Follow the Money: How Super PACs Override Your Vote
Federal law caps individual donations at $3,500 per election. But a system of super PACs, dark money groups, and bundlers lets wealthy interests spend hundreds of millions to decide who represents you — and they don’t need your permission.
A super PAC is spending in this race — and you can’t see its donors until after the vote.
Case study · CA-32
Who’s Funding This Race — and Why You Can’t See It Yet
A super PAC is spending in the CA-32 primary. Under current rules, its donors do not have to appear on the public record until after the vote. This page lays out the documented case, with the filings — read them yourself and draw your own conclusion.
The super PAC
New Era Leadership (FEC ID C00945824) is an independent-expenditure-only committee — a “super PAC.” It is brand new: its first FEC report opens at $0. It can raise and spend unlimited money, but it legally cannot coordinate with any candidate.
Registered with the FEC on April 1, 2026 — Statement of Organization FEC-1956993, treasurer Tracey Wigglesworth, of Studio City, CA.
The receipts — disclosed donors
So far, the committee’s disclosed donors are two individuals.
Chris Larsen — $100,000, April 29, 2026. The filing lists his employer as Ripple, Inc. and his occupation as Executive Chairman. Larsen is also one of the country’s largest Democratic and climate donors. We will not tell you why he gave — only that he did, and that the record is public.
Rick Caruso — $5,000, April 8, 2026. A Los Angeles developer; he has endorsed opponent Jake Levine.
Context
The following facts sit beside the donations above. We draw no causal link.
- Ripple, the company, is one of the top funders of the crypto super PAC Fairshake — about $50 million for the 2024 cycle ($25M in 2023, $25M in 2024). CoinDesk, May 2024
- Fairshake and its affiliated PACs spent roughly $139 million in the 2024 cycle, backing winning candidates at about a 91 percent rate. CoinDesk, Dec 2024
Why the money is invisible before the vote
A super PAC must report what it spends almost immediately, but the donors who fund it appear only on its next periodic report. New Era Leadership’s next report is due June 20. The primary is June 2 — so the donors behind the spending stay off the public record until after voters have voted.
Politico reported a roughly $600,000 ad buy in this race (reported, not confirmed spent).
The pledge and Citizens United
Opponent Jake Levine pledged not to take corporate PAC money — a channel capped near $5,000 per check. Marena Lin takes no PAC money of any kind.
Neither pledge touches a super PAC. One person contributed $100,000 — twenty times the corporate-PAC cap — to a committee a candidate never has to touch, and the pledge stays intact. This is the structure Citizens United created: unlimited outside money, fully legal.
Verify it yourself
- FEC committee profile: fec.gov/data/committee/C00945824
- Schedule A filing (FEC image #202605209870117098): docquery.fec.gov
- Form 1 — registered April 1, 2026: fec.gov → About this committee
- April monthly report ($0 → ~$104,985): fec.gov financial summary
- Politico, ~$600K ad buy: the post on X
- Ripple → Fairshake (~$50M, 2024 cycle): CoinDesk
- Fairshake 2024 spend / win rate: CoinDesk
- Opponent’s no-corporate-PAC pledge: see the screenshot above (his public Facebook post)
The next donor report posts June 20 — watch it.
This is one race. Here is how the system works more broadly —