Good old Golden Boy Gov. Gavin Newsom is winning the popularity war in California over the highly controversial Proposition 50 – a redistricting effort to keep or add seats in Congress. If the proposition passes, the state plans to reimplement independent congressional lines in 2031. This raises the question: If the potential law is supposed to pass easily, why does billionaire Tom Steyer have his fingerprints all over a $12 million ad buy to promote it? It's as if he's hanging his own publicity on a sure thing.
Well, the hedge fund master – who ran for president in 2020 – is now focusing his green-friendly policies on a gubernatorial run in 2026, a wide-open race so far. But why are California Democrats hoping the guy will just sit down, endorse, and give it a minute? It's complicated.
Why Do CA Power-Holders Want Steyer to Go Away?
The advertisement, which debuted during Jimmy Kimmel Live! – of all cringe places – completely undermines the messaging from the Newsom crowd. It shows President Donald Trump tossing French fries and fast food in a tantrum when the news announces that Prop 50 has passed. Steyer has another 30-second spot, in which he appears onscreen and brags about organizing a campaign to impeach Trump even though "the Democratic Party were furious at me." He continues with intentions to "investigate him for corruption and even release the Epstein files."
It isn't as if the rumble in the jungle about a possible third impeachment has stopped.
Under anonymity, one California labor leader spoke on the record with Politico:
"There's no Democratic messenger in the country, and especially in California, that's more powerful than Barack Obama. What kind of ego do you have to have to say, 'I see that Barack Obama is up. I'm going to put myself in the mix’?"
Steyer hasn't announced he's running for the governor's office, but the word is out. "He's running," Andrew Acosta, a veteran California Democratic campaign consultant, posted on X. But here's the "it's complicated" part: Katie Porter, the anointed one.
The Bad Boss
Former California Rep. Katie Porter made her run for governor official in March 2025. She wants to take on the bad orange man and make California livable again for the working and middle classes. But her past keeps rearing its ugly head every time she does something incredibly stupid on the political stage. Porter has been caught on camera being a gubernatorial bridezilla – snapping at "argumentative" CBS News reporters and yelling at staff who, unfortunately, wandered into her camera shot. She cusses like a drunken sailor, but at this juncture, that might be her winning trait.
Most leftist talking point groups are still begrudgingly waiting for a miracle candidate to replace Porter. CNN recently reported that RL Miller, president of Climate Hawks Vote Political Action, stated that Porter has 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." That may not be considered a ringing endorsement, but it might be a dog whistle for different candidate messaging.
Gil Duran, a former Steyer strategist, acknowledges the buzz in the air. "The race is wide open," Duran told Politico’s Jeremy B. White. "I’m sure the thought has crossed his mind.” And perhaps his self-proclaimed “guerrilla style” ad campaign is making waves. Steyer basically has shunned the Newsom cronies, former President Barack Obama, and the woman who wants to be the queen. It would seem that attaching his name to the popular Prop 50 is giving Steyer exactly what he wants.
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