Open Letter: Investigations of politicians take years. These are the stakes.

Did you know that California has a state agency to investigate campaign finance and ethics violations? 

It’s called the California Fair Political Practices Commission, and this week, reporters Yue Stella Yu and Jeremia Kimelman published a detailed report about how it can take years for it to close some cases. For some of the most egregious ones, politicians (like former Compton councilmember Isaac Galvan) can be reelected multiple times before the investigation is closed. 

Their findings are especially concerning during an election year. Stella and Jeremia found that on our November ballot, 20 of the 305 candidates for the state Legislature, U.S. House and U.S. Senate have an open case against them. 

Stella heard from insiders and voters from across the political spectrum after we published the story, praising it for shining a light on a complex issue that is critical to the health of our democracy. But one note stands out: 

“FPPC is toothless. Clients always want to file complaints during the final month of the election (and sometimes we do file) but I tell them they will not do anything for YEARS,” said Matt Rexroad, a GOP consultant. “They think it is like calling 911. It is more like calling Mars.”

To see if anyone on your ballot is being investigated by the FPPC right now, you can use a lookup tool Jeremia built. It’s embedded in the story.