A crowded field to replace Gavin Newsom in the 2026 governor’s elections just got more crowded, as SF’s own liberal billionaire Tom Steyer has joined the race, in an announcement where he declares, “Bullsh*t, man!”
Back during the leadup to this month’s Prop 50 redistricting vote, no one asked SF billionaire and failed 2020 presidential candidate Tom Steyer to put out these self-glorifying ads promoting the measure. Team Gavin Newsom was reportedly furious with Steyer for butting in with the ad seen below, as it seemed like Steyer was just trying to take credit for the inevitable landslide Prop 50 victory, or trying to raise his own profile for some self-serving reason.
Perhaps we now know what that self-serving reason was. KTVU reports that Steyer announced he is running for California governor today, in the campaign announcement seen below. And yes, Steyer actually declares the words “Bullshit, man!” at the :06 mark.
I’m running for governor because Californians deserve a life they can afford.
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) November 19, 2025
Sacramento politicians are afraid to change this system. I’m not.
Join us: https://t.co/YWoyLaGYSa pic.twitter.com/fE1sSnkD4Y
The rest of the video features people changing tires or making pupusas over the narration of Tom Steyer.
“Californians deserve a life they can afford. But the Californians who make this state run are being run over by the cost of living,” Steyer says in the ad, which is a hodgepodge of poll-tested issues. “I will launch the largest drive to build homes that you can afford in the history of California."
Steyer made his fortune as the founder of the hedge fund Farallon Capital in the mid-1980s, and left that firm in 2012. He has since gone on to found (or co-found) Galvanize Climate Solutions and NextGen America, which I am guessing none of you have heard of. He was involved with the successful anti-oil-drilling state measure Prop 23 in 2010, and the 2016 cigarette sales tax measure Prop 56. But his involvement was mostly cutting checks, which seems to be the capacity in which Tom Steyer is most appreciated. Tom Steyer the man has always struggled to find even marginal political appeal.
As Tom Steyer enters the race for California governor, here's a piece from 2019 when I went to his presidential campaign launch and couldn't find a single person who was voting for him not on his staff pic.twitter.com/wr6EIwxBAI
— Jacob Rosenberg (@jrrosenb) November 19, 2025
Regardless, Steyer joins a governor’s race where Kamala Harris is out, and so is Senator Alex Padilla. That leaves the major candidates like former congressional rep Katie Porter, Biden’s HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, and former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. On the Republican side, you’ve also got former Fox News host Steve Hilton and the even more eccentric Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, plus a host of other lesser-known candidates on both sides.
Image: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 24: Tom Steyer attends the 2023 Time100 Next at Second on October 24, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
