Candidate for governor Tom Steyer makes remarks during a gubernatorial forum at the MLK Jr. Breakfast in San Francisco in January.
Benjamin Fanjoy/For the S.F. Chronicle
Billionaire Tom Steyer’s attempt to reshape himself into a populist, in part by racking up endorsements from a host of progressives, has been one of the many eyebrow-raising twists in the California gubernatorial race.
With a few days to go before the election, and with Steyer third in most polls, his opponents are calling attention to links between those endorsements and Steyer’s contributions to those same groups.
Campaign records show that Steyer did indeed contribute to many progressive organizations that later endorsed him. Is this another example of what Katie Porter alleges is Steyer’s intent to use his $2.4 billion wealth to “buy” the campaign?
Article continues below this ad
It’s hard to make the case that he is buying these endorsements in an explicit quid pro quo because so many of the donations occurred well before his candidacy. But such questions will follow Steyer as long as he packs the biggest wallet in the room.
Steyer has spent more than $200 million – the largest self-funding campaign in California history – on his run to become one of the top two finishers in Tuesday’s primary, regardless of party affiliation, which would advance him to the general election in November.
San Francisco Chronicle Logo
Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.
Add Preferred Source
Many journalists and opponents of Steyer’s have laid out how some of the support for his campaign might appear organic, but has actually been purchased. Campaign finance filings showed that between April 19 and May 16, Steyer’s campaign paid at least $122,000 to social media influencers and content creator platforms. The campaign also paid $2.6 million to the digital strategy consulting firm Group Project, which has solicited creators to post about Steyer, CalMatters reported. Steyer’s opponents have complained that the influencers did not disclose they were paid.
The potential malfeasance in his progressive donations is less clear.
Article continues below this ad
Steyer’s left-leaning endorsers include the California Nurses Association (and Our Revolution, the organization inspired by the nurse union’s longtime ally and billionaire-basher Sen. Bernie Sanders); Smart Justice, a criminal justice reform advocacy organization; the Jane Fonda Climate PAC; the League of California Conservation Voters; YIMBY Action; the Service Employees International Union, and Courage California. Those endorsements have helped give Steyer credibility with progressive voters.
But Steyer has long been a prolific donor to many Democratic and left-leaning causes – even to organizations that have endorsed other candidates. He and his wife have given $670,500 to various Planned Parenthood entities across the country over the past several years through Steyer’s NextGen America organization devoted to youth voters. Planned Parenthood affiliates of California endorsed front-runner Xavier Becerra in April.
Steyer has even previously donated money to his opponents in this race. He and his wife, Kat Taylor, contributed nearly $27,000 to Porter’s House and Senate campaigns.
In 2013, Steyer and Taylor, through their TomKat Charitable Trust, gave $500,000 to the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. The environmental organization, now known as California Environmental Voters, endorsed Steyer this year. It also endorsed Porter.
The organization’s political director, Matt Abularach-Macias, said there was no connection between Steyer’s donation 13 years ago and its endorsement, and that only one person who was working at the organization when the donation was made is still there today.
Article continues below this ad
The group endorsed Steyer because he’s been leading “fights in California for climate action for years and years, and it’s clear it’s been a passion issue for him for a long time now,” Abularach-Macias said.
Steyer gave $6.6 million to the left-leaning Tides Foundation in 2024. Among its grantees are the California Donor Project, which supports progressive grassroots organizations, and Smart Justice. California Donor Table CEO Ludovic Blain pointed out that “Tides Foundation and Tides Advocacy fiscally sponsor hundreds of otherwise completely unrelated projects. None of California Donor Table’s entities have ever received money from Tom Steyer or any of his entities. And we didn’t know about any of his gifts to other Tides-hosted projects, nor would they have influenced our endorsements had we known.”
Smart Justice founder and director Anne Irwin also defended the group’s endorsement. “Smart Justice California endorsed Tom Steyer because we have a stack of receipts demonstrating his consistent, long-term commitment to the issues that we fight for. His record on criminal justice reform is heads and shoulders above any other candidate in the race,” she said.
Steyer and Taylor gave Jane Fonda Climate PAC $270,000 in 2024, before he entered the race. The organization called Steyer “the clear climate champion in this race.”
Sarah Lane, executive director of the PAC, said it “endorsed Tom Steyer solely because he has proven he is ready and willing to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and fight for a livable future.”
Article continues below this ad
But the donations add fuel to his opponents’ criticisms that Steyer is using his vast personal resources to sway the election.
“Tom Steyer is a literal billionaire trying to buy this election with over $213 MILLION of his personal fortune,” Porter said in an email to supporters Wednesday.
“Californians deserve a candidate whose support is built on trust not a checkbook,” said Amelia Matier, a spokesperson for the anti-Steyer independent committee called California is Not for Sale, No on Steyer, a Coalition of Housing Advocates, Labor and Small Business, which pointed out the donations. It is funded by PG&E, the California Association of Realtors, the California Building Industry Association and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. It has spent nearly $34 million opposing Steyer.
Could it be that Steyerhas won progressives over in other ways, perhaps by joining striking teachers in San Francisco and healthcare workers in San Diego on the picket lines and supporting single-payer healthcare, closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and eliminating corporate PACs?
Article continues below this ad
“Progressives are endorsing Tom because he is on the right side of the issues and because he’s been with them on the frontlines for the last 14 years,” said campaign spokesman Kevin Liao. “He also happens to be the leading progressive candidate in this race. Over the years, Tom has worked with nearly every progressive organization under the sun. It would be more notable if progressive organizations and leaders were NOT endorsing him.”
Liao has a point. But someone as rich as Steyer should always be monitored. This time, it’s hard to prove his wallet ruled the day.