Selected Campaign Financing Analyses

The reports listed below were series of studies that analyze the role of money in state political campaigns. For purposes of these analyses, California's elections should be viewed in terms of two-year cycles. Each two-year election cycle consists of an 18-month Primary Election period followed by a six-month General Election period. The 18-month Primary Election period is composed of the odd-numbered calendar year preceding a Primary Election plus the first six months of the even-numbered year in which the Primary Election is held. (For example, the campaign financing period for the 1996 Primary Election is 1/1/95 - 6/30/96.) The six-month General Election period consists of the last six months of the even-numbered year in which the General Election is held. (For example, the campaign financing period for the 1996 General Election is 7/1/96 - 12/31/96.) 

The studies identified below included "comprehensive" reports that cover time periods for an entire 18-month Primary Election period or an entire six-month General Election period, and these comprehensive reports are designated with an asterisk (*) following the report number. (For the 1992 Primary Election, two reports -- Numbers 91-A and 92-A -- must be combined to cover the entire 18-month period.)

In most cases, the reports focusing on state candidates and officeholders are separate from reports focusing on state propositions. Reports focusing on candidates/officeholders cover specific time periods of financial activity with fixed beginning and ending dates. And while proposition reports have fixed ending dates, most will not have fixed beginning dates because the beginning dates vary from proposition to proposition depending on when funds were first raised or spent in connection with each proposition. Consequently, the time periods for most proposition reports will be identified as "through" a particular date without specifying a fixed beginning date.

The comprehensive reports listed below were compilations of previous "partial" reports (including non-election year reports and pre-election reports). The most current partial reports available will be identified in the list below until they are subsumed and replaced by a comprehensive report. Some of the partial reports contain important information that may not be included in a subsequent comprehensive report. (For example, Report Number 96-C provides an itemization of the sources of contributions not included in the subsequent comprehensive report.) When a partial report contains important information not included in a comprehensive report, the partial report will continue to be identified in the following list.

Underlined titles of reports listed below indicate those reports that are available on the Internet as a downloadable ZIP file.