By admin 
Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer ended his self-funded campaign for governor and endorsed his top Democratic rival, Xavier Becerra, on Tuesday after primary ballot returns showed he had no path in the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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“It’s now clear that we do not have the votes necessary to advance to the general election in November,” Steyer said in a statement, shortly after the Associated Press called the race for the second place slot in the primary for Republican Steve Hilton. “Together, we fought for a California that belongs to the people who keep it running every day, and we insisted that they do not have to settle for a system that protects corporate profits at the expense of working people”
Steyer urged supporters to unite behind Becerra against Hilton.
“Donald Trump is the embodiment of the corporations’ craven, soulless, profit-first model of politics, and it is absolutely essential that his handpicked candidate does not hold the keys to California,” he said.
Newsom also endorsed Becerra in an X post published minutes after the AP said Hilton would advance to the November general election.
Steyer spent more than $215 million on his campaign for governor that came within a few percentage points of delivering him to the general election. Steyer’s campaign accounted for nearly two-thirds of advertising buys in what is already the most expensive in U.S. history, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact.
Steyer has now spent more than half a billion dollars on unsuccessful runs for higher office; in 2020, he spent more than $341 million on a failed presidential campaign.
The former hedge fund manager ran on a progressive platform, promising to slash electricity bills by 25%, build 1 million new homes and rollout single-payer health insurance. He railed against corporate interests he blamed for driving up California’s cost of living.
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Business groups like the California Chamber of Commerce took notice, backing an independent committee that spent more than $37 million on anti-Steyer ads. Other business interests, including Meta, Chevron and Airbnb, spent millions boosting Becerra.
Steyer rose slowly but steadily in the polls. He used his outsized campaign coffers to introduce himself to voters and later, attack rivals like former Rep. Eric Swalwell, and after Swalwell dropped out of the race, Becerra.
Still, a UC Berkeley poll in late May showed a plurality of likely voters had a favorable view of Becerra and an unfavorable one of Steyer; Becerra was nearly 10 percentage points more popular among Democrats.
Even some allies wondered if Steyer’s wealth undermined his populist message. His past investments in the fossil fuel industry and private prisons, and more recent ones in offshore private equity funds and real estate, provided ammunition for critics who questioned the sincerity of his embrace of progressive politics.
In a June 3 interview, California Labor Federation President Lorena Gonzalez said the primary results showed Democratic voters “don’t have a taste for billionaires.” She noted voters rejected candidates backed by tech CEOs, like San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, as well as Steyer, who was one of four candidates initially endorsed by the Federation’s member unions.
“Tom Steyer, despite spending a lot of money and having a message that resonated with most Californians, couldn’t get past the fact that he was a billionaire,” Gonzalez said. “That’s really what held him down.”
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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 5:28 PM.