Topline
Billionaire Tom Steyer failed to qualify for California’s gubernatorial runoff, after spending more than $200 million of his own fortune on the race.
Steyer received over 22% of the vote in California when the gubernatorial race was called.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
Key Facts
Steyer held 22.6% of votes when the Associated Press called the race Tuesday evening, nearly a week after polls closed.
Democrat Xavier Becerra (27.9%) and Republican Steve Hilton (25%) will advance to the November general election to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Steyer, Becerra and Hilton were widely expected to be the three top vote-getters, with a recent Emerson College poll showing Becerra with 28% of support, followed by Steyer and Hilton tied at 23%.
Steyer is a billionaire hedge fund founder-turned-liberal activist, Becerra is the former Health and Human Services secretary under former President Joe Biden and Hilton is a British American Fox News contributor endorsed by President Donald Trump.
California runs an open primary, meaning the top two candidates advance regardless of party.
Other prominent candidates in the crowded race included Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, and former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter.
Big Number
$213 million. That’s how much Steyer has spent on his own gubernatorial campaign, CalMatters reported. Steyer spent $340 million on his 2020 presidential campaign, we reported previously. He failed to win a single state in the 2020 primaries, and dropped out after coming in third in the South Carolina primary that he heavily focused his efforts in, earning 11% of the vote, behind Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. (20%) and former President Joe Biden (49%).
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Steyer is worth $2.4 billion.
Chief Critic
Steyer’s opponents have frequently criticized his self-funding and the source of his wealth. Porter has accused him of trying to “buy the governor’s office,” while Steyer has faced scrutiny for years over his Farallon Capital hedge fund’s investments in coal mining and private prisons. “His entire campaign is built on the backs of kids in cages,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., wrote recently on X, shortly before ending his own gubernatorial bid. Farallon invested $34 million in 2005 in Corrections Corp., which runs migrant detention centers, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2019, when he was running for president. Steyer told the paper at the time, “I deeply regret that Farallon made that investment, and I personally ordered the investment in CCA to be sold because it did not accord with my values then or now.” The fund also invested in fossil fuel projects, and Steyer has said he ultimately left the fund because of those holdings.
Key Background
Steyer founded the San Francisco-based hedge fund Farallon Capital in 1986 after working at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. He left the company in 2012 and has devoted most of his post-finance career to public service initiatives, including founding the community development bank Beneficial State Bank with his wife, Kat Taylor, in 2007. The couple signed the Giving Pledge in 2010 committing a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. Steyer has been involved in Democratic politics and environmental activism for decades. In his 2020 presidential campaign, he named climate as his No. 1 priority and said he would declare an environmental emergency on his first day in office. His NextGen Climate Action Committee supports progressive candidates. During his latest campaign, Steyer has emphasized lowering the cost of living, making housing more affordable, reducing electricity bills, advocating for single-payer health care and contesting corporate special interests. He has vowed to vote in November in favor of California’s proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaires.