Tom Steyer Joins California Governor’s Race, Immediately Blasted by Katie Porter

Liberal billionaire Tom Steyer is officially running for governor of California and the knives are already out, even from within his own party.

Steyer, who burned through $342 million of his own fortune in a failed 2020 presidential bid, announced his latest campaign with a profanity-laced video that painted him as a populist outsider, despite his decades-long ties to fossil fuel firms, tobacco, and private immigration detention facilities.

“The richest people in America think that they earned everything themselves. Bulls***, man,” Steyer said in his launch message, claiming that California is “the place that invents the future.”

That line didn’t sit well with fellow Democrat and gubernatorial frontrunner Katie Porter, who ripped into Steyer’s past and accused him of trying to whitewash his record.

“A new billionaire in our race claims he’ll fight the very industries he got rich helping grow... I call bulls***,” Porter said on social media.

Porter, who has taken money from Steyer in past campaigns, is now painting him as a climate hypocrite and establishment phony. The former congresswoman is already under fire herself after a viral interview meltdown and a resurfaced video showing her cursing at a staffer during a joint event with then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

As California’s cost-of-living crisis worsens, Steyer’s entry into the race highlights a broader problem: out-of-touch elites who preach climate virtue while everyday families struggle to pay their bills.

“You’re complaining about California’s ‘cost of living’? Look in the mirror!” Republican candidate Steve Hilton fired back. “It’s your insane ‘climate agenda’ that caused the problem!”

Steyer’s climate policies have long come under fire for being devastating to California’s middle class particularly in driving up energy prices, backing refinery closures, and pushing for extreme emissions standards that have forced businesses and jobs out of the state.

Even Democrats seem torn over his candidacy. Federal records show Steyer previously donated thousands to Katie Porter’s congressional runs, raising eyebrows over whether this is just another elite reshuffling at the top of a party that’s increasingly disconnected from working Californians.

The 2026 race is shaping up to be one of the most contentious in California’s history. Along with Steyer and Porter, the Democratic primary features former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, ex-L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former State Controller Betty Yee, and former Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon.

On the GOP side, Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco are aiming to bring sanity back to a state that’s seen an 800,000-person exodus in the past three years, driven by high taxes, soft-on-crime policies, and unaffordable housing.

With Gov. Gavin Newsom term-limited, and no challenge from Sen. Alex Padilla, the door is wide open and Democrats are already tearing into each other while the state sinks under their failed leadership.

If Californians want another billionaire pushing green pipe dreams while living in gated luxury, Steyer’s their guy. If they want real leadership and economic sanity, they’ll need to look elsewhere.

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