Summary
Wealthy tech executives have been ratcheting up their political activism in California, sponsoring ballot measures and backing candidates up and down the ticket, often with great success. In the recent primaries, several of them tried for office themselves. Despite spending millions more than their opponents, they failed to win votes.
Analysis
Tech billionaire-turned-environmentalist Tom Steyer was one of several former tech executives self-funding campaigns for office in the California primary or running as proxies for the industry’s most affluent. Steyer somehow used his wealth as a calling card to woo progressives, promoting himself as the only candidate not beholden to special interests and bragging about how much fossil fuel companies and the reviled California utility company PG&E were spending to campaign against him. Irene Kao, the executive director of the progressive group Courage California, commented that the group’s endorsement of Steyer “came as a surprise to us. But a lot of our work has to do with holding corporations and the wealthy accountable.”
Steyer’s many homes around the country, previous investments in private prisons, and lack of detailed proposals to fix the states’ ills were things a swath of voters were willing to forget about, netting him 20% of primary voters. Voters were less forgiving of Katie Porter, who started the race as the more natural choice for progressives, but was permanently shunned as mean and nasty after she was caught yelling at a staffer in an unflattering video.
Steyer also picked up a high-profile endorsement from Jane Fonda, touted in his TV ads, which were ubiquitous during the campaign. Steyer’s spending, all out of his own pocket, broke all sorts of records. The total spent on the Governor’s race, $315.8 million, broke the record for the most expensive race for a state’s top office in American history. And this was only a primary. Most of that money, $201 million, was spent by Steyer.
The campaign of another former tech executive, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, was a last-minute attempt by tech billionaires to grab the Governor’s office when the race looked like it could be theirs for the taking. But Mahan failed to distinguish himself in debates, and the $35 million his backers spent did little to boost his name recognition outside the Bay Area. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings reportedly asked for his $1 million donation back when Mahan’s PAC and other campaign offices started shutting down. Other donations may also have been refunded. According to the NY Times, Mahan’s $35 million war chest was amassed with promises that the money would be returned if Mahan lost.
The crowded Democratic field had sparked worries that the two Republicans in the race could end up on the ballot. In the end, the Democrats coalesced behind former Attorney General and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, who is favored to win in his November race against republican Steve Hilton.
Two Congressional races also attracted the interests- and dollars- of wealthy former tech executives. Ethan Agarwal, a startup founder, challenged popular progressive incumbent Congressman Ro Khanna for supporting the proposed billionaire tax in California’s 17th Congressional district. Agarwal’s campaign was funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, including venture capitalist Ron Conway and the CEO of Y Combinator, Garry Tan. Agarwal did poorly, and Khanna will face republican Ritesh Tandon in the general election, a race Khanna is sure to win.
A high-profile congressional race in San Francisco for the seat held by Nancy Pelosi for 39 years saw record spending by another former tech executive, Saikat Chakrabarti. In this case, the tech money was behind State Senator Scott Weiner, widely seen as the frontrunner. Chakrabarti, relatively unknown in San Francisco, entered the race when Weiner was facing vociferous opposition from progressives for his support of military aid to Israel. But Weiner unexpectedly issued a statement accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and withdrew from the Jewish Legislative Caucus, which has come under criticism for its blindly pro-Israel agenda.
That left Chakrabarti to go after Connie Chan, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who wasn’t as well-known as Weiner or as well-funded. Chakrabarti hired paid canvassers, and paid those who spoke Chinese, and could work in Chan’s Chinatown home base, extra. But in addition to being unconnected locally, Chakrabarti’s key story about having cut his chops as AOC’s Chief of Staff backfired when she refused to endorse him or respond to press queries about him. In this case, it turned out that all the paid advertising, paid supporters, and paid consultants you can buy with $10 million couldn’t beat Chan’s bona fides. She was backed by important labor organizations, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, and a slew of well-known democrats ranging from progressives to moderates. Nancy Pelosi’s late endorsement clinched the deal for Chan, who spent $690,000 to Chakrabarti’s millions, and Scott Weiner’s $3.9 million, an impressive win that means a real contest for Weiner in the general election in November.
Those were candidates from the tech industry itself. Candidates backed by tech money did well in local races, including two in San Francisco, and tech money managed to defeat a San Francisco proposal for an “Overpaid Executive Tax”, prompting journalist Tim Redmond to comment in his 48Hills.org online newspaper that the election’s “real winners are the handful of billionaire tech plutocrats who have been trying for years to take control of this city.”
- Take Action
The Corporate and Billionaire Opponents of San Francisco’s Overpaid Executive Tax, Sarah Anderson, Campaign Legal Center, April 29, 2026
https://ips-dc.org/the-corporate-and-billionaire-opponents-of-san-franciscos-overpaid-executive-tax/ - Arab Resource and Organizing Committee: AROC Joint Endorsement: Connie Chan and Saikat Chakrabarti https://arocaction.org/endorsements/