Elections for 20 of 40 seats in the California State Senate took place on Nov. 8, 2022. Of the 20 districts up for election in 2022, 20 had a general election with more than one candidate.
Across all contested general elections, candidates raised $36.6 million. Incumbents raised an average of $1,315,453 per candidate and challengers raised an average of $780,765 per candidate.
Five general elections with the most fundraising
The table below details the five general elections with the most fundraising in the State Senate. Winning candidates’ names are in bold.
| District | Money Raised | Officeholder | Candidates |
| District 38 | $6,474,829 | Catherine Blakespear (D) | Catherine Blakespear and Matt Gunderson |
| District 16 | $4,755,107 | Melissa Hurtado (D) | Melissa Hurtado and David Shepard |
| District 8 | $3,644,244 | Angelique Ashby (D) | Angelique Ashby and Dave Jones |
| District 36 | $2,617,266 | Janet Nguyen (R) | Janet Nguyen and Kim Carr |
| District 10 | $2,252,598 | Aisha Wahab (D) | Aisha Wahab and Lily Mei |
The officeholders above are listed for the current districts they hold. However, this is a redistricting year, so candidates have been identified below as incumbents even if they are running in a different district than they currently hold.
#1 District 38 – $6,474,829
Catherine Blakespear raised $4,061,527 and Matt Gunderson raised $2,413,302.
Catherine Blakespear won with 52 percent of the vote and Matt Gunderson received 48 percent of the vote.
#2 District 16 – $4,755,107
Incumbent Melissa Hurtado raised $3,848,293 and David Shepard raised $906,813.
Melissa Hurtado won with 50 percent of the vote and David Shepard received 50 percent of the vote.
#3 District 8 – $3,644,244
Dave Jones raised $2,217,763 and Angelique Ashby raised $1,426,482.
Angelique Ashby won with 52 percent of the vote and Dave Jones received 48 percent of the vote.
#4 District 36 – $2,617,266
Janet Nguyen raised $2,017,040 and Kim Carr raised $600,226.
Janet Nguyen won with 58 percent of the vote and Kim Carr received 42 percent of the vote.
#5 District 10 – $2,252,598
Aisha Wahab raised $1,233,245 and Lily Mei raised $1,019,353.
Aisha Wahab won with 54 percent of the vote and Lily Mei received 46 percent of the vote.
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active California PACs submitted to the California Secretary of State. Political expenditures that are not controlled by candidates or their campaigns, known as satellite spending, are not included in candidate totals. Federal PACs are not required to report to state agencies. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines.
This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.
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