Like many Democrats seeking support from progressive voters, Franky Carrillo – who is running for a seat in the Los Angeles State Assembly – has pledged not to accept campaign donations from oil and tobacco companies when he was interviewed by local Democratic clubs early in his campaign.
What Carrillo didn’t tell them: At the time, he owned up to $820,000 worth of stock in Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Philip Morris, among other fossil fuel and tobacco companies, and used his personal wealth to finance his campaign.
Carrillo claims to have since “completely divested”, without specifying which shares he sold. The California Democratic Party does not accept contributions from the oil and tobacco industries, viewing them as out of step with efforts to advance public health and combat climate change.
Today, Carrillo’s investment portfolio — which he says he financed with money he received for being wrongly convicted of murder in the 1990s — has become an issue in the race for office. Eastside in which two Democrats are vying for a seat in Sacramento.
“I kept my promise to run a campaign without this money,” Carrillo said in a statement to the Times. “I see no contradiction and I have disinvested. Meanwhile, many of these same industries are spending over a million dollars against me and my opponent. »
Franky Carrillo and Jessica Caloza, both Democrats, are competing to represent the Eastside of Los Angeles in the California Assembly.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times))
Carrillo is referring to independent expenditures that Chevron and Pacific Gas & Electric incurred to support Jessica Caloza, who is also a Democrat. Pacific Gas & Electric has also contributed to committees that support Carrillo. Independent spending by groups that lobby at the state Capitol can influence legislative elections, but is not directly controlled by candidates.
Applicants for state office in California must submit a personal financial disclosure statement detailing their sources of income, gifts, investments, and real estate. Caloza did not declare any investments in the disclosure she filed in December 2023.
Carrillo was late in filing his economic declaration and paid the state elections watchdog a $300 fine for missing the deadline to file it before the March primary. After submitting his declaration of economic interests, environmental advocates supporting Caloza expressed concerns about what it showed: shares of seven fossil fuel companies and three tobacco companies valued at a combined $92,000. and $820,000, along with dozens of other investments. (The forms require reporting the value of investments in ranges.)
“We condemn Carrillo for his substantial investments in oil, tobacco and coal that he claims he sold only after those holdings became a campaign issue,” said California Environment Voters, who supported Caloza. written in a letter last month.
“If he has truly divested from these industries, the timing raises serious questions about accountability and transparency. »
On his campaign website, Carrillo says he wants to hold polluters accountable for the health risks they cause to communities and help the state transition to a green economy.
He said he did not know he owned stocks in the fossil fuel and tobacco sectors because financial advisers control his investments. He said he sold in June 2024, but did not specify which shares he sold when interviewed by the Times.
The investments stem from a $10 million settlement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that Carrillo received in 2016.
Carrillo was a teenager when he was wrongly accused of murdering a Lynwood man in a drive-by shooting in 1991. He spent 20 years behind bars before his murder conviction was overturned in 2011 with the help from the Innocence Project, a non-profit organization that fights illicit crimes. beliefs.
“Because I was 16 and poor when I was sent to prison, I didn’t have the opportunity to invest or learn how to invest,” he told the Times. He said he assigned “a significant portion of the settlement” to financial advisers to manage and was “not involved in the day-to-day management” of those investments.
“When it was brought to my attention, I moved my investments and filed the paperwork to correct this,” Carrillo said. “The process took time but was resolved.”
