Alejandro (Alex) Padilla
Democrat
· CA Senate · 118th 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
85.0
Most exposed
↓ -0.9
vs 118th (85.0)
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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
12.0
/ 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
6.6
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
10.9
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
< 0.1
/ 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
11.6
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
10.0
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
7.4
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
8.3
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$5,000 direct
DMFI PAC
$2,000 direct
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.
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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 |
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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
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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
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Who funds Padilla
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$2,382,053
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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%
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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
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.33M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$5.67M
BOEING
$3.62M
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
$3.45M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.32M
GENERAL MOTORS
$3.04M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$3.02M
EY
$3.01M
COMCAST CC OF WILLOW GROVE
$2.63M
CHARTER
$2.51M
SCHUSTERMAN INTERESTS
$2.50M
UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES
$2.17M
HARRIS
$2.03M
GLOBAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT
$2.02M
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
$2.01M
BNSF RAILWAY
$1.99M
UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES
$1.93M
DELTA AIR LINES
$1.92M
NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE
$1.88M
UP RAILROAD
$1.70M
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Alejandro (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
DEMOCRATS OF SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY
$1K
PARTY_C00429563
$838
DOLORES HUERTA POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$746
PARTY_C00405233
$709
OHLONE AREA UNITED DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN
$604
PLANNED PARENTHOOD ADVOCACY PROJECT LOS ANGELES COUNTY ACTION FUND
$352
PARTY_C00406256
$290
SANTA BARBARA WOMEN'S POLITICAL COMMITTEE (FED)
$148
DEMOCRATIC WOMEN OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY
$88
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF ORANGE AND SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES' COMMUNITY ACTION FUND PAC
$42
SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION
$10
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
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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 Alejandro (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 |
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Revolving Door
2 former staff members
who worked for Alejandro (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 |
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Alejandro (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