ◊ —
Revolving Door
2 former staff members
who worked for Jim Costa or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JACQLYN SCHNEIDER | Senior Legislative Assistant, Congressman Jim Costa. | FGS GLOBAL (US) LLC (FKA FGH HOLDINGS LLC) | 11 | 12 | 2023–2025 |
| IAN FLUELLEN | Deputy Chief of Staff/Legislative Director for Rep. Stansbury; Legislative Assis… | GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY (INCLUDING SUBSIDIARIES) | 1 | 1 | 2023–2023 |
— ◊ —
Jim Costa sits in the middle of this Congress on the index. There is a measured sponsor relationship, but the vote-alignment signal is weaker — money flows; the votes do not follow in lockstep.
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