Voter Guide: Who's Endorsing, Donating to Ballot Propositions in California

A nonpartisan political money tracker has launched Voter's Edge California, a detailed voter guide profiling current state ballot measures and campaign contributions to Assembly members and Senators in the California State Legislature.

The free website shows how much money interest groups like gas and electric utilities and attorneys and law firms contribute to specific representatives in Sacramento.

MapLight, the company that compiled the data, hopes the information will "allow users to gain insights into how campaign contributions affect policy so they can draw their own conclusions about how money influences our political system."

For instance, Prop. 37, the GMO-related November 6 ballot measure that would require labeling of food sold to consumers made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways and has the support of many Napa County residents, has some big spenders on both sides of the issue.

Taking a look at the Voter's Edge data on Prop 37, food and chemical industry giants like Monsanto ($7 million) and DuPont ($4.9 million) have raised $34.5 million to oppose the proposition. Pro-Prop. 37 funding, which totals $4.1 million has been led by Joseph Mercola, whose eponymous company includes an alternative medicine website. 

Voter's Edge also offers endorsement information, links to editorials specific to certain propositions, news articles, advertisements created for and against certain measures and summary information that shows arguments written by the campaigns for and against each ballot measure.

A guide to using the new Voter's Edge service can be found here. 

Negative amounts symbolize a contribution that was taken back from the campaign. "Negative entries could be refunds, credit card charge backs, redesignations (assigning a contribution to a different election) or reattributions (assigning a contribution to a different contributor)," says FEC spokesman Christian Hilland.

What follows are specific links to each of the ballot propositions as found on the MapLight website:

California Ballot Propositions on the November ballot :

• Prop. 30 - Taxes (Brown plan)
• Prop. 31 - State Budget
• Prop. 32 - Political Contributions
• Prop. 33 - Auto Insurance
• Prop. 34 - Death Penalty
• Prop. 35 - Human Trafficking
• Prop. 36 - Three Strikes Law
• Prop. 37 - Genetically Engineered Foods
• Prop. 38 - Taxes (Munger plan)
• Prop. 39 - Taxes for Multistate Businesses
• Prop. 40 - Redistricting

For more about the state ballot propositions and local Napa County measures, please see:

• Napa County Letter: All-Ages Ballot Workshop Oct. 29
• State Propositions and Local Measures Presentations Nov. 2
• Propositions 34 and 36 Would Make Major Changes to Punishment for Serious Crimes
• Battle Over Prop. 34 Death Penalty Ban Heats Up
• Prop. 37: Should Genetically Modified Food Be Labeled?
• Prop. 39 Seeks to Close $1B Tax Loophole for Multi-State Corporations
• Sing Along to the 'Proposition Song!'

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