California has yet to elect a Republican governor, but it has at least avoided a bullet in the gubernatorial primary in the form of Tom Steyer, a progressive billionaire who, believe it or not, was set to be even worse for the Golden State than Gavin Newsom.
Because his campaign was almost entirely self-funded, Steyer was able to shape it closely around his own politics, which became clear as his positions moved beyond mainstream Democratic views and toward the more progressive left.
We believe in a not-so-radical idea: California should work for working people. pic.twitter.com/EC4utKn3Dy
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) June 3, 2026
It's in your hands now, California.
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) June 3, 2026
Polls close at 8pm — and if you're voting for me, you're voting for this. Get out there. pic.twitter.com/OqjYXMiVHj
Steyer supported single-payer healthcare and a one-time 5 percent tax on billionaires that even Newsom refused to back, along with price controls and profit caps on oil and gas companies, despite California already collecting more per gallon in gas taxes than oil companies earn in profit. He also backed rent and electricity price controls, proposed abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and prosecuting its leadership, outlined a $2 trillion climate-focused infrastructure plan, and supported expanding statewide soft-on-crime policies.
In other words, Steyer stood very much as the primary far-left candidate even in a state defined by its trust in progressivism.
He would have taken a state already in decline and pushed it further down that path through greater government control over industry, tightening the state’s existing grip on the economy, and further constraining free-market competition, driving up prices and reducing quality. For someone who is so opposed to monopolies, he failed to acknowledge standing up to the largest monopoly of all: government.
Thankfully, on Monday, Steve Hilton cemented his place in the general election to face Xavier Becerra, a dark-horse candidate who drew much of his support from Gavin Newsom’s base. While Hilton still faces a long path to victory, and Becerra remains the likely winner of the gubernatorial election for the Golden State, Californians no longer face the prospect of a progressive billionaire taking an already declining state and accelerating it through a bunch of feel-good policies that do little to address the root of the state's issues.