Fact check: Is Congressional candidate Bryan Caforio a recent resident of California's 25th Congressional District?
March 3, 2016
Updated March 7, 2016
By Humberto Sanchez
In the race to represent California’s 25th Congressional District, Democrat Bryan Caforio is seeking to challenge GOP incumbent Rep. Steve Knight. The National Republican Campaign Committee has claimed on February 1, 2016, that Caforio is a political outsider who, according to the group, is “so obviously disconnected from the 25th District that not even one resident donated to his campaign.”[1]
So is it true that Caforio is a recent resident of the district and no 25th District constituents have donated to his campaign?
We researched the claim and found that Caforio moved to the district in November 2015, a month before he announced his plans, and filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to run against Knight.[2][3][4] We also reviewed the 2015 year-end financial report, the most recent disclosure that Caforio’s campaign filed with the FEC, and found that, of his 114 individual contributors, one 25th District resident had donated to the campaign in 2015. That constituent was his wife.[5] Caforio's campaign disputed the NRCC's claim and identified two more contributors who reside in the district. Each had given less than $200, which is the threshold for reporting the donor's information to the FEC.[6] One of the donors identified, Gonzalo Freixes, is listed in FEC documents as the campaign treasurer.
Background
California’s 25th Congressional District sits north of Los Angeles. It includes the city of Simi Valley, Calif., in the west and stretches east through the Antelope Valley to the Mojave Desert.[7] The district is currently represented by freshman Republican lawmaker Steve Knight in the U.S. House of Representatives. Knight won the seat in 2014 after long-time Republican Congressman Buck McKeon decided not to seek reelection.
California’s 25th District was added to the list of most competitive seats in April 2015 by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a group that aims to help elect Democrats to the House of Representatives.[8] Under its Red to Blue program, “the DCCC has been strategically recruiting candidates in Republican-held districts that will be competitive this cycle,” Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) said in an op-ed in The Hill on February 12, 2016.[9]
The DCCC's focus on the district stems, in part, from the fact that Democrats and Republicans are almost evenly split in the district. According to the California Secretary of State, 36.5 percent of registered voters in the district are Democrats and 37.1 percent are registered as Republicans.[10]
In May the NRCC, the House GOP’s campaign arm, responded by putting Knight on their list of vulnerable incumbents. The NRCC’s Patriot Program provides candidates with additional support, including financial and campaign strategies.[11]
Conflict Among Democrats
Caforio, a 32-year-old trial lawyer with Susman Godfrey LLP in Los Angeles, announced his candidacy in December 2015, joining three others already seeking to challenge Knight.[3]
Caforio’s candidacy reportedly sparked a rift between local and national Democratic Party officials. One of the candidates, Lou Vince, a Los Angeles County police lieutenant and member of the Agua Dulce, Calif., town council, had been working with local Democratic Party officials and had their support.[12][13] Vince filed his statement of candidacy with the FEC in May 2015.[14]
But Vince was asked to consider dropping out by national party officials, including Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) who is chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, after Caforio entered the race, according to The Los Angeles Times.[12][15] Vince, whom the paper said has struggled to raise funds, refused to drop out and won a pre-endorsement conference among local party activists making him a strong favorite to win the endorsement from the state party.[12]
At least one of Vince’s local Democratic supporters charged that Caforio was an outsider because he only recently moved to the district.[12]
"There was a lot of negativity about the new guy. He is a carpetbagger," Jodie Cooper, executive vice president of the Simi Valley Democratic Club told The Los Angeles Times. "[Vince] really made a concerted effort to meet with people and then all of a sudden this guy comes in with money?"[12]
Caforio's campaign disputed some of the claims made in The Los Angeles Times article, including that Lofgren was involved in pressuring Vince to leave the race and the level of Vince's support with local officials. The campaign said Caforio had received the endorsement of Shawn Terris, who is chair of the Ventura County Democratic Party, on January 12 and the Los Angeles County Young Democrats on February 6.[16] The campaign also touted the support of congressman from neighboring districts, such as Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) of the 30th District, and from SEIU California, which endorsed Caforio on March 1.[17]
Republicans Pick Up on Divide
The NRCC seized on the disagreement between the local grassroots and national establishment Democrats and issued a series of posts making similar allegations that Caforio was an outsider and had little connection to the district he is seeking to represent.
Caforio acknowledged he only recently moved to the district in November, a month before he announced his intention to run for Congress. But he stressed that his wife has roots in the district.[2] According to The Los Angeles Times, she has a relative, Leo Harris, who was a pioneer in the Antelope Valley, and ran a general store.[18]
The NRCC also highlighted Caforio’s fundraising, which did not include any individual contributor who resided in the 25th District, except for his wife. Caforio raised $138,835 last year, according to his 2015 year-end filing with the FEC. Of that total, he received $42,850 from attorneys at Susman Godfrey LLP, the law firm where he works. He also collected $36,950 through ActBlue, a Democratic online donation website. Caforio also listed a $2,000 donation from Lofgren’s reelection campaign.[5]
Conclusion
The NRCC has charged that Democrat Bryan Caforio, who is vying to challenge Republican incumbent Steve Knight to represent California’s 25th Congressional District, is a political outsider who is “so obviously disconnected from the 25th District that not even one resident donated to his campaign.”[1]
So is it true that Caforio is a recent resident of the district and no 25th District constituents have donated to his campaign?
Yes, it is true. Caforio moved to the district in November, a month prior to announcing his plans and filing papers with the Federal Election Commission to run against Knight.[2][3][4] We also reviewed the 2015 year-end financial report that Caforio filed with the FEC and found that one of his 114 individual donors was a resident of the 25th District and that was his wife.[5] Caforio's campaign, which contested the NRCC's claim, provided two more contributors who reside in the district. Each had given less than $200, which is the threshold for reporting the donor's information in FEC disclosures.[6] One of the donors identified, Gonzalo Freixes, is listed in FEC documents as the campaign treasurer.
Launched in October 2015 and active through October 2018, Fact Check by Ballotpedia examined claims made by elected officials, political appointees, and political candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. We evaluated claims made by politicians of all backgrounds and affiliations, subjecting them to the same objective and neutral examination process. As of 2026, Ballotpedia staff periodically review these articles to revaluate and reaffirm our conclusions. Please email us with questions, comments, or concerns about these articles. To learn more about fact-checking, click here.
Sources and Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 NRCC Blog, "Bryan Caforio gets ZERO donations from CA-25 residents," February 1, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Santa Clara Valley Signal, "Dollars roll in, rhetoric ramps up for local congressional race," February 7, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Los Angeles Times, "Democratic lawyer announcing challenge to GOP Rep. Steve Knight," December 10, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 filed papers Federal Election Commission, "Caforio Statement of Candidacy," accessed March 1, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Federal Election Commission, "Itemized Individual Contributions - CAFORIO, BRYAN," accessed March 1, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Federal Election Commission Campaign Guide, "Congressional Candidates and Committees," accessed March 7, 2016
- ↑ Congressman Steve Knight Representing California's 25th District, "District," accessed March 1, 2016
- ↑ DCCC, "CALIFORNIA’S STEVE KNIGHT ADDED TO DCCC’S “ONE-TERM WONDER” LIST," April 28, 2015
- ↑ The Hill, "'Red to Blue': The DCCC’s 2016 offensive battlefield," February 12, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Report of Registration - January 5, 2016," accessed March 1, 2016
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times, "Republicans add Californians to list of its vulnerable House members," March 3, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 The Los Angeles Times, "Why activists in these California swing districts are feuding with the national Democratic Party," January 31, 2016
- ↑ Blue America, "Who Decides Who The Candidate Will Be-- Locals Or The DCCC?" January 24, 2016
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Vince Statement of Candidacy," accessed March 1, 2016
- ↑ Zoe Lofgren Congresswoman Representing California's 19th District, "Biography," accessed March 1, 2016
- ↑ Facebook, "Bryan Caforio for Congress," accessed March 7, 2016
- ↑ Bryan Caforio for Congress, "SEIU CALIFORNIA ENDORSES BRYAN CAFORIO FOR CONGRESS," March 1, 2016
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times, "Newsletter Essential Politics: Lawmakers squabble over $300 million for the drought amid shutdown threat," December 9, 2015
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