By Alex Nieves with help from Camille von Kaenel, Catherine Allen and Noah Baustin
TOM TIME? Tom Steyer could be the gubernatorial candidate environmental groups are hoping for — if he takes the leap into the race.
And there are new signs that a foray into state politics isn’t out of the realm of possibility for the billionaire investor, former presidential candidate and longtime climate champion.
Steyer, a hedge fund founder who in recent years has focused entirely on climate-related investments, raised eyebrows Thursday morning after dropping a TV ad in favor of Prop 50 — Democrats’ redistricting bid in response to Texas’ new Republican-friendly congressional maps — that portrayed a panicked President Donald Trump throwing french fries after watching news reports of the ballot measure passing.
The ad came a day after Steyer announced that he would spend $12 million to support Prop 50, the largest commitment to the campaign so far.
“We must stop Trump’s election-rigging power grab,” Steyer said in a statement Wednesday, touting his “nearly 9 million email subscribers, nearly one million of whom are Californians” and his 2019 effort to get House Democrats to impeach Trump.
The move drew attention in Sacramento circles Thursday, where speculation of Steyer’s political intentions started to spread.
“He’s running,” Andrew Acosta, a veteran California Democratic campaign consultant, wrote on X.
Acosta said that while his tweet was facetious and he doesn’t know if Steyer plans to run, the fact that he decided to take out his own ad rather than donating to the official Democratic political committee was noteworthy.
“That’s a little bit of a different conversation that does get people talking,” Acosta said. “‘Huh, why would you do that?’”
Gil Duran, a former Steyer adviser, said the ad buy does bring up the question of whether he’s going to run, acknowledging that the buzz is there.
“The race is wide open,” Duran told POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White. “I’m sure the thought has crossed his mind.”
And the race is slightly wider open as of this week, when videos emerged of current front-runner and former Rep. Katie Porter threatening to walk out of a televised interview and berating a former staffer, fanning concerns about her temperament.
Steyer, who spent $300 million in his unsuccessful 2020 presidential run, would also represent the emergence of a climate policy expert in a race where the issue has been far from a top priority so far.
Mike Young, executive director of California Environmental Voters, said he wasn’t ready to throw his weight behind Steyer, but noted his founding of climate advocacy group NextGen America, formerly NextGen Climate, as an example of his “strong environmental credentials.”
Young said he is excited about the idea of “somebody who jumps in thinking about climate, if that’s what [Steyer] decides to do, because that’s the kind of conversation California should be having.”
Enviros aren’t ready to abandon the Porter ship yet. RL Miller, president of Climate Hawks Vote Political Action, said that while there isn’t an overwhelming climate champion in the race, Porter does have a “strong record of going after polluters.”
“She’s vastly better than some of the candidates who are either big fat zeros or pro fossil fuels,” Miller said. “The policy matters to me more than the style.”
Environmental groups have largely laid off campaign spending so far as the field shakes out, but some early indications of broader preferences in the energy space have begun to emerge. Porter has received donations of $20,000 and $10,000, respectively, from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Community Solar Action Fund PAC.
Meanwhile, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has raked in over $100,000 from fossil fuel companies, including Chevron, which also donated $39,000 to former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Steyer steered clear of politics in an appearance Thursday at the University of Southern California, where he joined California Air Resources Board Chair Lauren Sanchez at the Los Angeles Business Council’s annual sustainability summit, but he displayed a familiarity with the inner workings of the state Legislature that he’d need in the governor’s office.
“This is going to be a future where we’re going to really need smart people in the policy chairs,” Steyer said. “There’s going to be a ton of technology, hopefully coming out of the golden state of California.” — AN, CA
