Steyer pours $9.3 million more into California governor’s race, widening cash edge over field
Researcher says his $38 million tops combined haul of several rivals; GOP strategist predicts a $200–$300 million effort in a state where retail politicking is limited.
Billionaire Tom Steyer has intensified his spending in California’s governor’s race, adding another $9.3 million to his effort this month and bringing his total outlay to just over $38 million. The surge underscores a campaign strategy centered on paid media and name recognition in a state where the size and cost of its markets make traditional, face-to-face politicking difficult.
The scale of Steyer’s investment now outstrips what many of his competitors have raised collectively. In a post on X, Rob Pyers, research director for the nonpartisan California Target Book, said, “To put Steyer’s $38 million into perspective, by my math, Republicans Steve Hilton & Chad Bianco and Democrats Antonio Villaraigosa, Eric Swalwell, Katie Porter, Xavier Becerra, Betty Yee, and Tony Thurmond have raised a combined total of around $34.3 million.”
Strategists say that imbalance reflects the realities of running statewide in California. “He [Steyer] believes in a state as large as California, where it’s very difficult to do retail politicking… his advantage will be his levels of spending, and being able to get his name ID up, and message out. We’ll see how valuable that is,” Republican political strategist John Thomas said in a radio interview. Thomas added, “I would say having a lot of money in California is powerful in a contest like this. Tom is going to spend two, three hundred million dollars in this race.”
So far, the contest has not produced a clear frontrunner, and the field spans both parties, including the Republicans and Democrats cited by Pyers. Steyer’s financial edge positions him to dominate paid communication as the campaign accelerates.
Steyer’s reliance on heavy spending is consistent with his prior bids for office. Steyer's focus on high spending mirrors his past campaigns, such as his 2020 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, where he spent $345 million but did not receive any delegates before concluding his campaign on the night of the South Carolina primary.
Whether the outlay he is making in California will translate into durable support remains an open question. For now, his checkbook is shaping the contours of the race, even as strategists caution that advertising saturation, name identification and message penetration will determine how far that advantage carries.