There are 3,245 registered lobbyists, 120 legislators.
As a legislative geek, I compared the number of lobbyists to legislators in a number of jurisdiction, including California. First, I looked at the federal and international levels. Then, I turned to states that had readily accessible information and compared them to California.
This article was written by Chris Micheli and originally published by California Globe.
The following are the results:
European Union
720 legislators
12,425 registered lobbyists in 2022
Roughly 17:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
US Congress
535 legislators
13,037 registered lobbyists in 2024
Roughly 24:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
New York
213 legislators
6,113 registered lobbyists in 2024
Roughly 29:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
Massachusetts
200 legislators
1,500 registered lobbyists in 2024
Roughly 8:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
Texas
181 legislators
2,000 registered lobbyists in 2024
Roughly 11:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
Oregon
90 legislators
1,100 registered lobbyists in 2024
Roughly 12:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
Michigan
148 legislators
1,500 registered lobbyists in 2024
Roughly 10:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
Wisconsin
132 legislators
750 registered lobbyists in 2024
Roughly 6:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
Colorado
100 legislators
1,100 registered lobbyists in 2022
Roughly 11:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
Georgia
236 legislators
1,144 registered lobbyists in 2022
Roughly 5:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
Virginia
140 legislators
1,108 registered lobbyists in 2024
Roughly 8:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
California
120 legislators
3,245 registered lobbyists in 2024
Roughly 27:1 ratio of lobbyist to legislator
As can be seen from the summary data above, California has one of the highest number of lobbyist to legislator ratios of all jurisdictions, which is nearly two or three times that of many states.
