Hit- Multi-millionaire Gil Cisneros pledged not to take any PAC donations, but he already broke his word in his first term in Congress, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in PAC and special interest money funded in part by insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations.
Backup: In May 2010, Gil and Jacki Cisneros won the $266 million Mega Millions jackpot and took a lump sum of around $90 million:
• In May 2010, Gil and Jacki Cisneros won the Mega Millions lottery worth $266 million. “The big news for KNBC worker Jacki Wells Cisneros broke right inside her own newsroom - she and her husband won the $266 million Mega Millions jackpot.” (Andrew Dalton and Raquel Maria Dillon, “TV news employee in LA has $266M winning ticket,” Associated Press, 5/5/10)
• The couple took a lump sum of around $90 million. “After winning the eighth largest Mega Millions jackpot, which they later decided to take in a lump sum of around $90 million, Jacki and Gilbert did interviews with KNBC news, CNBC and the ‘Today’ show.” (Theresa Walker, “She won $266 million; chatted on ‘Oprah’,” The Orange County Register, 5/24/11)
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Gil Cisneros’s net worth for 2018 was $42,428,267:
Editor’s Note: The link listed the net worth.
• According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Gil Cisneros’s net worth for 2018 was $42,428,267.
(Gil Cisneros -Net Worth, Center for Responsive Politics, Accessed 09/01/20)
Gil Cisneros pledged not to take any PAC money: • TRACKING FOOTAGE OF CISNEROS: “I made the decision early on in my campaign that I wanted to represent the people of the 39th. And the best way to do that was to not take any PAC money. So I haven’t taken any PAC money from any corporations. I haven’t taken any PAC money from special interests. I haven’t taken PAC money.” (Gil Cisneros At A CSUF Candidate Forum, 10/18/18, America Rising YouTube Page, 04/09/19)
• Gil Cisneros said he refused ‘to take PAC or special interest money” and said money “is corrosive to our democracy and real campaign reform is needed now.”
(Gil Cisneros Twitter Feed, 01/10/18)
• Gil Cisneros’s spokesperson said “Gil Cisneros has made a pledge to not accept any contributions from PACs, period. Each and every time the Cisneros for Congress campaign has received a direct contribution from a PAC, it has returned the funds to the PAC immediately.” “Gil Cisneros has made a pledge to not accept any contributions from PACs, period. Each and every time the Cisneros for Congress campaign has received a direct contribution from a PAC, it has returned the funds to the PAC immediately,” said Cisneros’ campaign manager, Nic Jordan, in a statement. Cisneros is running for the open 39th District seat in north Orange County being vacated by Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton).” (Nick Gerda, “Corporate PAC Money flows to All Candidates in Contested OC Congressional Races,” Voice of OC, 10/29/18)
• In August of 2017, Gil Cisneros announced his refusal to accept PAC money to his campaign.
(Press Release, “Gil Cisneros announces refusal to accept PAC Money to his campaign,” Gil Cisneros For Congress, 08/17/17)
• Gil Cisneros announced he would not be accepting any PAC or corporate special interest money during his campaign, and called on his incumbent opponent to no longer accept special interest PAC money. “Gil Cisneros announced he will not be accepting any PAC or corporate special interest money during his campaign, and called on 24-year incumbent Congressman Ed Royce to no longer accept corporate special interest PAC money to fund his campaign.” (Press Release, “Gil Cisneros announces refusal to accept PAC Money to his campaign,” Gil Cisneros For Congress, Archived 12/13/19)
• CISNEROS: “Corporate Special Interest PAC money is corrosive to our democracy. I will not accept any PAC money to my campaign, and I call on Congressman Royce to do the same.” (Press Release, “Gil Cisneros announces refusal to accept PAC Money to his campaign,” Gil Cisneros For Congress, Archived 12/13/19)
• CISNEROS: “We need to do much more to get corporate money out of politics. I support a constitutional amendment which overturns Citizens United. We also need to increase financial disclosure requirements for political spending.” (Press Release, “Gil Cisneros announces refusal to accept PAC Money to his campaign,” Gil Cisneros For Congress, Archived 12/13/19)
• CISNEROS: “Corporate special interests have dominated our politics for too long, and Congress needs to enact real campaign finance reform.” (Press Release, “Gil Cisneros announces refusal to accept PAC Money to his campaign,” Gil Cisneros For Congress, Archived 12/13/19)
• CISNEROS: “I will work to fix our broken campaign finance laws and fight to get corporate special interest money out of politics.” (Press Release, “Gil Cisneros announces refusal to accept PAC Money to his campaign,” Gil Cisneros For Congress, Archived 12/13/19)
Gil Cisneros received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from PACs and special interest groups:
• Per Political Moneyline, as of August 29, 2020, Cisneros received $722,844 from PACs so far during the 2019-2020 Election cycle.
(Gil Cisneros, 2019-2020 Election Cycle, Political MoneyLine, Accessed 08/29/20)
• Per Political Moneyline, as of August 29, 2020, Cisneros received $83,908 from PACs during the 2017-2018 Election cycle.
(Gil Cisneros, 2017-2018 Election Cycle, Political MoneyLine, Accessed 08/29/20)
As of August 29, 2020, Gil Cisneros received hundreds of thousands of dollars in PAC and special interest money funded in part by insurance and pharmaceutical company PACs:
• As of August 29, 2020, in the 2018 and 2020 cycles, Gil Cisneros’s Congressional Campaign received at least $239,203.00 from PACs and special interest money that are at least partially funded through Corporate PACs. PAC Amount
4MA PAC (Kennedy) $3,000.00
AnniePAC (Kuster) $1,000.00
ADAM PAC (Smith) $9,500.00
AMI PAC (Bera) $4,500.00
AmeriPAC (Hoyer) $15,000
Aspire PAC $5,000.00
At The Table (Meng) $2,000.00
Bridge The Gap PAC (Schneider) $2,000.00
BETTY PAC (McCollum) $1,000.00
Build America PAC (Meeks) $2,000.00
BRIDGE PAC (Clyburn) $7,500.00 CA LUV PAC (Aguilar) $1,000.00
CHC Bold PAC $10,000.00
CHERPAC (Bustos) $2,500.00
Committee For A Democratic Future (DeLauro) $5,000.00
Committee for a Livable Future (Blumenauer) $1,000.00
Committee for Leadership & Progress (Lowey) $3,000.00
Common Good PAC (Suozzi) $1,000.00
DEREK PAC (Kilmer) $1,000.00
DREAM PAC (Sanchez) $7,000.00
DWS PAC (Wasserman Schultz) $5,000.00
Dr Raul PAC (Ruiz) $4,800.00 EDPAC (Perlmutter) $3,000.00
Equality PAC $7,000.00
Evergreen PAC (Delbene) $2,000.00
Fair Shot PAC (Katherine Clark) $4,000.00 FRONTLINE USA (fka USA PAC) (Schiff) $7,500.00 Gateway To Leadership PAC (Sherrill) $2,500.00 Generation GO (Gomez) $1,000.00
Golden Rule PAC (Crist) $1,000.00
HECK PAC (Heck) $1,000.00
HOULAPAC (Houlahan) $2,800.00
Hudson Valley PAC (Maloney) $1,000.00
HUSKY PAC (Courtney) $1,000.00
I Got Your Back PAC (Blunt Rochester) $2,000.00 Individuals Dedicated To Ethics And Science PAC (DeGette) $1,000.00 Inland Empire Strikes PAC (Takano) $1,000.00
JIM PAC (Himes) $1,000.00
JEFF PAC (Hakeem Jeffries) $10,000.00 JIMMY PAC (Panetta) $1,000.00 Keystone Fund (Doyle) $1,000.00 LLEGO-PAC (Gallego) $3,000.00 Madison PAC (Neal) $6,000.00
Make It In America (Garamendi) $6,000.00
New Democrat Coalition Action Fund $10,000.00 OC Jobs & Education (Correa) $1,000.00
PAC To The Future (Pelosi) $20,000.00 People Helping People (Waters) $2,000.00
RICE PAC (Rice) $1,000.00 RAJA PAC (Krishnamoorthi) $3,003.00
SAC PAC (Matsui) $2,000.00
Sea Change PAC (Bass) $3,000.00
SEE CHANGE PAC (McNerney) $1,000.00
Serve America PAC (Moulton) $2,000.00
Serving Our Country PAC (Carbajal) $4,800.00
SHORE PAC (Pallone) $6,500.00 Sunshine Organization For Tremendous Opportunities $500.00 (SOTO PAC) (Soto)
SHP PAC (Scott Peters) $4,800.00 Synergy PAC (Larson) $1,000.00 Together We Rise (Chu) $6,000.00 Valley First Leadership PAC (Costa) $2,000.00 VIBE PAC (Cardenas) $4,000.00
VINE PAC (Mike Thompson) $4,000.00 WHO DAT PAC (Richmond) $1,000.00 Total $239,203.00
AmeriPAC and PAC to the Future have received contributions from insurance company PACs including Nationwide, Travelers, Massachusetts Mutual, Zurich, Liberty Mutual and Allstate:
• As of August 29, 2020, AmeriPAC has received 55 contributions from insurance company PACs including Nationwide, Travelers, Massachusetts Mutual, Zurich, Liberty Mutual and Allstate.
(FEC, “AmeriPAC Contributions,” Accessed 8/29/20)
• As of August 29, 2020, PAC to the Future has received six contributions from insurance company PACs including Nationwide, Travelers, Massachusetts Mutual, and Liberty Mutual.
(FEC, “PAC to the Future Contributions,” Accessed 8/29/20)
AmeriPAC and PAC to the Future have received contributions from pharma company PACs including Abbvie, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Sanofi, Bayer, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead and Amgen:
• As of August 29, 2020, AmeriPAC has received 65 contributions from pharma company PACs including Abbvie, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Sanofi, Bayer, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Amgen.
(FEC, “AmeriPAC Contributions,” Accessed 8/29/20)
• As of August 29, 2020, PAC to the Future has received 19 contributions from pharma compay PACs including Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Amgen.
(FEC, “PAC to the Future Contributions,” Accessed 8/29/20)