Folsom Money Watch
Follow the Money
Follow the Money

A Nonpartisan Public-Records Project · Updated July 2026

Who funds Folsom's council member elections?

Folsom caps direct campaign contributions at $150 per contributor — whether an individual, a business, or a PAC — one of the strictest limits in California. So the real money arrives another way: independent expenditure committees funded by outside interest groups, including homebuilders, developers, chambers of commerce, and unions. Every dollar figure below comes from official campaign filings with the Folsom City Clerk; election results come from Sacramento County's certified returns. Click any figure to read the source document yourself.

$292,977independent spending reported in Folsom council races, 2022 & 2024 (FPPC Form 496)
$248,792of it — 85% — from building-industry & chamber-of-commerce committees
$37,175reported spent opposing candidates (Barbara Leary & Hla Elkhatib, 2024)
$150the most any single contributor — individual, business, or PAC — may give a Folsom council candidate directly (Measure V, 1994)

// A note before you read on: independent expenditures are legal, disclosed, and — by law — made without the candidate's involvement. No candidate controls the money spent for them, or against an opponent. Nothing on this site should be read to state or imply that any candidate directed, coordinated, requested, or is responsible for any independent expenditure — for or against anyone. We simply show, in one place, what the public filings say.

01

The sitting council, follow the money

For each member: what their own committee raised in their winning election year (the $150-cap money), how much of it was their own personal loans, and what outside committees spent on their behalf. Bars show the total money behind the win — one color key, below, runs through every figure, bar, and chart on this page. Sources link to the actual filings. Independent expenditures are lawful, are made without candidate coordination, and are described here exactly as the spending committees reported them; no wrongdoing by any candidate, committee, or donor is alleged or implied.

Own money — donations Own money — self-loans Business & industry IEs for them Union IEs for them Money against them / for opponent
Mike Kozlowski official photo

Mike Kozlowski

District 1 · Elected 2018 · Re-elected 2022

2022 re-election · District 1

$9,737own committee raised (CY 2022) — $5,975 of it self-loans
$18,252builder + chamber IE support for him (NSBIA $8,951 · JobsPAC $9,301)
$6,707firefighters union IE support (Local 522)
Own money: donationsOwn money: self-loansBuilder/chamber IEsUnion IEs
Funding profileBuilding-industry and chamber committees reported the bulk of the outside spending supporting his 2022 re-election, with the firefighters' union reporting the rest. His own fundraising was largely self-loans — $5,975 of the $9,737 his committee reported — with the remaining contributions arriving at or under the $150 cap from development, real-estate, chamber, and trade sources, three Laborers' union PACs, and individual donors.
Justin Raithel official photo

Justin Raithel

District 2 · Mayor 2026 · Elected 2024

2024 election · District 2 (won 39.6% – 31.1% – 29.4%)

$30,638own committee raised (CY 2024) — $15,000 self-loans
$60,461builder/chamber IE support for him (NSBIA $19,473 · JobsPAC $25,998 · Metro Chamber PAC $14,990)
$5,767firefighter signs $2,515 + deputy-sheriffs'-association-funded canvassing $3,252
$18,596separately, the NSBIA committee reported mail opposing his opponent Hla Elkhatib (independent of his campaign)
Own money: donationsOwn money: self-loansBuilder/chamber IEsUnion IEs
Funding profileBusiness and chamber committees reported more independent spending in support of his 2024 run than for any other current council member. Half his own 2024 treasury was self-loans; the large majority of his donations were direct contributions from individuals, alongside ten PAC, committee, and local-business checks at the $150 cap.
Sarah Aquino official photo

Sarah Aquino

District 3 · Elected 2018 · Re-elected 2022

2022 re-election · District 3

$21,639own committee raised (CY 2022) — $6,700 self-loans
$17,126builder + chamber IE support for her (NSBIA $8,996 · JobsPAC $8,129)
Own money: donationsOwn money: self-loansBuilder/chamber IEs
Funding profileChamber and builder committees reported the independent expenditures shown above supporting her 2022 re-election. Her committee's donors — individuals, PACs, and business committees alike — all gave at or under the $150 cap.
Barbara Leary official photo

Barbara Leary

District 4 · Elected 2024

2024 election · District 4 (won 46.8% – 41.2% – 12.0%)

$22,080own committee raised (CY 2024) — ~140 itemized individual contributions; self-loans fully repaid
$18,579NSBIA committee mail reported opposing her
$74,772IE support behind her opponent Jim Ortega (NSBIA, JobsPAC, Metro Chamber, "Business Leaders" committee, firefighters)
Leary's own moneyIE money against her or for her opponent
Funding profileSmall-dollar and civic-organization funded. In 2024 the NSBIA committee reported mail opposing her, and roughly $75K in independent expenditures supported her opponent. She won. Her own money came almost entirely as direct contributions from individuals and local civic organizations, with no developer or building-industry money and only a few small business checks at or under the cap.
Anna Rohrbough official photo

Anna Rohrbough

District 5 · Vice Mayor 2026 · Elected 2022

2022 election · District 5 (defeated Kerri Howell by 266 votes)

$7,677own committee raised (CY 2022) — every itemized donor an individual, $50–$150
$7,808firefighters union IE support for her (Local 522: signs, mail, door hangers)
$35,389builder/chamber IE money behind her opponent (NSBIA $26,965 · JobsPAC $8,424)
Rohrbough's own moneyUnion IE for herBuilder/chamber IE for her opponent
Funding profileZero PAC or business money in 2022: every contribution came from individual donors, plus a $1,000 net self-loan. The firefighters' union reported independent expenditures supporting her, while builder and chamber committees reported their spending behind her opponent.
02

How money actually moves in Folsom

Three rules explain nearly everything on this page.

The $150 cap makes candidates poor…

Folsom's Measure V (1994) limits any contribution to a council campaign to $150. The winning campaigns of 2022 and 2024 raised between roughly $7,700 and $31,000 — and much of that is often the candidate's own money loaned to their committee.

…so outside committees carry the race

Independent expenditure (IE) committees may spend unlimited amounts for or against candidates, as long as they don't coordinate with them. In 2024 IE committees reported $201,307 — more than every candidate combined raised.

The same funders appear every cycle

In both recent council elections (2022 and 2024), the same two committees — one sponsored by a regional homebuilding-industry association, the other by a local chamber of commerce — were the dominant outside spenders. Their own filings disclose where that money comes from, itemized contributor by contributor, in the reports archived on this site and listed in the ledger below.

03

The November 2026 ballot

Districts 1, 3, and 5 vote this November 3. Candidate filing opened July 13, 2026.

District 1Seat on ballot
Mike Kozlowski
Mike KozlowskiIncumbent · seeking re-election IncumbentBuilder/chamber IE support (2022)
Chad Vander Veen
Chad Vander VeenChallenger · filed candidate intention June 1, 2026 (as Hans C. Vander Veen, filing 216860908) Funding not yet reported
Kozlowski enters with $1,911.95 cash on hand and no 2026 fundraising reported through June 30, 2026 (Form 460, filing 216988732).
District 3Seat on ballot
Sarah Aquino
Sarah AquinoIncumbent · filed 2026 candidate intention June 23, 2026 (Form 501, filing 216924827); no 2026 committee yet IncumbentBuilder/chamber IE support (2022)
Jag Nagendra
Jag NagendraChallenger · committee "Jag Nagendra for Folsom City Council 2026" filing since 2024 (candidate intention 214425394) Funding profile not yet analyzed here
District 5Seat on ballot
Anna Rohrbough
Anna RohrboughIncumbent Vice Mayor · committee reported $10,190 raised Jan–Jun 2026 — $9,190 in contributions (itemized donors all individuals) plus a $1,000 self-loan (Form 460, filing 217004543) Incumbent
Justin Hurst
Justin HurstFiled candidate intention Jan 21, 2026 (Form 501, filing 215517034) Funding not yet reported
04

Follow the money, candidate by candidate

Each bar is the total reported money behind a candidacy in the candidate’s most recent race: the candidate’s own committee fundraising (Form 460, calendar year of the election, self-loans included) stacked with independent expenditures that committees reported making in support of them (Form 496). Independent expenditures are made without candidate coordination. The chart shows the five sitting council members and the two 2024 challengers in their races’ IE crossfire; three other candidates with ledger entries are noted below the chart rather than charted.

Candidate’s own committee money (incl. self-loans) IEs reported in support — business/industry committees IEs reported in support — public-safety union committees ✻ IEs reported in opposition (shown as note, not in bar)
Show the exact numbers behind each bar
Candidate (race)Own committee¹Business-cmte IEs²Union-cmte IEs²Bar totalIEs opposing³
Justin Raithel (2024, D2)$30,638.00$60,460.86$5,766.87$96,865.73—
Jim Ortega (2024, D4)$14,679.00$72,257.42$2,514.88$89,451.30—
Sarah Aquino (2022, D3)$21,638.91$17,125.61—$38,764.52—
Mike Kozlowski (2022, D1)$9,737.19$18,252.26$6,706.77$34,696.22—
Hla Elkhatib (2024, D2)$34,095.00——$34,095.00$18,595.85
Barbara Leary (2024, D4)$22,080.23——$22,080.23$18,579.05
Anna Rohrbough (2022, D5)$7,677.00—$7,808.38$15,485.38—

¹ Form 460 Summary Page Line 5, Column B (calendar year of the election), final filing of that year; self-loans included. Ortega and Elkhatib totals from filings 214423990 and 214424265, archived here. ² Sum of Form 496 entries in the ledger below reported as supporting that candidate. Five 2024 JobsPAC reports left the candidate box blank; they are attributed per each report’s own expenditure description ("support District 2/4 candidate” = Raithel/Ortega) and one $8,132.11 report naming no candidate is excluded from every bar. Opposition spending is never added to any candidate’s bar. ³ Form 496 entries reported as opposing the candidate, shown for context only. Rounded to the cent as filed; totals reproducible by filtering the ledger.

Business/industry committees here are the NSBIA Committee for Home Ownership, Folsom Chamber JobsPAC, Sacramento Metro Chamber PAC, and the 2024 “Sponsored by Business Leaders” committee, per each committee’s own sponsor identification. Union committees are Fire Fighters Local 522, the Deputy Sheriffs Association PAC, and the deputy-sheriffs'-association-funded Citizens for Accountable Local Government. Also in the ledger but not charted: committees reported $35,389 supporting Kerri Howell and $6,388 supporting Bill Miklos in 2022, and $15,000 supporting Dustin Silva in 2024 (their own-committee totals are not compiled here). Every underlying report is in the ledger below.

05

The complete independent-expenditure ledger

Every FPPC Form 496 independent-expenditure report filed in a Folsom City Council race, 2022 & 2024: 38 filed documents, itemized here into 47 candidate-level entries (some documents contain multiple reports or name more than one candidate). Click a filing ID to open our archived copy of the original document.

FiledCommitteeCandidateFor / AgainstAmountWhat it boughtFiling

Amounts are per-report itemized expenditures, transcribed from the filings. Five 2024 JobsPAC reports left the candidate-name box blank; candidates shown are drawn from each report's own expenditure description (e.g., "support District 2 candidate") and flagged with an asterisk. Totals here will not match committee-level cumulative boxes exactly where filers' own arithmetic differs.

06

See an issue? Tell us.

This site exists to present the public record accurately. If any figure, name, characterization, or source looks wrong — or missing context — please say so. Every submission is reviewed, and confirmed errors are corrected promptly and noted.

07

Methodology & sources

  1. Primary source: the City of Folsom public campaign-disclosure portal (NetFile), which hosts every FPPC Form 460 (committee statements), 496 (independent expenditures), 497 (late contributions), 461 and 501 filed with the City Clerk. The IE reports and committee statements cited here were downloaded from that portal in July 2026 and transcribed. Filing IDs on this site link to our archived copies of those documents (served from this site so links never break); the same records are on the City portal under the same IDs.
  2. "Builder/chamber" classification covers the NSBIA Committee for Home Ownership, Folsom Chamber JobsPAC, Sacramento Metro Chamber PAC, and the 2024 "Sponsored by Business Leaders" Ortega committee — based on each committee's own sponsor identification and its itemized contributor lists (Schedule A / Form 497), which are quoted on this page.
  3. "Union" classification covers Fire Fighters Local 522 PAC, the Deputy Sheriffs Association PAC, and the deputy-sheriffs'-association-funded Citizens for Accountable Local Government.
  4. Candidate totals are Form 460 Summary Page Line 5 ("Total contributions received"), Column B calendar-year-to-date, from the final filing of each election year; self-loan figures from Schedule B.
  5. Election results from Sacramento County certified results as reported by the City of Folsom and local press.
  6. Pre-publication verification: every contributor named on this page was traced to a specific itemized line (Form 460 Schedule A, Form 497, or Form 496 Part 3) in the archived filings, July 2026.
  7. Attribution rules: IE amounts are attributed to a candidate only as "support" or "oppose" exactly as the filing states (or, where a filer left the candidate box blank, per the filing's own expenditure description — those entries are marked in the chart notes). Opposition spending is reported separately and never counted toward any candidate's support totals. Candidate names are normalized to their official spellings; e.g., one committee's filings spell "Rathel" for Councilmember Raithel.
  8. Scanned filings were transcribed by hand/machine and double-checked against each form's own cumulative totals; where a filer's arithmetic is internally inconsistent, we transcribed exactly what the form says and flagged it. Corrections welcome — use the "See an issue?" form; every submission goes directly to the project team.
What this site is — and isn't This is a nonpartisan public-records project. Independent expenditures and PAC contributions described here are lawful and publicly disclosed; nothing on this page alleges wrongdoing by any candidate, committee, or donor. Candidates do not control independent expenditures made on their behalf, and no coordination is implied. All candidates and committees are presented using the same public data. Official portraits are public records from folsom.ca.us. This site is not authorized, funded, or directed by any candidate, campaign committee, or the City of Folsom.
08

About this project

Folsom Money Watch is an independent, unpaid, nonpartisan public-records project run by a Folsom resident. It exists to make the public campaign-finance filings for Folsom City Council elections easier to read — nothing more.

It takes no money and buys no advertising. No one is paid to produce it, it accepts no contributions, and it purchases no promotion or ads. It is not a campaign, a committee, or a political action group, and it neither raises nor spends money to support or defeat anyone.

No one it covers runs, funds, or directs it. Folsom Money Watch is not authorized, funded, or directed by any candidate, campaign committee, political party, or political club, and none of them reviews or approves what appears here. Its author, like many people who follow local politics closely, has civic and political involvements of his own — the method is built so they don't matter: every candidate and committee is presented from the same public filings, using the same method.

It reports; it does not advocate. This site describes what the public filings say. It does not tell anyone how to vote, does not endorse or oppose any candidate, and does not allege wrongdoing by any candidate, committee, or donor. The independent expenditures and PAC contributions described here are lawful and were publicly disclosed by the filers themselves.

Corrections & contact. Accuracy matters. If anything looks wrong, please use the corrections form — every submission goes straight to the project team and is reviewed promptly. The corrections form is the way to reach the project.

Use of this site is subject to our Terms of Use. Official council portraits are public records from folsom.ca.us; challenger photos are used solely to identify the candidate. See the methodology for exactly how every figure was sourced.