Tool: Explore candidates and elected officials investigated for campaign law violations

The Fair Political Practices Commission, California’s campaign and ethics watchdog agency, receives thousands of complaints each year and opens hundreds of investigations into elected officials from the local level up to the governor.

Is one of your local elected officials, or a candidate running for office in your area, currently under investigation by the agency? Or were they investigated previously and, if so, what was the outcome? Type in their name below to find out.

One caveat: An investigation does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing.  The outcome of an investigation determines whether there was a violation. outcome of the investigation determines whether there was a violation.

A recent CalMatters investigation of commission enforcement data found that:

• 19 of the 305 candidates in California races for state Legislature, U.S. House and U.S. Senate have an open case against them, including an investigation into Congressional candidate Evan Low’s relationship with a policy nonprofit that was opened as a result of CalMatters reporting in 2020.
• Two of the state’s eight constitutional officers are currently under investigation — Gov. Gavin Newsom for late filings and Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara for allegations of “laundered campaign contributions” — and both won re-election in 2022 while their cases were still pending.
• Seven of the eight top constitutional officers — all but Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis — have had past violations, ranging from improper disclosures to illegal campaign contributions, according to commission enforcement records.

For the record: This story was updated to correct the number of candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot with an open case against them and to remove the name of a candidate whose case was closed Sept. 23, 2024. The correct number of candidates is 19.