Tom SteyerTom Steyer

It’s no understatement to say that this cycle’s governor’s race has been a whirlwind. Multiple, potentially field-clearing candidates, like California’s “top cop” and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, and incumbent Attorney General Rob Bonta, declined to run. One of the Democratic frontrunners and darling of California's Bearstar (https://bearstarstrategies.com/) Democratic establishment, Representative Eric Swalwell, has been credibly accused of sexual assault and misconduct and dropped out of the race.

So, who does that leave Californians with? After Swalwell’s disgraceful exit, the Democratic establishment (and corporate donors) almost immediately began supporting a candidate they had formerly urged to drop out (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-03/california-democratic-leader-urges-weak-gubernatorial-hopefuls-to-bow-out), former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. Becerra’s résumé is certainly long; he has been in some kind of public office almost uninterrupted since 1990. His milquetoast policy platform promises very little change from the status-quo, and during this time as HHS Secretary, he largely refused to take more progressive action. With his deep ties to the Democratic establishment, Becerra is more of the same disappointing corporate Democrat we’re used to.

There is also former mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, who dropped his hair dye and picked up an infusion of funds from the oil lobby for another shot at governor. His 2026 race seems to be even more successful than his 2018 race and the most notable thing he’s done so far is pick up the endorsement from historically unpopular and scandal-ridden current mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass. Let’s also not forget that Villaraigosa’s career as mayor was marked by the rapid privatization of LA’s public school system, which is a nonstarter.

Fresh off the heels of her failed campaign for US Senate, former Representative and whiteboard warrior Katie Porter has tried to use her firebrand credentials to stake out a lane in the race for governor. However, she refuses to support many progressive priorities - such as the CA DSA-endorsed billionaire tax and closing the commercial property tax loophole (https://www.evolve-ca.org/close-the-loophole) - and has historically supported Israel, even saying she was “extremely impressed” by Benjamin Netanyahu (https://mondoweiss.net/2023/03/rep-katie-porter-pushed-for-dem-delegation-to-meet-with-netanyahu-says-she-was-extremely-impressed/). Late last year, her campaign was rocked by accusations that she mistreated her staffers with videos circulating of the verbal abuse (https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/08/katie-porter-tears-into-staffer-new-video-00598942). She seems to mostly have shrugged off that scandal and continues to be one of the leading contenders for governor.

Tony Thurmond, the current State Superintendent of Public Instruction, is technically also still running. However, he has consistently polled in the low single-digits (like… 1% (https://cadem.org/california-democratic-party-releases-new-california-voter-index-tracking-survey/)) and has no chance of even seeing the runoff. Additionally, any progressive should remember Thurmond’s silence regarding AB 715, the “Don’t Say Palestine” bill that civil rights groups like CAIR warned would censor pro-Palestinian speech in schools (https://ca.cair.com/updates/ab-715-threatens-to-censor-palestine-in-schools/) (or potentially even mentions of Palestine).

Finally, Tom Steyer is somehow running the most progressive campaign. Despite being a billionaire, he supports taxing the rich and supports the Billionaire Tax (https://tomsteyer.substack.com/p/its-time-for-corporations-and-billionaires) currently on California’s ballot, which CA DSA has endorsed. He has done an about-face from his previous position to now supporting state-level Medicare for All. He has called ICE a “violent extremist group (https://tomsteyer.substack.com/p/how-california-can-put-ice-in-jail)” and outlined how he, as governor, would prosecute ICE agents. He has also been endorsed by a number of major labor unions, including the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers, AFSCME 3299, Unite HERE, the California Nurses Association, and the California Labor Federation, as well as progressive groups such as Our Revolution and Courage California, and former gubernatorial candidate Betty Yee.

Notably, Steyer is one of two Democrats in the race, alongside Tony Thurmond, to explicitly support (https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/11/californias-13-gubernatorial-candidates-disagree-on-banning-transgender-student-athletes/) California’s law protecting trans girls’ participation in girls’ sports; Becerra, on the other hand, glibly stated that “there’s nothing in the Constitution that says that you are entitled to play a sport”, and other Democrats, including Porter, agreed.

However, while Steyer has disavowed AIPAC’s influence on Democratic primaries (although, notably, AIPAC does not involve itself in non-federal races) and acknowledged that Israel is committing war crimes, he has refused to call Israel’s actions in Palestine a genocide and claimed that he “honestly does not know what genocide means.” We find this rhetorical trick to be pulled from the same Zionist playbook that motivates genocide denial across the political spectrum—playing dumb about the daily horrors and atrocities Israel commits is not “progressive” in any way.

Additionally, Steyer is a billionaire. Even if he glibly considers himself a “class traitor” (https://x.com/TomSteyer/status/2047032543866704051), his wealth was earned through the exploitation of the working class. Much of his wealth was also invested in private prisons (https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-2020-tom-steyer-hedge-fund-billionaire-20190711-story.html) and coal mining (https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-2020-tom-steyer-hedge-fund-billionaire-20190711-story.html), accumulated by the same things he now decries.

There are myriad left-wing protest votes one could take (none of which are going to come close to winning), the most prominent of which are Ramsey Robinson and Butch Ware. We highly encourage voters to not cast a protest vote, as the stakes are incredibly high and the chance of the top two candidates both being Republicans is still very real. We especially urge you to not write-in Butch Ware, who failed to qualify for the ballot and has lashed out against Californian Left, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), Peace and Freedom Party (PFP), and DSA. Aside from his previous anti-abortion and transphobic statements, the latter of which he has doubled down on (https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/11/californias-13-gubernatorial-candidates-disagree-on-banning-transgender-student-athletes/) during his run for governor, he also saw it fit to call Shirley Weber, a Black woman, Gavin Newsom’s “house slave” in an ill-executed diss track (https://x.com/ButchWare/status/2037216628367138817?s=20).

However, the most progressive of the current viable candidates for governor is Tom Steyer. Time will tell whether he’s truly a class traitor.

Source (https://www.californiadsa.org/voterguide)

Mr. Steyer's position on key issues meets the criteria for endorsement consideration.

Core Values:

• Pledges to take no money from Super PACs. He is self-funded.
• Tom Steyer has pledged to take no money from AIPAC, developers, fossil fuel corporations or insurance companies.
• Supports and will work for single-payer universal healthcare in California.
• Opposes the Israeli government and opposes monetary aid to Israel for weapons.
• Supports abolishing ICE: "I want to demolish ICE"
• Supports legislation to tax billionaires.

Self-financed. He is taking zero AIPAC or PAC money at all so not beholden to any special interests.

He is endorsed by CNA, Ro Khanna and Ash Kalra, all who support progressive values and Medicare for All, California Environmental Voters and many Environmental Organizations, Alex Lee, Mia Bonta and many more.

Tom Steyer strongly opposes the 2026 war with Iran initiated by Donald Trump, calling it an "unjustified" and "epic failure" that endangers American lives and steals funding from domestic priorities like education and health care. He argues the conflict raises gasoline and food prices, hurts the economy, and represents a dangerous escalation.

His focus throughout his townhalls has been working people, their quality of life and the CA economy. He has not equivocated or refused to answer any questions asked of him.

Source (https://www.ourrevolutioneastbay.org/uploads/1/4/8/6/148671474/questionaire_steyer.pdf)

Yes, the billionaire is the most progressive/“New Deal Dem” option, unfortunately.

After him, it’s Ramsey Robinson > Carolina Buhler > Tony Thurmond > Katie Porter > Xavier Becerra (in order of New Deal Demness. I don’t think anyone outside of these 6 is even worth discussing (on the ballot, as it doesn’t appear to let you rank any candidates outside of the 62 present).

Last Third-Party Poll: 15% (CBS News/YouGov survey)Campaign Funding: $110M (self-funded) + $158k raised from 240 unique donorsEndorsed by: For the People Action, Orange County Justice for Palestine, California Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), California Nurses Association, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California School Employees Association, AFSCME, United Domestic Workers, IATSE (Hollywood crew union), Our Revolution

Does not take war lobby money; supports a billionaire tax. Has called for abolishing ICE with a 5-point plan. His hedge fund Farallon previously invested in fossil fuels and private prison company CoreCivic — he divested in 2006 and later expressed regret. Has publicly criticized AIPAC as "dark money with no place in politics," drawing pro-Israel backlash. Stance on anti-BDS legislation unknown. Pledged to enforce AB-715 at the Skirball Forum.

Primary: Jun 2, 2026

The primary for Governor is a clown car filled with seven mediocre Democrats and two scary Republicans. Because there’s a real chance both slots for the November election could go to Republicans, we urge you to vote strategically. We skipped over some long-shot progressive candidates in favor of a progressive-enough candidate who has the best shot at beating the corporate Democrats now, and winning in November. 

We’re going with Tom Steyer: the straight, white billionaire boomer who’s juuuuust progressive enough. 

At one point we thought about just flipping a coin and choosing between Tom Steyer and Katie Porter. Porter's whiteboard sessions were on point, but we doubt her ability to win: she ran statewide for the U.S. Senate in 2024 and came in third, with only 15% of the vote. As of late April, she’s polling at 9%. Porter was progressive but has moved to the right. While she's gone back and forth on supporting the minimum wage increase, we need someone who will stand firm with workers and everyday Californians. And weirdly enough that's billionaire Tom Steyer.

Tom made his money as a hedge fund trader from 1986 to 2012 profiting off real estate speculation, prisons, and fossil fuels. Since his retirement, he's spent the past 15 years trying to atone for these sins by spending his ill-gotten gains on progressive ballot measures and candidates, with a special focus on climate justice.

We like that Tom has put his money where his mouth is: he has contributed tens of millions of dollars to over a dozen (mostly) progressive statewide ballot measures. In 2016 alone, he spent $10 million to pass progressive laws like Prop 57's juvenile justice and parole reform, and Prop 62's repeal of the death penalty. And just last year, Tom dropped $12 million on Prop 50*, the Democrats’ successful response to the GOP's red state effort to gerrymander the House of Representatives.

In 2013, Tom established the progressive climate change organization NextGen America. Through NextGen, he's spent hundreds of millions of dollars to drive youth voter turnout, finance climate warrior candidates in legislative races, and develop the next generation of climate change leaders. A lot of the climate geeks we trust like Rebecca Solnit (https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/the-case-for-climate-champion-tom-steyer-in-the-california-governors-race/) and Bill McKibben (https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/clean-energy-needs-actual-champions) are excited about Steyer. The fact that PG&E dropped $10M to oppose him speaks volumes. We love his plans on giving the CPUC a backbone to take on the utilities and build a modern, affordable electrical grid.

Tom is a self-financing candidate, and this would be his first time as an elected official. Super-wealthy candidates don’t have to fundraise for their campaigns, and like to claim this affords them some ‘independence’ from ‘special interests,’ but we all know they can become truly unhinged once they buy their way into office. But an important distinction between Tom Steyer and, say, Mayor Daniel Lurie, is that Tom has already put his money to work against special interests, massively funding important parts of left-aligned movements to address the root causes of homelessness, racial policing, and climate change. (https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/the-case-for-climate-champion-tom-steyer-in-the-california-governors-race/) And unlike most billionaires, Tom supports California’s proposed tax on people like him.

If Tom accomplishes even one or two of his lofty campaign promises—if he's able to close Prop 13 corporate property tax loopholes to raise money for public schools, achieve single-payer healthcare for all Californians, or fully fund childcare and free community college—these would be huge progressive victories for our state, and help California stand strong to protect people against the shitstorm coming from Washington. Tom has the support of important labor unions like the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) and the California Nurses Association (CNA). Progressive electeds like Ro Khanna, Betty Yee, and Alex Lee are also supporting Tom’s challenge to corporate Democrats. 

With his self-funded campaign, Tom Steyer has the best shot at surviving the circular firing squad that is our Democratic primary for governor. And if Tom makes it into the top two, and continues forward to the November election? Well, he's just progressive enough for that to count as a win for pissed off voters.

Vote Tom Steyer for Governor!

Source (https://www.theleaguesf.org/blog#Governor)

DSA San Diego strategic vote endorsement

Billionaire environmental advocate and investor who accumulated wealth through hedge fund management involving private prisons and fossil fuel investments. After divesting from those holdings, he established an environmental technology investment firm and became a climate activist, funding various liberal ballot measures. His platform includes challenging investor-owned utility monopolies, raising property taxes on business-owned properties, and implementing fees on artificial intelligence usage to support displaced workers.

Key endorsements: California Nurses Association, California Environmental Voters, California Teachers Association.

My #1 priority is electing one of the Democratic candidates as neither Republican reflects my values. The many Democratic candidates run a risk of the primary resulting in only the two Republicans on the general election ballot. Write in ballots are not allowed in the general election! So, I am focused on those Democrats that I believe have a chance to win: Tom Steyer or Xavier Becerra. While later polls may change my mind, I think Porter and Mahan are out.

Starting with elimination: GOP Steve Hilton seeks to appeal by promising massive tax cuts paid for by cutting “waste and fraud.” It does not hold up. A PPIC survey finds Californians are concerned about the budget, feel their taxes are unfair and too high, and want to increase taxes on the wealthy. Californians spending priorities are health and human services (49%) and K–12 public education (37%); few say prisons (7%) or higher education (6%). While the State should always strive for efficiency and reducing fraud, Hilton’s plan is a gift to the rich and a hammer on the working class. Hilton wants to return to pre-pandemic (2020-21) General Fund spending—to do so, he would need to cut about $82 Billion (36%). Vast majority of General Fund is spent on K-12 schools, debt & pensions, and Medi-Cal; because schools, debt & pension spending is legally required, nearly all cuts would fall on Medi-Cal—directly contrary to what Californians want. Further, total Medi-Cal paid from General Fund in 2025 was $45 Billion—not enough even if totally abolished. (Note: CA cuts to Medi-Cal spending results in matching cut from Federal funds, thus doubling impact on needy Californians). On the tax side, Hilton’s proposed $100K exemption from income tax would reduce tax revenue by $12 to $15 Billion while giving the wealthy a 7.5% flat tax above $100K would reduce tax revenue by another $35 to $45 Billion. The math does not work. Moreover, he wants more spending on prisons, opposes Prop. 13 reform to tax business property, opposes gun controls, and sunsets all regulations. GOP Chad Bianco is an election-denier. ‘Nuff said.

Turning to Democrats: All are anti-Trump and promise to “fight” on Trump’s immigration overreach and attacks on California’s funding and environmental regulations. Both Steyer and Becerra focus on affordability, more housing, lower energy costs, and universal healthcare. However, Steyer provides actual plans to achieve these goals while Becerra just identifies them as priorities. https://www.tomsteyer.com/issues vs https://www.xavierbecerra2026.com/. Moreover, Steyer proposes corporate and wealthy tax increases to pay for it (including reforming Prop 13 to tax business property), while Becerra does not. Either will have trouble making the budget fit their goals, but Steyer does not dodge the need to raise revenue. A major differentiator is Steyer’s commitment to responding to climate change and detailed knowledge of a clean energy future.

Leaving aside policy emphasis, Steyer and Becerra present a choice. Steyer made a fortune in the private sector, turned to advancing public interests, founded NextGen Climate in 2013 to push action on climate, advocating for and financially supported four Propositions (pro Global Warming Solutions, close tax loophole, raise tobacco tax & Prop 50 to respond to Texas gerrymander). He is smart, not beholden to anyone, and committed to improving Californians’ lives—but has not served in government. Becerra has extensive government experience—in the House, as California AG, and Biden’s HHS Secretary. He has extensive healthcare experience, is a careful politician and a reliable Democrat.

My first pick is Tom Steyer. We need someone willing to problem-solve with new ideas and a sense of urgency. While he lacks government experience, he has private sector executive experience that will not accept business-as-usual. He has concrete ideas and is unafraid to take on special interests to benefit all Californians. My second pick would be Xavier Becerra. He is a good man who likely would make incremental progress in addressing California’s needs.

What a godawful mess.

The race to replace termed out Gov. Gavin Newsom has become a prime example of everything wrong with the Democratic Party in California. The former front-runner is a serial sexual harasser and possibly rapist who kept getting elected to Congress because nobody in his own party called him out. Every single candidate still in the race is a YIMBY; every one of them argues that the private market, if deregulated, will produce more affordable housing. There is no Zohran Mamdani in California politics, no Bernie Sanders, no AOC. The two leading progressives, Betty Yee and Tony Thurmond, were able to raise little money and get little traction. Newsom, who cares about nothing except his presidential ambitions, has shown no leadership at all, creating a situation where it’s possible that two Republicans will emerge on top of the primary, leaving no Democrat in the November race.

So now we are faced with supporting the best candidate in the race, a billionaire who made a fortune investing in, among other things, fossil fuels and private prisons.

Electing a billionaire who has no experience running anything remotely the size and complexity of a big city or state has not worked out well in San Francisco.

But Steyer has a lot going for him, including the support of many labor unions and Sanders’ national group, Our Revolution. He has no record in office, but a long record (once he got out of the hedge fund business) of putting money and effort into serious efforts to take on climate change. He is the only major candidate talking seriously about economic inequality and taxing the rich. Those two issues form the basis of the existential threats facing humanity, and it’s encouraging to see a candidate for governor who recognizes that.

He says he wants to reform Prop. 13 by eliminating the loophole that lets big investors like Donald Trump cheat local governments out of critical revenue (https://48hills.org/2020/09/big-real-estate-escapes-360-million-in-annual-sf-taxes/). He also says he supports single-payer health care in California (although Newsom said the same thing when he was running and abandoned that promise the day he took office).

None of the other major candidates are even talking about these issues.

Besides, PG&E is spending $10 million to defeat him. We can’t think of a better reason to support a candidate.

So, with all of our usual caveats (rich people can promise whatever they want, and Newsom’s betrayal on health care is a case in point), the best of the candidates is Steyer, and he has our support.

Source (https://www.sfbg.com/2026/05/06/endorsements-for-the-june-2-election/)

Update! Tom Steyer FTW!

The top two dem candidates are now Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra. Based on how I’ve seen the coalitions in California develop since Swalwell and Yee’s exit, I’m confident in Tom being the progressive choice with policies that focus on revitalizing California and not letting our industries fall to the wayside while residents get priced out of their communities.

Tom also supports the current and future billionaire taxes to fund education and combat charter school takeovers, and smartly highlights that all the major utilities are taking out ads against him. Do you want a candidate that’s already enemies with Chevron and PG&E? I do, and that’s Tom Steyer.

Co-endorsed with Xavier Becerra

VIG listing; Occupation: Climate Advocate

Willing to challenge transportation status quo by tackling highway lobby and fossil fuel industry. Strong climate record.

SD & Imperial Counties Labor Council endorsed

Swalwell=Creepy
Porter= profoundly uncool to treat staff poorly.

With over 50 candidates on the ballot, the California governor’s race is a shitshow. The top two vote-getting candidates move on to the general election in November, but because there are more than a dozen Democrats running vanity campaigns while polling below 5%, there is a very real possibility of two Republicans “winning” the primary with 15% of the vote each and having only their names printed on ballots in November. Looking at the serious contenders, Tom Steyer has one of most detailed and positive visions for California, including my personal hobby horse, eliminating long-term discounts for corporate real estate owners. Tom is a wealthy former financier; I don’t think that’s disqualifying given how he’s spent the last decade+ of his life and how he talks about raising taxes on himself, but if that’s a bridge too far for you, Katie Porter has a similar agenda and a lot less money. Note again that the governor’s race is not ranked choice, meaning you can only pick one candidate.

Listen, I did not want to endorse a literal billionaire. HOWEVER, I feel aligned with his positions and think he is our best shot.

Tom Steyer is a billionaire, but he at least pays lip service to pro-labor policies that he can actually influence as governor.

ethical billionaire-maxxing