California isn't known for corruption the way some other states are, but maybe that is changing. Last week there was another FBI raid, this time at the home of a Orange County Supervisor and several other Vietnamese executives connect to a non-profit group.

Federal agents on Thursday raided the homes of Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do and his daughter, as well as several other properties, in an investigation into the alleged improper use of taxpayer money.

At least five locations, including several homes and a restaurant, were searched in connection with allegations made against the local nonprofit Viet America Society in a lawsuit brought by Orange County last week...

The lawsuit accuses executives of the nonprofit, including Chief Executive Peter Ahn Pham, Secretary Dinh Mai, and Do’s daughter, 23-year-old Rhiannon Do, of pocketing more than $10 million in contracts and using the funds to purchase homes in Garden Grove, Buena Park, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and Tustin.

This follows the FBI raid on Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's home in June. The FBI won't comment on what exactly is being investigated but there has been some speculation that it could involve campaign finance violations. We'll have to wait and see. And Earlier this year former LA City Councilman Jose Huizar was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his crimes:

In his plea agreement, Huizar admitted to leading the so-called CD-14 Enterprise, which operated as a pay-to-play scheme in which Huizar — assisted by others — illegally used his office to give favorable treatment to real estate developers who financed and facilitated cash bribes, campaign donations and other illicit benefits.

“For years, defendant operated his pay-to-play scheme in the city of Los Angeles to monetize his public position and leverage his political clout for over $1.5 million dollars in cash bribes, gambling chips, luxury trips, political contributions, prostitutes, extravagant meals, services, concerts and other gifts,” according to a memo filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. “If anyone dared rebuff his call to pay bribes, he punished them and their city projects, threatening developers with indefinitely delayed projects and financial peril.”

But these current cases are just scratching the surface. Today, the NY Times points to evidence of a wave of corruption in California which goes far beyond these recent raids.

Two other members of the City Council, Mitchell Englander and Mark Ridley-Thomas, were convicted earlier on various corruption charges, as was the former head of the city’s Department of Water and Power. A fourth City Council member, Curren Price, is facing charges of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest.

Over the last 10 years, 576 public officials in California have been convicted on federal corruption charges, according to Justice Department reports, exceeding the number of cases in states better known for public corruption, including New York, New Jersey and Illinois.

There are a number of possible explanations put forward for why this is happening, but I'll admit the one that makes the most sense to me is this one:

...political analysts say the Democrats’ present lock on political power leaves little opportunity for Republicans to effectively raise the issue of corruption as a campaign issue.

“When a political party enjoys that much uncontested power, there’s no penalty for stepping over ethical or legal lines,” said Dan Schnur, a former head of the state Fair Political Practices Commission and a former Republican who is now an independent.

California has become a one party state. The California Assembly has 62 Democrats and just 17 Republicans. The State Senate has 31 Democrats and 9 Republicans. So there's not much interest in rooting out political corruption.

One recent exception has been the charges brought against DA George Gascon's top deputy Diana Teran by California AG Rob Bonta. The decision to even bring charges in that case has confused a lot of progressives, some of whom have demanded all the charges be dropped. What good is having a political monopoly in the state if you can't get fellow progressives to look the other way? 

But once the corruption becomes public, all bets are off. Here's a local news report on the Andrew Do FBI raid and pressure for him to resign.