Outside groups are spending millions in California’s swing U.S. House races. Will it make a difference?

By Yue Stella Yu (CALMATTERS) – Voters began seeing dueling ads last month in one of California’s most contested congressional districts — a rematch between former Democratic Assemblymember Rudy Salas and GOP Rep. David Valadao. Only a sliver of those ads were paid for by their own campaigns. The candidates have each released a 30-second spot, touting their farming roots and their pledge to represent working families. But in far more TV ads, funded by other political groups, they are portrayed as out of touch with the working class and cast in gloomy monotone color. Outside political organizations, independent from candidates’ campaigns, are buying airtime and driving the spending war between Democratic and Republican candidates in five of California’s tightest congressional races, campaign finance records show. In those close contests from the Central Valley to Southern California, outside groups spent a total of $71 million as of Thursday — almost twice the amount candidates themselves have spent this election, according to data from OpenSecrets, a Washington, D.C.-based campaign finance watchdog group. That money war highlights the importance of California to control of the U.S. House, even though the state is overall safely Democratic, said Jack Pitney, a politics professor at...