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)
