New Poll Finds Vast Majority of Californians Believe Special Interest Money Has Too Much Influence in Sacramento

According to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) poll released Thursday, the vast majority of Californians believe that special interest money has too much influence in Sacramento politics and decision making, with only 2% of Californians disagreeing in any capacity.

The poll specifically found that 55% of Californians strongly agreed with the question ‘Do you agree or disagree: Special interest money has too much influence in Sacramento politics and decision making?’, with another 20% somewhat agreeing. With 1% somewhat disagreeing and 1% strongly disagreeing, the rest of the 23% were either in the middle and not agreeing or disagreeing, or simply chose not to respond.

When broken down by party, a grand total of 73% of all Democrats agreed with the question, albeit with only 49% strongly agreeing and 24% somewhat agreeing. Only 3% disagreed. Republicans brought a much stronger response, with 81% agreeing, including 69% strongly agreeing, while only 2% disagreed. No party preference voters stood at 75% agreeing.

The question of special interest money having too much influence in the state capitol also showed significant racial fluctuations, although like the party registration section, disagreeing with the question only saw a maximum of 3%. White voters proved far more skeptical, with 82% agreeing (64% strongly and 18% somewhat). Meanwhile, Latino voters were the least skeptical, with only 66% in total agreeing (44% strongly, 22% somewhat).

Finally, voter age showed the largest divisions on the question, albeit once again with only a maximum of 3% disagreeing with the question per age group. As it turned out, the younger the voter, the less skeptical of the question they turned out to be. Heading down from age groups, 85% of those aged 65 and older agreed with the question, followed by 81% of 50 to 64 year olds, 77% of 40 to 49 year olds, 70% of 30 to 39 year olds, and 59% of 18 to 29 year olds.

If measured by only strongly agreeing, all age demos showed 50% or more agreeing, except for the young 18 to 29 year olds section. There, only 38% strongly agreed.

The IGS team pointed out even more demographic fluctuations, while likewise hammering home the fact that the vast majority of Californians all agree on special interest money having too much of an influence on lawmakers in Sacramento.

“Strikingly, this was a question on which there was little partisan split, with 73% of Democrats, 81% of Republicans, and 75% of No Party Preference voters agreeing. At least 59% of each regional, gender, age, education, income, and racial group also agreed with the statement,” said the IGS in their poll findings. “Strong agreement was highest among white (64%), male (63%), and 65 years and older (66%) voters. It was lowest among young voters (38%) and low-income voters (37%). Californians who vote regularly are the most fed up with the money in California’s political system: 87% of them agree strongly or somewhat, compared to 67% of respondents who are not regular voters.”

“The numbers don’t lie. Californians overwhelmingly recognize that big money wields far too much power over our elected officials,” added California Common Cause Deputy Director Russia Chavis Cardenas. “People from every political party, every race, and every walk of life are united behind one urgent demand. They want Sacramento to break the grip of big money on our democracy.”

The California Globe has continuously shown the high amount of special interest money flowing through Sacramento, as well highlighting the groups giving the most. This includes pointing out the hundreds of millions being spent by public sector unions each year on lawmakers and groups in Sacramento, and thus, having a huge amount of influence as a result.

In 2024 alone, lobbying groups spent $540 million to influence the state government, jumping up 10% from 2023. The largest individual private sector group, the Western States Petroleum Association, spent a total of $17.3 million in an attempt to influence lawmakers, while the largest sector, public sector unions spent, as mentioned earlier, into the hundreds of millions.

As of early July, 2025 mid-year figures are unavailable for special interest funding. However, as the poll showed, the vast majority of Californians believe that that kind of spending has far too much influence in the state.