Some of the same groups spending against Steyer are running ads for Xavier Becerra. Those groups \u2014 along with organizations representing doctors, contractors and several labor unions \u2014 have spent $13 million through PACs to boost Becerra.<\/p>\n
Chevron, McDonald\u2019s, dialysis giant DaVita and one of the state\u2019s largest oil drillers, California Resources Corp., are funding one of the largest pro-Becerra groups, with each of them contributing $500,000. Meta and AirBnB chipped in about $1 million each and health insurance corporation Centene, which runs California-based HealthNet, put in $100,000.<\/p>\n
Steyer is reveling in the spending against him, pointing to it as proof he\u2019d stand up to utilities and big business. A climate activist, Steyer has highlighted Becerra\u2019s support from Chevron.<\/p>\n
The progressive unions California Nurses Association and United Domestic Workers have spent a comparatively modest $1.4 million on mailers and digital media boosting Steyer. Outside groups have also spent $1.8 million opposing Republican frontrunner Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host and British political strategist.<\/p>\n
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\n2. Mahan fizzles out<\/p>\n
The second-highest outside spending went to boost Mahan, the San Jose mayor and moderate Democrat who entered the race late<\/a> to much fanfare from Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n California\u2019s tech billionaires urged Mahan to run and backed him with millions in donations and two independent spending committees. They were enamored with his platform of government efficiency and opposition to new taxes \u2014 positions that would shield them from the Legislature\u2019s push to regulate tech and raise taxes on the wealthy.<\/p>\n Donors included venture capitalists Michael Moritz and Brian Singerman, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, Intuit founder Scott Cook, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Los Angeles developer and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso.<\/p>\n The committees spent nearly $22 million on ads supporting Mahan, significantly more than the $9 million his campaign has spent. But the money wasn\u2019t enough to overcome his significant disadvantage in name recognition as the first-term mayor of a city that doesn\u2019t get much attention. Strategists told the committees\u2019 backers they needed at least $45 million to make a difference.<\/p>\n One of the PACs, California Back to Basics, last week returned $1 million from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings; Hastings cryptically posted on X that he hadn\u2019t asked for the money back. The refund was an acknowledgement that the committee hadn\u2019t succeeded in raking in a final $10 to $15 million the billionaire backers hoped to raise in the last weeks of the campaign, committee spokesperson Matt Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n 3. Steyer personal spending breaks records<\/p>\n Yet despite his opponents\u2019 deep-pocketed donors, no one has matched the $213 million Steyer has spent on his own campaign, allowing him to blanket the airwaves with ads, pay influencers to post videos with him<\/a> and send billboard trucks to drive around gas stations<\/a> highlighting Becerra\u2019s Chevron support.<\/p>\n That makes his the most expensive primary campaign in California gubernatorial history, exceeding that of former eBay executive Meg Whitman, a Republican who spent about $94 million in the June 2010 primary \u2014 about $142 million in today\u2019s dollars \u2014 spending tens of millions more before losing to Jerry Brown in the general election.<\/p>\n 4. Swalwell donors flocked to Becerra<\/p>\n DaVita, the California Medical Association and the California Professional Firefighters Association all supported former Rep. Eric Swalwell\u2019s gubernatorial bid before he dropped out over sexual assault allegations.<\/p>\n They were among the biggest Swalwell backers to quickly switch to Becerra, who has enjoyed surging support<\/a> from social media and the Democratic establishment.<\/p>\n Small donors made a similar leap. The CalMatters analysis found that after Swalwell dropped out, more than 500 of his campaign donors went on to contribute to Becerra\u2019s campaign. No other candidate received that much support from former Swalwell donors.<\/p>\n Swalwell, who has also since resigned from Congress, continues to use his gubernatorial campaign to pay more than $313,000 to attorney Sara Azari, who is defending him against the allegations. He has also refunded about $250,000 to nearly 50 donors.<\/p>\n 5. Hilton had the most donors<\/p>\n The Republican frontrunner amassed the highest number of campaign donors in the race: more than 20,000. Nearly a quarter of them live outside California.<\/p>\n
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