Coded messages, ‘red boxing,’ other tactics in California race for governor

Interesting updates It appeared on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra’s campaign website on Tuesday.

Highlighted in bright red text and framed in a red border, it was a game plan to attack one of Becerra’s top rivals in the California governor’s race, billionaire hedge fund founder and environmental activist Tom Steyer.

But was this message being sent to California voters, or to a more specific audience: the operatives who run the newly formed big-money independent committees supporting his campaign?

Becerra’s website may be using a practice known as “red boxing,” which is the way campaigns signal what they want groups other than those supporting them to focus on in their ads and other tactics. This strategy is used to avoid running afoul of laws that prohibit campaigns from directly coordinating with “independent” spending committees.

“What we’re looking at on the Becerra web page is a textbook example of efforts to get around rules that don’t allow for this kind of coordination,” said Aaron McKean, senior counsel for campaign finance at the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on fair elections. “He specifically touts certain messages and certain ways of communicating with voters as a way to get Super PACs, so-called independent spenders, to do the campaign’s bidding.”

Under Supreme Court rulings, independent expenditure committees can accept unlimited donations, unlike candidate campaign committees that have contribution limits. California gubernatorial candidates in the 2026 elections can accept a total of $78,400 from each donor for the primary and general elections.

However, individual organizations are not allowed to communicate; this is a rule that is routinely violated. Campaigns have long sent signals to independent spending committees about the messages they want emphasized, where they hope to see communications and the voters they should target.

“This is a way for Super PACs to technically comply with the law while helping them craft their messaging,” said Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor who directs the “Protecting Democracy” program there. “This is an epidemic. It’s absolutely standard procedure.”

He added that the Supreme Court has created “an illusion of regulation,” but that while billionaires like Steyer can fund their campaigns themselves, it’s no surprise that other candidates are trying to boost their chances with wealthy donors.

“Now people are buying [Becerra] Seriously, and if he’s getting Super PAC support, then that’s a good way to convey what he thinks are his strong points without actually communicating with those groups,” Hasen said. “But that’s not coordination. If there’s no direct contact, they’re not calling each other or talking about it, and they’re posting the information publicly on Twitter, even if it’s encrypted, and everyone you know in the professional world knows about it and no one else does, that still doesn’t violate the law.

Campaigns that use “red boxes” will post information on their websites that are supposedly targeted to voters, but the messages will often be in a language not typically used to communicate with voters. This involves revealing specific campaign messages, sometimes highlighted in a literal red box, suitable for advertising or attacking competitors.

Such practices are becoming increasingly common and increasingly profitable. According to an article dated 2024 titled “Coordination in Plain Sight: More than 200 candidates for federal office used the tactic during the 2022 midterm elections, often receiving more financial support from independent spending committees than candidates who did not adopt the strategy, according to an article titled “Breadth and Uses of ‘Redboxing’ in Congressional Elections” published in the Election Law Journal.

Becerra, the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, was languishing in the 2026 gubernatorial race to replace outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom until former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) stepped down amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. Becerra quickly began to rise in the polls and is now one of the leading candidates.

This week, two independent spending committees are being formed to support Becerra’s candidacy; including one committee associated with Newsom’s longtime political advisers, who declined to comment on the matter.

A Becerra web page titled “What Voters Need to Know” was published late Tuesday. This episode, literally covered in a red box, contrasts Becerra’s humble roots with Steyer’s past. Bullet points highlight Steyer’s hedge fund’s investments in fossil fuel, tobacco, private prisons and casinos.

“There are countless examples. They all tell the same story,” the campaign webpage says, noting that “…progressive voters on the move need to see Facebook (and other) content showing Democrats uniting behind Xavier Becerra as the Democrat in the race.”

The page also takes issue with a Steyer ad attacking Becerra.

While it’s nearly impossible to predict a candidate’s intentions, political communications professor Dan Schnur said his Tuesday night post contained notable details.

“The logical question is, are they informing ordinary voters who come to the Becerra website to get information about Tom Steyer, or is this a potentially covert way of providing information to independent committees,” said Schnur, who served as chairman of the Fair Political Practices Commission from 2010 to 2011. he said. “Regardless of the legality or morality of this type of tactic, putting information in a literal red box was probably not the best idea. … A true red box is a very visible red flag.”

Ballots will begin arriving in voters’ mailboxes within a few days, and the primary will be held on June 2. Even if a complaint is filed with the election integrity watchdog, it will almost certainly not be resolved before the election. Therefore, gambling by circumventing the election law and being fined as a result may be worth a potential strategic escalation in a chaotic and unstable pre-primary election, Schnur added.

A representative from the Fair Political Practices Commission did not respond to a request for comment.

When asked about the new appointment and whether it was an effort to signal two new independent spending committees, Becerra’s campaign responded that the candidate was merely comparing his record to Steyer’s.

“Xavier Becerra has spent his career taking over powerful companies, lowering costs for Californians, and expanding access to affordable health care,” Becerra spokesman Jonathan Underland said. “Tom Steyer spent his money on private prisons and fossil fuel companies. Becerra is the obvious choice for Democrats who want a fighter, not a billionaire who wears California values ​​like a Halloween costume.”

Steyer’s campaign responded that Becerra was following a familiar election playbook.

“Xavier Becerra is signaling to his Big Oil and utility allies how they should spend their millions to distort Tom Steyer’s record,” Steyer spokesman Anthony York said. “Becerra is doing everything he can to evade his history of mismanagement and decades of doing the bidding of powerful interests at the expense of working Californians.”

This is not the first example of questions being raised about coordination between campaigns and outside groups. San José Mayor Matt Mahan is filing a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission for allegedly coordinating his fundraising and campaign strategy with donors of independent expenditure committees that supported his bid. Mahan’s campaign denied the allegations.