MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA: $42.0M on 103,343 FEC receipts

What $41,983,744 on the Mountain View city field covers

$41,983,744 divided by 103,343 is about $406 per itemized line. That mean is arithmetic from the two packet facts. FEC.gov does not publish a median, a unique-donor count, or a party split on this city aggregate. LobbyVault reports $41,983,744 and 103,343.

Santa Clara County’s Mountain View sits on this string as a mid-Peninsula filing city, not as a score of campus or campus-adjacent races. The city total can include a PAC or joint-fundraising committee address when that is the city filers typed. LobbyVault does not recode those rows out of the city string.

A Mountain View total of $41,983,744 does not absorb Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, or Los Altos. Those names are other city strings when filers typed them. State CA stays on the citation so MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA is not merged with Mountain View, Hawaii or Mountain View, Arkansas. The 103,343 lines and the mean near $406 describe this key only.

Mountain View is a contributor city, not a Valley recode

The city is the contributor-city value on FEC itemizations. Filers type it. LobbyVault does not geocode Mountain View against a municipal boundary file. A work address, a mail drop, or a household in a neighboring place that still typed MOUNTAIN VIEW can sit inside $41,983,744.

Amended reports can raise or lower both $41,983,744 and 103,343. If the live Mountain View hub reprints different figures, the newer FEC extract wins.

Not a Palo Alto or Stanford sum

Palo Alto, Stanford, and San Jose keep separate California hubs. Adding them to Mountain View would be a recode. This packet publishes MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA only: $41,983,744 and 103,343 lines.

Nothing here ranks Mountain View against Sunnyvale. Quote the two packet facts for this key only.

What $41,983,744 from Mountain View omits

Unitemized federal contributions do not appear in $41,983,744. Many small gifts never become Schedule A city rows. Citing $41,983,744 as “all federal money from Mountain View” overstates the series.

California state campaigns file under state law. Those receipts are outside $41,983,744 and outside 103,343. Independent expenditures that never appear as contribution itemizations are outside both facts.

ZIP codes under the Mountain View city string

The ZIP directory cuts the same FEC itemized series by five-digit contributor ZIP. A Mountain View city total of $41,983,744 is not automatically the sum of ZIPs that the postal service assigns to Mountain View. Filers can type this city with a ZIP the postal service maps to Los Altos or Sunnyvale, and the reverse.

Do not treat a mean near $406 as proof that Mountain View ZIPs are “mid-dollar donor ZIPs.” This packet has no ZIP list and no income field. Mountain View will keep attracting queries that treat the city as a proxy for Valley residents. FEC.gov stores a contributor-city field. $41,983,744 across 103,343 lines is what that field sums to in this aggregate. If the live hub reprints a different pair, the newer FEC extract wins. Open original reports on FEC.gov when a named Mountain View receipt matters.

How researchers should use the Mountain View hub

Start on the live Mountain View city page, then open ZIP pages if a postal cut is the real question. $41,983,744 is the city-string dollar total in this snapshot. 103,343 is the matching line count. Those two numbers move together when FEC.gov amends a receipt. They do not move because a researcher prefers Palo Alto or Sunnyvale as the “real” mid-Peninsula. Filers typed MOUNTAIN VIEW. LobbyVault indexed MOUNTAIN VIEW. Santa Clara County, Castro Street, and “Silicon Valley” are useful for maps and news copy. They are not FEC dimensions on this hub.

A mean near $406 is only $41,983,744 divided by 103,343. It is not a typical Mountain View household gift, not a typical software-employee gift, and not a typical Castro Street office gift. Occupation is a different FEC field. Recipient is a different FEC field. Party is a different FEC field. None of those fields are in this packet. Do not infer them from the mean. Do not infer turnout. Do not infer that Mountain View is more or less “politically active” than Palo Alto because the line counts differ. Palo Alto is a different city string with its own hub.

Cite the pair in one sentence: contributor city MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, $41,983,744, 103,343 itemized federal contributions, source FEC.gov via LobbyVault. Keep CA on the citation so the key is not merged with another Mountain View. If a later extract on the live hub prints a different pair, discard this snapshot. Original PDFs and electronic filings remain on FEC.gov for any named Mountain View receipt that needs a line-by-line check. California non-federal filings never enter either fact. Unitemized federal gifts never enter either fact. Independent expenditures that are not contribution itemizations never enter either fact. That is the full scope of this city page.

Questions

What is Mountain View’s federal contribution total on LobbyVault?

Itemized FEC.gov receipts listing contributor city MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA total $41,983,744 across 103,343 contributions. That pair is a city-string roll-up of federal Schedule A rows, not a unique-donor count and not a census of Mountain View residents. Unitemized gifts sit outside both figures.

How should I read Mountain View’s 103,343 contributions?

LobbyVault counts 103,343 itemized lines for MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA. That is a line count, not a headcount of unique people. Repeat gifts and memo entries can add rows without adding donors. This packet publishes no unique-donor figure. The matching dollar total is $41,983,744.

Does Mountain View’s total include Palo Alto or Sunnyvale?

Only if the filer typed MOUNTAIN VIEW. Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and Los Altos are separate city strings when they appear that way on the receipt. $41,983,744 is the MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA match. The 103,343 lines follow the same rule. Metro labels are not an FEC dimension on this hub.

Where do the Mountain View facts come from?

Both facts come from FEC.gov itemized contribution aggregates indexed on LobbyVault: $41,983,744 and 103,343 lines. Original reports remain on FEC.gov. California non-federal filings are outside the pair. If a later extract disagrees, the Commission’s filing controls. The mean of about $406 is arithmetic from those two packet numbers.