Tech PACs flood 67th Assembly race with $6M as Pulido leads spending war

More than $6 million from candidates and special interest groups has poured into California's 67th Assembly District race, with political action committees backed by Google, Meta and venture capital firms spending heavily to boost Cerritos City Councilman Mark Pulido against labor leader Ada Briceño, Voice of OC reported.

The race to replace outgoing Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva has become a test of how concentrated corporate money can reshape an Orange County district that spans Anaheim, Buena Park, Cerritos and parts of Fullerton — with implications for labor and tech policy in Sacramento.

Political action committees have spent more than $3.8 million supporting Pulido, Voice of OC reported. The Grow California PAC — funded by Christian Larsen, executive chairman of cryptocurrency firm Ripple, and Timothy Draper, founding partner of Draper Associates — spent $1.6 million backing the Cerritos councilman. A second committee, California Leads PAC, bankrolled by Google and Meta, added $1.2 million in Pulido's corner.

Meanwhile, outside groups directed more than $952,000 into attack ads against Briceño, who co-leads Unite Here Local 11 and formerly chaired the Orange County Democratic Party. Briceño received just $283,000 in outside support, with Hawaiian Gardens Casino accounting for $221,000 of that total, according to Voice of OC.

Briceño called the spending an attempt to override local voters. "They're obviously trying to buy our seat. This is an assault on the residents of the 67th," she said in a Wednesday interview cited by Voice of OC. Despite the financial gap, she expressed confidence in her campaign's ground game. "The polling shows us in the lead and we're going to continue to fight despite this horrific influx of money into our race. We are knocking on doors, we're meeting voters where they're at and speaking to them about what we're going to do in Sacramento," Briceño said.

The six-candidate field also includes Ali Taj, a former Artesia mayor who raised more than $500,000 without special interest backing; Paulo Morales, a former Cypress police officer and city councilman; Paul Gonzales, an Orange County District Attorney's office employee; and realtor Adrian Oscar Ayub. Pulido has spent $436,000 from his own campaign account since the start of 2025, while Briceño has spent $474,000, Voice of OC reported.

Briceño holds endorsements from the Orange County, Los Angeles County and California Democratic parties. Even so, Pulido's roughly 13-to-1 advantage in outside spending has given him a commanding financial edge as the primary approaches.

The 67th District covers Cerritos, Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma and parts of Fullerton in Orange County, as well as Artesia and Hawaiian Gardens in Los Angeles County.