Eight tribes have spent more than $160 million on political campaigns

Friday, November 2, 2018  

Eight tribes based in southern California have spent more than $160 million on politicians and political campaigns in the last decade, according to an analysis by The Palm Springs Desert Sun.

The tribes donated money to politicians and political action committees at both the state and federal levels. But a huge chunk -- about $110 million -- was for a state ballot initiative that four tribes supported in 2008.

Still, that leaves about $50 million in political expenditures to account for. The Desert Sun found that the money went to tribal friendly members of Congress, like Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-California) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), and to lawmakers that represent their communities in the California Legislature.

“We were comparing tribal contributions to contributions from some of the country’s larger companies and there are some tribes giving contributions on par with these companies,” Fred Boehmke, a University of Iowa political science professor, told the paper.

The eight tribes included in the analysis included the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the Soboba Band of Mission Indians and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. Of these, the Agua Caliente Band, the Morongo Band and the Pechanga Band donated the largest amounts to politicians in the last decade.

An eighth tribe, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, was not named by the paper. The tribe was part of the 2008 ballot initiative cited in the report.

Regional tribes have contributed more than $160M to campaigns over the past decade (The Palm Springs Desert Sun November 2, 2018)