WASHINGTON (TNND) — Multi-billionaire Tom Steyer, who is a known climate activist, announced that he is running for governor of California, promising to ensure that “corporations pay their fair share.”
“Sacramento politicians are afraid to change up this system,” Steyer said. “I’m not. They’re going to hate this. Bring it on.”
For more than two decades, Steyer ran a hedge-funded, but he departed ways in 2012 to focus his efforts on politics and environmental advocacy. During President Donald Trump’s first term, Steyer spent millions of dollars on advertisements on the “Need to Impeach” campaign, an effort to get voters to sign a petition calling for Trump’s impeachment. Steyer also spent $12 million in advertisements supporting Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Prop 50 ballot initiative, which voters successfully passed. The passed ballot measure allows for Newsom and California Democrats to redraw the state’s Congressional maps lines in favor of Democrats.
Steyer, who possesses a net worth of $2 billion, previously ran for president under the Democratic party in 2020.
In his campaign video, Steyer pledges to tackle the affordability housing crisis in California by launching the “largest drive” to build affordable housing in “history of California,” but no specifics of a plan are mentioned on his campaign website.
Despite Steyer’s various campaigns and initiatives throughout the state, such as the successful passage of a 2016 ballot measure to increase taxes on cigarettes, he lacks the name recognition of many of the other Democratic candidates such as former Rep. Katie Porter. November polling by the U.C. Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies shows Steyer garnering the support of just 1% of voters.
Meanwhile, Porter, the Democratic frontrunner, has seen a 6% drop in support from voters since August. The drop in support coincides with two videos showing Porter acting erratic when she loses her temper during a California reporter and also with a staffer. Many. Democratic insiders and voters have raised concerns over Porter’s suitability for a leadership position in the wake of these videos.
Since both former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) have opted out from making a run for governor, the field of candidates have grown. Other Democratic candidates include Antonio Villaraigosa, a former mayor of Los Angeles; Xavier Becerra, a former Biden administration cabinet secretary; and Betty Yee, a former state controller. Meanwhile, the top candidates vying for the Republican nomination are Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, and Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County.