At a Glance: See the Biggest Spenders in California’s Prop Battles

image
Published: 14 Oct, 2020
1 min read

Californians are voting on 12 propositions, but not all are funded equally. Just take a look at that fat slab of lilac in the graphic below.

No surprise for even the most dimly engaged Californians who have been bombarded with ads for weeks now: Funding for Proposition 22, a measure to exempt gig-economy companies from a new state labor law, dwarfs just about everything else. To date, its yes campaign has raised nearly $188 million. That’s $3 of every $10 that’s been spent for or against any proposition on the November 2020 ballot.

Now click that lilac band to zoom in. You’ll see that the majority of that funding is coming from three companies: Uber, Lyft and Doordash. The bulk of opposition funding comes from unions such as the United Food & Commercial Workers and the Service Employees International Union.

https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/3993054/embed?auto=1

Other big-money battles: Prop. 23, which would tighten regulations on kidney dialysis clinics; Prop. 21, which would give cities the ability to expand rent control; and Prop. 15, which would increase property taxes on many businesses.

And if you don’t see Propositions 17 and 18, look closer — they’re there, as slivers. Evidently no deep-pocketed interests want to fight over voting rights for parolees and 17-year-olds.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

You Might Also Like

Why Mathematicians Love Ranked Choice Voting
Why Mathematicians Love Ranked Choice Voting
The Institute for Mathematics and Democracy (IMD) has released what may be the most comprehensive empirical study of ranked choice voting ever conducted. The 66-page report analyzes nearly 4,000 real-world ranked ballot elections, including some 2,000 political elections, and more than 60 million simulated ones to test how different voting methods perform....
11 Dec, 2025
-
4 min read
California flag
Quirk Silva’s Exit Sparks a High-Profile Orange County Clash, Where Independent Voters Control the Math
California’s 67th Assembly District stretches across parts of Orange and Los Angeles counties, connecting some of the region’s most dynamic and diverse suburban communities. It includes the entire cities of Cerritos, La Palma, Hawaiian Gardens, Artesia, Buena Park, and Cypress, as well as portions of Fullerton and Anaheim....
18 Dec, 2025
-
6 min read
Donald Trump
Trump Signs Order to Reclassify Cannabis to Schedule III
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration will officially move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, a decision that marks the most significant change to U.S. drug policy since the early 1970s....
18 Dec, 2025
-
2 min read