Charles Munger Jr.

Charles Munger Jr. has contributed about $44 million over the last two decades to oppose gerrymandering in California.  ² A Republican political activist, Munger was the chairman of the Santa Clara County Republican Party from 2012 to 2015. ⁴

Munger founded the Spirit of Democracy PAC which has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting female, Latino, and moderate Republican candidates.  ⁵

Personal Life

Charles Munger Jr. is the sun of Charles Munger, a business partner of Warren Buffett and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. ^{2  3} Munger attended private schools in Los Angeles. ⁵ He is one of 8 children. ⁴

Munger earned a Ph.D. in atomic physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1987. He went on to work for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.  ^{2  4}

Munger lives in Palo Alto with his wife Mandy Lowell. He reportedly visits art museums and listens to folk music.  ⁵

Activism Against Gerrymandering

Charles Munger Jr. has become known as one California’s top good-government philanthropists. He has told the Los Angeles Times that he wanted to “uproot the evil” of gerrymandering, and has called himself a “redistricting reform zealot.”  ⁵

From 2005 through Fall 2025, Munger spent more than $44 million in cash and in-kind contributions to ballot measures in California. Most involved rules for redistricting.  ²

In 2005, then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) proposed Proposition 77, to give district drawing power to a panel of retired judges instead of the legislature. Munger donated $100,000 to the Proposition 77 campaign, which failed.  ^{5  1}

Gov. Schwarzenegger returned in 2008 with a proposed California Citizens Redistricting Commission for state legislative districts in California, a measure to which Munger contributed about $1 million. Common Cause and the League of Women Voters joined Republicans in the effort.  ⁵

In 2010, Munger contributed $12 million to the campaign for Proposition 20, a ballot measure that transferred the drawing of U.S. Congressional maps away from the state legislature to the commission. ⁶ In his 2010 effort, he faced off against billionaire George Soros, labor unions, and Democratic Party leaders. Soros and Democrats backed a competing measure to eliminate the citizens’ panel.  ³

In 2025, Munger established No on Prop 50-Protect Voters First, a political action committee to oppose Proposition 50, an off-year ballot measure designed to transfer the power to draw U.S. Congressional districts back to the state legislature.  ² As of September 2025, he had spent more than $30 million to oppose Proposition 50 in 2025. ²

Munger wrote in the New York Times that he opposes Republican gerrymandering in other states. He wrote, “As a fifth-generation Californian, I am organizing the campaign to oppose Proposition 50, to help California voters preserve free and competitive elections and to give redistricting reform a chance to survive its trial by fire. Even if my opposition fails, I will have given the people an informed choice about Proposition 50, despite the unusually brief window of 75 days between when [Governor Gavin Newsom’s] proposal left the State Capitol and when it appears on the ballot.” ⁷ As of November 2025, Munger has spent nearly $33 million on opposing proposition 50. ⁸

Boards and Activities

Charles Munger Jr. was on the Curriculum Development and Materials Commission for the California Board of Education from 2003 to 2007. While on the commission, he was the chairman of the Mathematics Subject Matter Committee and Science Subject Matter Committee. ²

From 2012 to 2015, Munger was the chairman of the Santa Clara County Republican Party. ⁴

Munger was a member of the board of overseers of the Hoover Institution, a think tank at Stanford University, from 2013 to 2017. ²

From 2013 to 2019, Munger was the chairman of the California Republican Party’s Initiatives Committee. ² Munger was a board member at the Lincoln Club of Northern California. ² He also founded Better Voting Methods. ²

Spirit of Democracy PACs

Charles Munger Jr.’s Spirit of Democracy PAC has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Republican campaigns for the California state legislature. The PAC favored female, Latino, and moderate candidates.  ⁵

In 2012, Munger founded the Spirit of Democracy California, a political action committee supporting candidates in California. He also launched the Spirit of California America, which supports candidates outside of California.  ²

Spirit of Democracy says that “Most of the funding for Spirit of Democracy is provided by its chairman, Charles T. Munger Jr., who is responsible for selecting candidates and approving every independent expenditure done on their behalf, including television, radio and direct mail.”  ²

The organization says it is “working to elect candidates who are committed to building an effective, efficient, functioning government that solves problems and treats tax money with respect.” The Spirit of Democracy California listed 28 candidates it supported between 2012 and 2024. The Spirit of Democracy America listed 10 candidates it supported in the 12-year timespan. ²

Other Political and Advocacy Contributions

From 2001 to 2011, Charles Munger Jr. was California’s third-largest political donor, giving $14 million to 20 Republican candidates, 25 ballot measures, and the state’s Republican Party. ⁹

Munger contributed $100,000 in 2015 to a political action committee backing the presidential campaign of Republican Carly Fiorina, C.A.R.L.Y for America. ²

From 2004 to 2015, Munger gave $70,000 to First Resort, which operates crisis pregnancy centers. ^{9  10}

In 2012, Munger contributed $33 million to a committee supporting Proposition 32, which would have restricted state unions from using member dues to support political activities. ⁹ That year, Munger also supported an unsuccessful attempt to defeat a ballot measure to increase taxes on high earners. ⁵

Munger gave about $83,000 to the Campus Crusade for Christ. ^{9  10} He contributed $3,400 to the Christian Legal Society.  ¹⁰

Munger contributed more than $158,000 to socially right-leaning causes over a 25-year period, for which left-of-center groups opposing Munger’s anti-gerrymandering advocacy have attacked him.  ¹⁰ Opponents have described Munger as an “anti-choice MAGA millionaire” and “a Jack to Trump’s king in a rigged card game.” Gerrymandering advocates also called him an “anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ MAGA millionaire.” ⁵

A Munger spokesperson said Munger “supports a wide variety of causes, particularly those who serve children and families who need extra support.”  ¹⁰

Munger mostly stopped donating to political campaigns in 2017, until returning to spend in 2025 to preserve the state’s independent redistricting commission.  ⁵