Billionaire Climate Activist Tom Steyer Launches California Governor Bid—Promises Sweeping Housing and Energy Reforms

Billionaire hedge-fund founder and environmental activist Tom Steyer has officially entered the 2026 California gubernatorial race, positioning himself as an anti-establishment alternative who pledges to tackle the state’s affordability crisis and curb corporate influence. Steyer, 68, launched his bid in a video that accuses Sacramento of being “bought by corporations” and declares, “Sacramento politicians are afraid to change up this system. I’m not … They’re going to hate this. Bring it on.” The Democrat says his fortune—estimated at $2 billion—frees him from traditional fundraising restraints and allows him to “break up utility monopolies” and “lower electric bills by 25 percent.” Key planks of his platform include: • Building 1 million homes within four years to ease the state’s housing shortage. • Ending corporate donations to political action committees in California elections. • Offering free universal preschool and tuition-free community college. • Slashing energy costs by dismantling what he calls “monopolistic” utilities. Steyer’s candidacy injects deep pockets into a wide-open Democratic field left vacant by term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom and the decision by high-profile figures such as Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla not to run. Early UC Berkeley polling shows Steyer starting at just 1 percent support, trailing former Rep. Katie Porter and Rep. Eric Swalwell. Analysts note that Steyer’s vast spending history—$342 million on his 2020 presidential bid and $12 million backing the successful Proposition 50 redistricting measure—gives him the cash to quickly build name recognition. Yet his hedge-fund past, which included investments in coal mines and private-prison contractors, offers rivals a potent line of attack; Steyer has expressed regret for those deals and says they spurred his exit from Farallon Capital in 2012. Political scientist Thad Kousser of UC San Diego says Steyer must “convert his environmental bona fides into a kitchen-table message on housing and energy prices” to gain traction. Campaign strategists Rebecca Katz and Julian Mulvey are crafting an ad blitz aimed at economically stressed voters, according to the campaign. The billionaire’s entry reshapes fundraising math for every contender: donors may hold back to see how much of his own money Steyer pours in, while others could rally around a single alternative to blunt his spending edge. Next milestones: Steyer will embark on a statewide “Affordable California” bus tour in January, release detailed housing legislation drafts in March, and must report first-quarter fundraising totals by April 15—figures that will signal whether grassroots donors are buying his outsider pitch. With California’s primary still 14 months away, Steyer has time—and capital—to scale his outsider narrative. Whether voters reward another self-funded billionaire or echo history’s skepticism of wealthy hopefuls will determine if 2026 becomes the year Tom Steyer finally “breaks through.”