(Inside California Politics) — Tom Steyer is running in a unique lane in the race to be California’s next governor: a billionaire populist, a progressive businessman.
“We don’t normally see candidates like that in an era where billionaires are not popular people,” Inside California Politics host Nikki Laurenzo asked Steyer this week. “How do you square all of that?”
Steyer, one of more than a dozen Democratic candidates in this year’s crowded field, said that as a businessman, he learned how things worked from the inside.
“As I got into the system and saw it, I got more and more upset about the injustices of the system, the inequalities of the system and the need to change the system,” he said.
After making billions, Steyer walked away, signing the Giving Pledge to donate a majority of his fortune. He became an advocate for progressive causes, bankrolling campaigns for and against propositions in California.
It’s not philanthropy, Steyer said — it’s activism. He said that while other wealthy politicians have quit their job to run for office, he has spent more than a decade working full time for causes he supports.
Steyer has never held office before and first personally entered the world of electoral politics when he ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. He’s self-funding his campaign, too, vastly outspending his rivals — you’ve likely seen one of his ads on television.
Some of those campaign commercials focus on Steyer’s anger with corporations and special interests, groups he said “basically pay for Sacramento.”
“This system is rigged against working people,” Steyer said. “My whole campaign is based on the idea that … working Californians can’t afford to stay in California.”
In the one-on-one interview with Laurenzo, Steyer talked about the need to combat growing income inequality.
“Innovation, entrepreneurship — I love those things. I’m an innovator and entrepreneur,” he said. “So I’m not opposed to people coming here and making a fortune. I’m not opposed to people coming here and building the greatest companies in the world. But they’re citizens of California … so I expect people to pay their fair share.”
Steyer addressed several key proposals in his campaign, including a pitch to build a million affordable homes in four years. Current Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed building 3.5 million units by 2025, a goal the state fell short of.
There’s no silver bullet on housing, Steyer said. Instead, it’s “silver buckshot” — tackling a variety of barriers, including by embracing permit reform, dense zoning and manufactured homes.
“I believe in environmental regulation, but we have too many people regulating, too many permits,” Steyer said.
Contrasting himself with other candidates, Steyer touted his plan to generate more revenue to address the state’s structural deficit. He believes the state could raise $15 billion to $20 billion annually by passing propositions to undo corporate tax loopholes.
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