CALIFORNIA — Xavier Becerra's gubernatorial campaign posted a web page titled "Voters Need to Know" late Tuesday that contrasts the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary's background with that of billionaire rival Tom Steyer. The page is an example of "red boxing," a tactic used to skirt a campaign finance prohibition on communication between campaign committees and outside groups.

Under Supreme Court rulings, independent expenditure committees can accept unlimited donations, while candidate campaign committees have contribution limits. In the 2026 election, California gubernatorial candidates can accept a total of $78,400 from each donor for the primary and general elections combined. Campaigns have long sent signals to independent expenditure committees about messages to highlight, venues for communications and the voters to target.

"What we're looking at with the Becerra web page is a textbook example of efforts to circumvent rules that disallow such coordination. It's specifically calling out particular messaging and particular ways of communicating with voters as a way to get Super PACs, nominally independent spenders, to do the bidding of the campaign," said Aaron McKean, senior legal counsel for campaign finance at the Campaign Legal Center.

The page contrasts Becerra's humble roots with Steyer's background and highlights Steyer's hedge fund's investments in fossil fuel, tobacco, private prisons and casinos. It also suggests rebuttals to a Steyer ad attacking Becerra. The page states, "There are countless examples. They all tell the same story." It also states, "Progressive voters on the go need to see Facebook (and other) content showing Democrats coalescing behind Xavier Becerra as the Democrat in the race."

Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor and director of the Safeguarding Democracy program, said, "It's a way of technically complying with the law while still helping Super PACs craft their message." Hasen added, "It's epidemic. It's absolutely standard procedure." "Now that people are taking [Becerra] seriously, and if he's getting Super PAC support, then this is a good way to telegraph what he thinks are his strong points without actually communicating with those groups," he said. Two independent expenditure committees are being formed to back Becerra's candidacy, including one associated with Gavin Newsom's longtime political advisors. Becerra recently jumped nine points in a state Democratic Party poll, tying with Steyer at 13%.

Dan Schnur, former chair of the Fair Political Practices Commission, questioned the purpose of the page. "The logical question is are they informing everyday voters who came to the Becerra website for information about Tom Steyer, or is it a potentially underhanded way of providing information to independent committees?" he said. "Aside from the legality or the morality of this type of tactic, putting the information in a literal red box was probably not the best idea. An actual red box is a very visible red flag," Schnur said.

According to a 2024 article in the Election Law Journal, more than 200 candidates for federal office used red boxing during the 2022 midterm election and often received greater financial support from independent expenditure committees than candidates who did not. Any complaint filed with the election integrity watchdog would almost certainly not be resolved before the June 2 primary election, with ballots set to arrive in voters' mailboxes in the coming days.