Tom Steyer is running for governor of California as a populist billionaire

Billionaire businessman and activist Tom Steyer, who once financed a failed campaign for the White House and spent his own money advocating for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, has launched his bid for governor of California as a Democrat.

The 68-year-old’s vast wealth immediately makes him a leading contender in a free-for-all that has more than a half-dozen Democrats and two Republicans competing in an all-party primary in June, with the two top vote-getters advancing to the general election in November to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Steyer announced his candidacy with a pledge to improve economic conditions and framing his political record as friendly to consumers, working-class voters, and the environment.

“Californians deserve a life they can afford,” he said in a video posted Wednesday morning. “But the Californians who run this state are being trampled by the cost of living.”

This approach puts Steyer on a collision course with other candidates such as progressive Congresswoman Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

At one time, Porter was viewed as a top contender, but now the competition is wide open. Steyer’s personal wealth could give him an advantage in reaching voters through television and digital ads in a sprawling state with nearly 40 million people and multiple media markets. However, vast wealth did not necessarily translate into statewide electoral success in California: Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, was unable to unseat Democratic US Senator Barbara Boxer in their match in 2010. Meg Whitman, then CEO of eBay, spent more than $100 million of her own money on a losing campaign that same year.

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Steyer nodded to his wealth on Wednesday, noting that his businesses have generated “billions of dollars.” But it also sounded populist tones.

“The richest people in America think they’ve got it all themselves,” he said, before dismissing that idea with an expletive referring to cow feces. “This is so ridiculous.”

Steyer said he would “make businesses pay their fair share again,” and his campaign cited his past work on ballot initiatives with similar goals. Steyer was a leading advocate of a 2012 ballot initiative that made it harder for businesses to avoid certain taxes. The new revenue was directed to improving energy in the state’s public schools.

In other referendum work, Steyer helped lead the 2016 campaign that resulted in a $2-per-pack tax increase on tobacco products. The money was directed to government health care programs, including tobacco prevention efforts. Steyer was a vocal opponent of a 2010 ballot initiative that would have rolled back California’s Clean Air and Climate Act, which was seen as a national benchmark on climate policy.

Steyer spent millions of his own money touring the country and pushing for Trump’s impeachment during the Republican president’s first term. He then ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, spending more than $200 million of his fortune and getting no pledged delegates. Following the conclusion of the state primary and the Iowa caucuses, Steyer doubled his lead with a costly push in South Carolina, placing third behind eventual nominee and President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Steyer then ended his presidential bid, financially backing Biden’s re-election in 2024 before the Democrat dropped out in favor of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, another Californian.

Steyer’s latest campaign comes as some Democrats question Porter’s candidacy after her combative exchanges with a television journalist went viral online in October. He has long been mentioned, along with Harris and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, as a potential heavyweight candidate who could join the field.

Harris, who is on a national tour to promote her 2024 campaign memoir, has consistently said she has no plans to run — and has instead suggested that any future campaign would be for president.

“I’m going to vote,” she told The Associated Press on October 17 when asked about entering the governor’s race. When asked if she was satisfied with the field where Porter has faced the harshest criticism, Harris said only that she wanted Democrats to have “the best and brightest running and winning” and that she was “not actively involved.”

Padilla said he will remain in the Senate.