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tom steyer
The Uncomfortable Progressive Case for Tom Steyer
Despite being a billionaire himself, Steyer appears to be the only major candidate in California's governor race openly escalating conflict with the monopolies, corporate interests, and institutional failures driving the state's affordability crisis.
Jun 02, 2026
California voters are clearly hungry for change. The real question now is whether Democrats are willing to confront the corporate interests and entrenched systems standing in the way of it.
That is one reason a growing number of progressives, labor organizers, climate activists, and anti-corporate advocates are rallying behind Tom Steyer despite longstanding discomfort with billionaire politics.
At first glance, that coalition can feel contradictory. Progressives have spent years warning, correctly, about the dangers of concentrated wealth and billionaire influence in American politics. Many still believe that billionaires should not exist in a healthy democracy.
So why are so many anti-corporate organizers increasingly rallying behind one now?
The question is not whether candidates are perfect vessels for progressive ideals. The question is whether they are willing to pick the right fights.
Because politics is ultimately about conflict. It is about who is willing to challenge concentrated power, which interests candidates are willing to confront, and whether they are prepared to pursue structural change instead of simply managing decline.
The question is not whether someone benefited from broken systems. The question is whether they are willing to confront the systems that produced their own power in the first place.
And increasingly, Tom Steyer appears to be the only major candidate in California's governor race openly escalating conflict with the monopolies, corporate interests, and institutional failures driving the state's affordability crisis.
That matters because California is not entering a traditional election environment.
Recent polling suggests Xavier Becerra is increasingly likely to secure one of the two spots in California's top-two primary. Whether voters like it or not, that reality changes the strategic conversation.
At a moment when voters are demanding structural change, Becerra increasingly represents continuity politics. He has struggled to articulate a meaningful critique of the status quo or explain what he would fundamentally do differently than Gavin Newsom.
The question facing many progressive voters is no longer simply which candidate they prefer. It is whether a candidate willing to challenge concentrated power, monopoly interests, and entrenched systems will make it into the general election at all.
That matters because Steve Hilton is running aggressively as an anti-establishment change candidate. If Democrats allow this race to become a contest between a candidate associated with continuity and a Republican claiming the mantle of disruption, they risk ceding the language of change to the right.
You cannot defeat a change candidate with a status quo candidate.
You need a competing change agent.
Steyer is increasingly positioning himself as one.
What makes this politically significant is not simply that he uses progressive rhetoric. Plenty of candidates do that. What matters is that he is embracing policies that directly confront concentrated wealth and monopoly power, including support for single-payer healthcare, a billionaire tax, breaking up utility monopolies, lowering energy costs, expanding public education, and building affordable housing at scale.
Those are not symbolic positions. They are direct challenges to entrenched systems of political and economic power.
And increasingly, many progressives believe the clearest indicator of that conflict is not who Steyer is. It is who is lining up against him.
When utility monopolies, fossil fuel interests, anti-tax billionaires, and major corporations begin mobilizing against the same candidate, voters should pay attention.
That does not mean progressives suddenly agree with everything about Tom Steyer or billionaire politics generally. It means many recognize that political alignment matters more than biography alone.
The question is not whether candidates are perfect vessels for progressive ideals. The question is whether they are willing to pick the right fights.
For many progressives, supporting Steyer is not about abandoning skepticism toward wealth or power. It is about recognizing that in moments of deep public frustration, the most important political question becomes who is actually willing to confront the forces making life increasingly unaffordable, unstable, and unequal.
That is the uncomfortable reality reshaping this race.
The question facing California voters is no longer whether the state needs change.
It is whether a candidate willing to fight for that change will still be standing when the general election begins.
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California’s Choice: The Progressive Path or Centrist Stagnation
Today June 2, 2026, in California, voters have an opportunity to alter American history by electing progressives up and down the ballot.
Jun 02, 2026
Within national mythology, California is understood to be a progressive haven—with a ruling Democratic Party passing strong regulations, ever-higher taxes on the wealthy, and supporting unions to its heart’s desire.
Unfortunately, this is far from accurate. The Democratic Party may dominate California politics, but the wealthiest state in the union no longer leads the way with innovative laws and regulations, let alone serving the interests of working people, the poor, and the middle class.
Yes, California still has a progressive income tax, the nation’s highest gas taxes, relatively strong environmental regulations, and the world’s greatest public university system—but these are legacies of bygone eras. The story of the last 20 years of single-party Democratic rule is far less inspiring (unless you’re a Silicon Valley oligarch).
Now, as progressives are making significant gains across the country, revitalizing the Democratic Party in the process, the California party remains dominated by a caste of perennial incumbents committed to neoliberal centrism that, at best, generates incremental change.
Rest assured that progressives on the ballot are part of a national movement that understands that the Democratic Party has bifurcated into a vibrant progressive wing and an increasingly sclerotic moderate establishment.
Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising. Once Democrats started winning supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature, corporations and big money interests stopped wasting their time courting Republicans. They focused their lobbying on Democrats, and to great effect. California’s Democratic Party, and its leading figures, are more beholden to big business and wealthy donors than almost any state Democratic Party. This, in turn, means Democratic incumbents accrue huge campaign war chests for their re-election.
The result is a more conservative party, one that is out of sync with the electorate. Want evidence? Ask yourself how many members of the Squad have come from California? The answer, of course, is zero. Yet all public opinion polling shows that the California electorate is decisively more progressive than the national average.
It’s true that Reps. Ro Khanna and Lateefah Simon are Squad adjacent, and a few others are solid progressives—but given that California represents about 20% of the Democratic Caucus in the US House, the state’s delegation is on balance middle-of-the-road.
This disconnect—between the political beliefs of Californians and the policies supported by their elected representatives at the national, state, and even local levels—is a major barrier to the necessary transformation of the Democratic Party into a force able to vanquish the fascist-authoritarian GOP before it consolidates power and brings down the curtain on American democracy.
Simply put, the American public increasingly understands that the status quo ante of neoliberal policy, which has organized the country’s economy since the 1980s, produces one result: ever-increasing wealth inequality. The Democratic Party must break from the economics of the Clinton and Obama administrations. The Democratic base and the general public want policies that boost the lives of working Americans, just as they want a sane foreign policy and an honest democracy. They want progressive policies.
Today June 2, 2026, in California, voters have an opportunity to alter American history by electing progressives up and down the ballot. This will transform the largest state Democratic Party, bringing it back in sync with the sentiment of the state’s population so that it can lead in the development of a new 21st century social justice compact.
There are many progressive champions with a real chance of victory today—and in the general election runoff on November 3. To start, there is a clear choice at the top of the ticket: Tom Steyer for governor.
Steyer is one of three viable candidates, two of which will make the runoff. In the best circumstance, the two democrats, Steyer and Xaiver Beccera, will take first and second—a result that will translate into more Democratic victories across the state in November. However, MAGA-supporting Republican Steve Hilton still looks likely to disrupt that result. So, it’s essential to vote, and get everyone you know to vote for Steyer by 8:00 pm PT today.
Admittedly, it sticks in the throat to be supporting a billionaire, but the simple truth is that Steyer will pursue a transformative progressive policy agenda. In contrast, Xavier Beccera, who 20 years ago seemed a sincere progressive, long ago redefined himself as an establishment Democrat. Becerra is committed to maintaining Gov. Gavin Newsom’s policies that have left California stranded with the nation’s co-equal highest poverty rate, an affordability crisis that makes New York City residents blush, and a pronounced failure to lead on environmental and social policies in the manner the world expects of California.
Tom Steyer, by contrast, supports a billionaire’s tax, meaningful living wage legislation, aggressive incentives to re-boost green energy production (and film production too), and, most tellingly, a single-payer universal healthcare system for everyone in the state. A top-two finish by Steyer will guarantee a powerful debate about the direction of the state over the next five months
Beyond the governor’s race, in nearly every US house district, state assembly, and senate race, and significant city and local elections, there are strong progressive candidates challenging the dominant California Democratic Party mainstream—many of whom are poised to advance to the November runoff. Still, it’s worth noting that this has been a very confusing election season due to redistricting (and the chaos of the governor’s race), such that down-ballot candidates have had a difficult time attracting adequate attention. But rest assured that progressives on the ballot are part of a national movement that understands that the Democratic Party has bifurcated into a vibrant progressive wing and an increasingly sclerotic moderate establishment. Please do the necessary research to learn who the progressives are in your district.
So far, it’s been a very good year for progressives—let’s continue the momentum tomorrow in New Jersey, Montana, Iowa, New Mexico, South Carolina, and the largest state and soon-to-be truest bastion of progressive public policy, California.
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In California, Vote Against the Forces Destroying Democracy
Tom Steyer, despite being a billionaire himself, is dedicated to protecting our democracy from the forces that are working overtime to undermine it. The same cannot be said of the other candidates in the race.
May 26, 2026
Like the rest of the country, California is in a hugely consequential fight for the future. Will we protect our democracy and build a sustainable future where we can all afford to live well? Or will victory go to the forces that are undermining democracy to protect their ability to profit from destroying the planet? Will we elect a Governor who supports the forces tearing our country apart? Or will we elect one who is dedicated to protecting democracy and building a world that works for all of us? The stakes could not be higher.
As inequality grows at an unprecedented pace, life is becoming precarious for more and more people. The rich aren’t just getting richer, they are also becoming more powerful. And the fossil fuel and tech sectors are at the leading edge of those devastating changes to our society.
The fossil fuel industry is the single largest funder of right-wing extremism in this country. It supports ultra-right think tanks, including the Heritage foundation which gave us Project 2025. It is also the biggest spender in California politics. As the world moves away from dependence on its products, the industry is in a fight for survival. It is ready to take the whole world, and democracy itself, down to remain profitable. Those are the forces we need to challenge if we want to make our country work for those of us not in the 1%.
There are three pieces of evidence we can use to see which side of that great divide the candidates are on: What is their relationship to fossil fuel money? What is their position on the Billionaire’s Tax? And what is their position on AB 1790 Water’s Edge which would close a $4 billion a year tax loophole that was fought for by the fossil fuel industry in the 1980’s.
Clearly both of the Republicans front runners for the California governorship are ready to undermine democratic institutions to help serve the interests of the fossil fuel industry and tech oligarchs.
There is one Democratic front runner who passes all three tests with flying colors. It is painful that the one person who has spent the past decades aggressively supporting democracy, fighting for immigrant rights, fighting the tendency toward oligarchy in our politics, and challenging the fossil fuel industry is himself a billionaire. But the facts are that Tom Steyer will not veto the billionaire’s tax, has pledged to support closing the Water’s Edge Tax loophole, and has pledged to not take fossil fuel money.
The same cannot be said for the other Democratic contender, Xavier Becerra. Becerra has taken the largest legal contribution from Chevron and he publicly said “I need Chevron. My people of the state of California need Chevron.” He has publicly opposed the Billionaires Tax. He has not publicly declared his support for the Water’s Edge bill. The California Resources Corporation spent $500,000 supporting his campaign
Steyer is dedicated to protecting our democracy from the forces that are working overtime to undermine it. Becerra plans to continue us on the path of business as usual which is heading us for a train wreck with the future of democracy and of the climate. In spite of the fact that he is a billionaire, I am excited to support Tom Steyer for governor.
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