Tom Steyer has spent a record-breaking $200 million in the race for California governor — and even some of the progressive billionaire’s top supporters admit they’re “disgusted” with the money involved in the high-stakes race.
In a media call Tuesday, just a week before the June 2 primary election, state Sen. Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) ironically slammed money in politics and claimed the hedge fund billionaire would “level the playing field” after spending his vast hedge fund fortune getting elected.
“I’m disgusted by it all, too. It’s like, I want, if we can just win this one, though, I actually think we’ll change California law,” Stern said.
Steyer has spent about $200 million of his own fortune on his bid for California governor — including some sneaky payments social-media influencers and tens of millions on advertisements up and down the state.
Stern blasted big oil’s attacks on Steyer, but admitted that the industry may have been forced to shell out the dough because of the billionaire’s own staggering cash spends on the race.
“Do I think that triggered this response? Yeah,” Stern said.
“I don’t think they would have muscled this kind of response … and consolidated in that way if they weren’t threatened.”
The suggestion that Steyer would exploit campaign finance loopholes in his bid for governor, only to then rewrite the rules, would be an example of history repeating itself.
Steyer made huge sums of money off of the fossil fuel industry while running his hedge fund Farallon Capital before becoming an ardent environmentalist. He also invested in private prisons, only to reverse his position on these investments being morally defensible.
Stern said it’s important not to apply “moral purity tests” in elections, as people can change.
“I think he would himself admit he’s — everyone is flawed, and he’s made mistakes, and you know he’d rather it not have been that way,” Stern said.
The governor’s race has been a messy fight since the implosion of former congressman Eric Swalwell’s campaign in April.
Fallout from scandalous allegations of rape and sexual assault against Swwalwell opened a Democratic lane for former Xavier Becerra, a former California attorney general, and Steyer to surge in the polls. Meanwhile, former Fox News host Steve Hilton seems to have solidified the top position among Republicans.
Only the top two finishers in the primary will advance to the November runoff.
Steyer’s use of paid social-media influencers, some of whom allegedly failed to disclose they were being compensated to produce political content, has become a contentious topic in the race as the billionaire seeks to put a spotlight on Becerra’s cozy relationship with big oil.
Attorney General Rob Bonta said his office is “looking into” complaints involving gubernatorial candidates paying influencers for endorsements without proper disclosure.
Bonta said the matter appears to fall primarily under the jurisdiction of the Fair Political Practices Commission, the state’s campaign finance and ethics watchdog.
“Unlike any complaint, we’ll review it to determine what role we have and what we should be doing and if we should be taking action,” Bonta said.
The FPPC has opened a probe into Steyer’s spending on online creators, some of whom allegedly deleted posts after questions were raised about whether viewers were told the content was paid political advertising.
State law adopted in 2023 requires online creators who are paid to support or oppose political candidates to disclose that relationship in their posts.
According to a campaign memo obtained by the Sacramento Bee, Steyer’s team approached creators with offers of $10 per video, along with bonuses tied to view counts.
The memo reportedly instructed them to post three to four videos per week about issues aligned with Steyer’s platform — including taxing the rich, abolishing ICE, climate change, AI regulation and reducing corporate influence — while avoiding direct mentions of Steyer or the governor’s race.
The memo also advised creators to acknowledge voter concerns about Steyer’s billionaire status, lack of elected experience and past investments rather than ignore them.
Kevin Liao, a spokesperson for Steyer’s campaign, denied any wrongdoing, telling The Post that payments for creator content were disclosed in campaign finance reports and creators working directly with the campaign were notified of their disclosure obligations.
“Creators make their living generating content,” Liao said.
“The campaign believes in compensating people for their time and work product and has paid creators to generate content.”
With only a week to go, millions more in campaign spending is expected to roll into the record-setting race.
