Remote Control Politics: Lawmakers Profit From Outside Districts

Almost four out of five campaign contribution dollars accepted by California lawmakers came from people or groups based outside their districts, according to a new study by the nonpartisan group Maplight.org, which sifts data on campaign contributions and votes in the California Legislature.

The five lawmakers who raised the greatest percentage of contributions from outside their districts are all Assembly Democrats: Cindy Montanez of San Fernando, Sally Lieber of Mountain View, Ron Calderon of Montebello, Ed Chavez of La Puente and Lloyd Levine of Van Nuys.

According to the report, 98.8% of Montanez's donations in 2003 and 2004 came from outside her northeast San Fernando Valley district.

"This is another piece of information that shows how disconnected legislators are from voters and how little ability voters have to hold legislators accountable," said Dan Newman, executive director of Maplight.org. He urged voters to pass Proposition 89, the public campaign finance measure on the Nov. 7 ballot.

The study examines campaign contributions from the two years prior to the election of the current Legislature — 2003 through 2004 for all of the Assembly and half the Senate, and 2001 through 2002 for half the Senate. It excludes donations from political parties, other candidates and lawmakers themselves.

Donations of $1,000 or more made up more than 78% of the funds raised.