[CAPTURE PORTAL] 119TH CONGRESS

// Legislative Integrity Monitor

Goblin House Intelligence

Jim Costa

Democratic · Representative, CA ·21

Score Components

9 LOW

Connection Density 20%

0 → 0

Donor Influence 10%

0 → 0

Silence Risk 25%

0 → 0

Contradiction Risk 25%

18 → 5

Intelligence Volume 10%

49 → 5

Constituency Deviation 5%

0 → 0

Voting Misalignment 5%

0 → 0

% = weight in composite score · Raw component 0–100 × weight = weighted contribution (→) · Sum of contributions = overall score. Hover a row for details.

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: bachelor's degree or higher: 17.2%

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: homeownership rate: 52.1%

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Hispanic population share: 64.9%

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: SNAP participation rate: 28.4%

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: poverty rate: 18%

secondary

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: median household income: $64,764

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[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Proposition 36 — Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act (2024) — passed, margin 68.4%-31.6%

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[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Proposition 1 — Behavioral Health Services and Bond Measure (2024) — passed, margin 50.2%-49.8%

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[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 44-45 (share 0.11)

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[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 62 (share 0.14)

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[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 11 (share 0.185)

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[constituency_baseline] Top employer: Community Health System (Fresno hospitals) (9000 employees)

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[constituency_baseline] Top employer: Wonderful Company (agriculture/food processing) (5000 employees)

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[constituency_baseline] Top employer: County of Fresno (7800 employees)

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[constituency_baseline] District summary: California's 21st Congressional District encompasses portions of Fresno and Tulare counties in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. Home to approximately 758,000 residents, it is a majority-minority district with a 64.9% Hispanic population and a median age of 31.9 — far younger than the national average. The distric

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Voted yea on H.R. 3746 (Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023) on 2023-05-31: Costa voted for the Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal despite its SNAP work requirement expansions and NEPA streamlining provisions that progressive Democrats opposed. He was among 165 Democrats supporting the compromise — consistent with his Blue Dog identity and prioritization of agri

primary · 2023-05-31

Voted yea on H.Res. 713 (Censuring Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and removing her from committees) on 2025-09-17: Costa was one of a small number of Democrats who voted with the GOP majority to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar. The vote passed narrowly and drew criticism from civil rights organizations including CAIR.

primary · 2025-09-17

Voted yea on H.R. 8034 (Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024) on 2024-04-20: Costa voted for $26.38 billion in military aid to Israel. His top career donor is AIPAC ($136,472 in 2024 alone). Meanwhile, his majority-Latino district includes progressive activists and younger voters increasingly critical of unconditional military aid. The vote

primary · 2024-04-20

Voted nay on H.R. 1 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) on 2025-07-03: Costa voted against the GOP tax-and-spending bill, citing $1.3 trillion in Medicaid/SNAP/ACA cuts that would disproportionately harm his district (18% poverty, 28.4% SNAP reliance). Yet his top donor sectors — Crop Production ($164,950) and Oil & Gas ($95,000) — supported the bill's permanent ta

primary · 2025-07-03

Voted yea on H.R. 29 (Laken Riley Act) on 2025-01-07: Costa was one of 48 House Democrats — and one of six from California — to support this GOP-led immigration bill requiring mandatory ICE detention for undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes. The vote represents cross-pressure: his district is 64.9% Hispanic with many immigrant families, yet his

primary · 2025-01-07

No connections mapped

Bill	Vote	Date	Alignment
Censuring Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and removing her from committee	yea	2025-09-17	deviating
One Big Beautiful Bill Act	nay	2025-07-03	aligned
Censuring Representative Al Green of Texas	yea	2025-03-06	deviating
Laken Riley Act	yea	2025-01-07	deviating
Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024	yea	2024-04-20	aligned
Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023	yea	2023-05-31	mixed

Last contradiction analysis: Never

statement_vs_disclosure 60/100

Platform: "Costa positions himself as a progressive ally on key votes, voting with the AFL-CIO 92-97% of the time in recent cycles and receiving a lifetime labor"

Vote: on "Costa was one of only 10 House Democrats — and one of only two from California — to vote with Republ"

Costa votes with labor and progressive priorities on economic issues yet repeatedly breaks from his party on high-profile Trump-era culture-war votes — censuring Al Green, censuring Ilhan Omar, and supporting the Laken Riley Act. His district (64.9%

Last silence detection: Never

No active silences

No donor interests mapped

No constituency baseline modelled

No platform commitments archived

No committee memberships recorded

Scoring Methodology

The Capture Risk Score is a composite 0–100 index measuring potential regulatory capture of elected officials. It is computed from seven weighted components:

Component	Weight	Signal
Silence Risk	25%	Topics where donors have interests but the official is silent
Contradiction Risk	25%	Stated positions contradicted by voting record (recent findings boosted)
Connection Density	20%	Mapped relationships to lobbyists, contractors, interest groups
Intelligence Volume	10%	Documented facts from verified sources (logarithmic scale)
Donor Influence	10%	Distinct donors with interests overlapping committee jurisdiction
Constituency Deviation	5%	Gap between district priorities and legislative focus
Voting Misalignment	5%	Floor votes contradicting stated platform positions

Each component produces a raw score 0–100. The weighted sum yields the overall score. Tier thresholds: Critical ≥ 45, High ≥ 36, Elevated ≥ 22, Moderate ≥ 10, Low < 10.

Officials without at least 2 documented facts, 1 contradiction analysis, 1 voting record, or 1 constituency baseline are marked Insufficient Evidence and excluded from numeric ranking.

Contradiction findings from the last 180 days receive a recency boost. High-severity contradictions (score ≥ 70) receive additional weight.

Full methodology: /congress/methodology

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