SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Billionaire activist Tom Steyer announced Wednesday morning he is running for California governor, joining an already crowded field in what is expected to be a competitive race to replace the termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Steyer, 68, a former hedge fund manager who built his political profile as a major Democratic donor and climate activist, previously ran for president in 2020, spending hundreds of millions of his own money on the campaign. He dropped out before the primary.
“California has an affordability crisis,” Steyer said in an interview with ABC10. “No matter how many great world-leading companies we create in this state… the majority of people here are still living paycheck to paycheck.”
Steyer’s entry adds another high-profile Democrat to a race already featuring several well-known figures, including former Congresswoman Katie Porter, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Two Republicans — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host Steve Hilton — are also running.
Political strategists say the large number of Democratic contenders could splinter the party’s vote in the June primary.
“If you have seven, eight or nine Democrats slicing up the Democratic half of the pie, that gives an entrée to those two Republicans,” said Democratic strategist Steve Maviglio.
Republican strategist Tim Rosales agreed the dynamic complicates the race for all sides.
“Certainly the more candidates that jump in, the harder it is to consolidate that Democratic base,” he said.
Even for the Republicans, Rosales said, “It’s a power struggle between those two Republican candidates, kind of who can out conservative each other at this point.”
Steyer is centering his campaign on affordability — the buzzword right now, as strategists said. Steyer is pledging to confront the state’s affordability challenges by loosening permitting and zoning rules to build one million new homes. But Rosales said voters will want specifics, which all candidates, he argued, have failed to do thus far.
“The devil’s in the details. How do you solve it?” he said.
Steyer has spent years influencing California policy through major donations to ballot measures, including efforts to raise the tobacco tax and support recent statewide initiatives. His deep pockets could help him quickly build name recognition.
In 2013, Tom Steyer founded NextGen Climate, now known as NextGen America, a political nonprofit that supports progressive positions on climate change, immigration, health care and education and encourages youth civic engagement.
“He can buy his name ID back up pretty quick,” Rosales said.
Maviglio added that winning statewide campaigns often take anywhere between $50 to $100 million. In addition to being a billionaire, Maviglio said, Steyer appears poised to run as an outsider.
“He’s going to run against Sacramento, and no one’s really been able to do that,” Maviglio said.
Both strategists noted that more prominent candidates from either party could still enter the race before the 2026 campaign season ramps up.
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