California voters went to the polls Tuesday in a Democratic gubernatorial primary that has laid bare a sharp ideological divide within the party, with billionaire activist Tom Steyer mounting an outsider challenge against former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. The contest to lead the world’s fourth-largest economy has drawn national attention as outside groups have spent nearly $80 million on advertising and Steyer has shattered spending records with a $200 million self-funded campaign.
In an opinion piece published Tuesday in The Guardian, author and activist Norman Solomon described the race as a “huge crossroads” for California Democrats. The article highlighted that while scant policy differences exist between Becerra and outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom, Steyer represents a “threat to the status quo” in a state where 7 million people live below the official poverty line and child poverty rates are among the highest in the country.
Steyer, who built a $2.4 billion fortune as a hedge fund operator, has pledged to “upend corporate power” and deliver a “sustained progressive jolt” to California governance. His campaign website includes planks such as “Make Corporations and Billionaires (Like Me) Pay More Taxes,” “Provide Free Education From Pre-K to College,” and “Ensure Health Care for All Californians.”
Days before the primary, Steyer called Becerra “a career politician backed by a deep roster of corporations and billionaires.” He also denounced the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, saying pro-Israel groups had launched “$25 million in attack ads against me” and that “they can come after me all they want. I’m not going to back down.”
Becerra, who served in Congress, as California attorney general, and as President Joe Biden’s health secretary, has taken a more traditional path. “As governor, based on past performance, he would keep his party and the state on the rutted road of corporate-friendly liberalism,” Solomon wrote. Becerra has expressed skepticism about raising taxes on corporations, arguing that it could push businesses to leave the state — the same argument Newsom has used to oppose a billionaire tax ballot measure.
On healthcare, Becerra has backed away from support for single-payer that he had expressed while in Congress. This spring, he met privately with leaders of the California Medical Association and received its endorsement. “He said very clearly that, at this point, he wasn’t supportive of single payer,” the group’s president said.
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of the Bay Area is an early and prominent Steyer supporter. “I’ve spent my career fighting for Medicare for All, it’s the only path to make healthcare more affordable,” Khanna says in a Steyer campaign ad, “and Tom Steyer is the only candidate for governor with the guts to take on the private insurance companies and pass single-payer healthcare.”
Corporate funds have continued to flow into super PACs backing Becerra and attacking Steyer, according to the piece. Donors include DaVita Kidney Dialysis, which gave $500,000, along with McDonald’s, Chevron, and the oil-drilling firm California Resources Corp. A political spending committee called California Is Not For Sale, funded by the state Realtors association, the California Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Gas & Electric, and the state’s electrical workers’ union, poured $32 million into ads opposing Steyer. Steyer has vowed to lower electricity bills by challenging PG&E’s monopoly.
The contest also carries implications for the 2028 presidential race. Newsom, reportedly preparing a White House bid, is backing Becerra through allies and political operatives. Citing several Newsom allies, Politico reported last month that “the last thing Newsom needs on the 2028 campaign trail, they argue, is a successor looking to upend Sacramento or compete for headlines on a national stage.” Bearstar Strategies, Newsom’s chief consulting firm, is leading a pro-Becerra super PAC and involved in an anti-Steyer PAC that has spent heavily on television ads.
Amar Shergill, a former chair of the California Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus, said in the piece that “Steyer is a gamechanger because, when he takes office, he owes no favors to the corporate Democratic establishment.” In contrast, he described Becerra as “a go-along Democrat — whatever others are doing, he goes along. He hasn’t shown leadership and almost always hedges his bets even on progressive policies that he supports.”
Karen Bernal, who chaired the party’s Progressive Caucus for six years, said she is convinced that electing Steyer is the party’s best chance to show itself worthy of progressive support. “For the most part, the majority of progressives, particularly former Bernie supporters, have gravitated to Steyer’s campaign,” she said. “So have younger voters. … At a time when support for the Democratic Party is at an all-time low, continuing to alienate the current and future base of the party hardly seems like a course of action to take if they want to have a chance of not only rolling back Trump, but along with it, a runaway corporatocracy that is taking us toward fascism.”
Steyer has also addressed criticism of his past investments, including a private prison company. In a campaign video, he said: “I started an investment business 40 years ago, and we invested in thousands of things, and one of them 22 years ago was investing in a private prison company, and I realized within a year it was a huge mistake, and I got out of it. I didn’t just make a mistake and say I was sorry, I’ve also spent the ensuing time working very hard for rehabilitative justice in the state of California.”
The top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary will advance to the November general election. The Democratic primary winner is expected to be heavily favored in the deep-blue state.