Steyer, 68, is putting his identity at the center of his bid for California governor, leaning on a message that he wants wealthier Californians and corporations to pay more as voters head toward the June 2 Democratic primary. The Associated Press described his pitch as a bid to portray himself as a “class traitor,” pairing extensive personal wealth with policy positions that call for higher taxes and reduced corporate influence.
In interviews and campaign materials, Steyer has framed the centerpiece of his argument around taxing billionaires. “I’m the billionaire who wants to tax other billionaires,” he is fond of saying, and he told The Associated Press that he does not resent people who build successful businesses in California, but he argues those wealth gains depend on a system created by working people.
Steyer contrasted that dependence with what he called fair-share expectations. “I’m not one of the people who begrudges people’s success,” Steyer told AP, adding, “If you’re going to come here and build a company and make a ton of money, great.” He continued, “But you’re part of a system — you’re depending on a system built by, basically, poor people,” and said that if people “aren’t willing to pay your fair share, I feel like you’re spitting on those people.”
Those comments have drawn support from progressives and skepticism from critics who say his wealth undermines his message. AP reported that Steyer’s progressives see him as “one of the good ones” despite his fortune, while Democratic rivals accuse him of trying to buy the election and point to his spending relative to other candidates. Business groups and corporate-backed efforts have also made him a target, including utilities and industry groups that argue his proposals would raise costs rather than reduce them.
Steyer’s campaign also has become a referendum on his long-running pattern of business success alongside activist politics, including climate. AP described how he invested through his hedge fund while also spending money to protect a California law aimed at curbing planet-warming emissions. Steyer’s hedge-fund investments in fossil fuels have remained a persistent topic of criticism from within his party, including during a Tuesday night debate where rivals attacked his record.
During that debate, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter charged that Steyer’s “billions” used to fund his campaign came “off fossil fuels.” Steyer responded by pointing to business groups opposing him, saying, “That’s how you know I’m for real,” AP reported.
Before the campaign’s current fight, Steyer built and led Farallon Capital Management, which he founded in 1986 in San Francisco, AP said. He left that firm and later founded NextGen America in 2012, described by AP as a group encouraging young people to vote. AP reported that Steyer’s political giving has included climate-focused spending, such as a $5 million donation in 2010 to oppose a California ballot proposition that would have suspended a law requiring greenhouse gas reductions.
AP said Steyer has spent more than $62 million on California ballot measures, including an unsuccessful 2020 effort to keep a law that eliminated cash bail, and he was a major donor in 2016 to a successful measure that taxed tobacco products to raise money for healthcare for low-income Californians. His opponents, meanwhile, have questioned the sincerity of his politics, including pointing to ads Steyer paid for last year that backed a redistricting ballot measure championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Longtime Sacramento strategist Rob Stutzman, a Republican, told AP that the contrast between messaging and influence is rooted in how Steyer operates, saying Steyer “has always been a self-promoter with his dollars.”
Steyer has described three main crises driving his campaign: climate change, California’s cost of living and threats he links to the Trump administration. AP reported that his plan includes defending California’s cap-and-trade program, while describing his events as heavy on promotion and light on policy specifics. It also said some environmental groups have endorsed him, and that progressive organizations have backed his candidacy, including Our Revolution, which was founded by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and advocates for ridding politics of corporate and billionaire influence.
AP cited state Assemblyman Alex Lee, chair of the progressive caucus, saying Lee backs Steyer in part due to his support for a government-run healthcare system, a concept Lee said has failed repeatedly in Sacramento. Lee also told AP he was hesitant to back a billionaire but said Steyer is different, describing him as someone who “became wealthy in his lifetime” without reaching “(Mark) Zuckerberg level.” Steyer’s opponents say his promises do not match California’s affordability realities and that his plans could increase costs.
On the other side, AP reported that Pacific Gas & Electric spent $10 million to oppose Steyer. AP said PG&E’s effort argued he would not be a “different type of billionaire” as he claims, while a separate critique came from the California Chamber of Commerce. John Myers, a chamber spokesperson, told AP in a statement: “His policy promises will cost billions, driving investment out of California and worsening the state’s affordability crisis,” AP reported.
The article also placed Steyer’s current California push in the context of his earlier national campaign. AP reported that Steyer’s 2020 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination did not succeed, and that he spent heavily on ads in South Carolina, where he finished third and later dropped out. AP said the overall strategy relied in part on emphasizing inequality in areas including healthcare access, the environment and the criminal justice system, but that critics had raised concerns about the role of billionaires in a race that rivals framed as incompatible with progressive ideals.
In his current effort, AP reported that his money and endorsements are being received differently than in 2020, with Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese saying Steyer’s platform aligns with the group’s priorities. Geevarghese told AP in a statement that Steyer is “running on taxing the wealthy, supporting single-payer healthcare, and taking on corporate power — positions that are central to our movement,” and that the “alignment with a pro-worker, anti-corporate agenda — and the urgency of this race — is why we are backing him.”