{"id":7836,"date":"2026-06-24T12:01:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/24\/democratic-voters-dont-like-billionaires-strategists-reflect-on-wild-primary\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T12:01:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:01:55","slug":"democratic-voters-dont-like-billionaires-strategists-reflect-on-wild-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/24\/democratic-voters-dont-like-billionaires-strategists-reflect-on-wild-primary\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Democratic voters don\u2019t like billionaires\u2019: strategists reflect on wild primary"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The June 2 primary for California governor shattered spending records and upended precedent. The eventual winners \u2014 Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton \u2014 only emerged from a large scrum of candidates in the final months of the campaign.<\/p>\n

Read more DCCC kicks off general race against Valadao with ad targeting healthcare record<\/a><\/p>\n

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On Tuesday, representatives from five of those campaigns offered up a few takeaways from the race.<\/p>\n

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Speaking to attendees at the American Association of Political Consultants\u2019 California conference in downtown Sacramento, they routinely turned to the role of billionaires in politics and the difficulties in breaking out of a crowded field.<\/p>\n

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Anthony York, a Democratic communications consultant who worked on Tom Steyer\u2019s campaign, said his candidate had an obvious deficiency.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNewsflash: Democratic voters don\u2019t like billionaires,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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York characterized the race as a \u201creferendum on Tom Steyer\u201d given the $215 million he sank into his campaign, which is on track to finish around 2 percentage points behind Hilton. He acknowledged Steyer was \u201can imperfect messenger\u201d but defended the donor\u2019s progressive bona fides and said his policies have a real audience, pointing to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s national clout.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI do think there is a reckoning coming within the Democratic Party,\u201d York said.<\/p>\n

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Becerra benefited from a wave of support following the collapse of former Rep. Eric Swalwell\u2019s campaign after he was accused of sexual misconduct, claims Swalwell denies. Becerra went from polling in the low single digits to frontrunner status in the span of a little more than a month.<\/p>\n

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The moment crystallized the role of social media, according to Lindsey Cobia, a Democratic strategist and former deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Gavin Newsom who is now an advisor to Becerra\u2019s campaign. Influencers played a mayor role in surfacing the allegations against Swalwell and were heavily involved in boosting both Steyer and Becerra.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou could attribute [social media] to basically all the twists and turns that happened, and I do think it is kind of the future of campaigning and how we are going to operate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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