{"id":2612506,"date":"2026-06-09T15:04:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tom-steyer-wastes-550-million-and-everyones-time-in-failed-bids-for-office\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T15:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:07:39","slug":"tom-steyer-wastes-550-million-and-everyones-time-in-failed-bids-for-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tom-steyer-wastes-550-million-and-everyones-time-in-failed-bids-for-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Steyer wastes $550 million and &#8216;everyone&#8217;s time&#8217; in failed bids for office"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftom-steyer-wastes-550-million-and-everyones-time-in-failed-bids-for-office%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2612506&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Billionaire tom Steyer has poured more than $213 million of his own money into California\u2019s governor bid, a costly effort that is increasingly viewed as unlikely too succeed.A week after the primary polls closed and with the results not yet officially called by the Associated Press, Steyer is in third place with 22.4% of the vote (215,734 votes), behind Xavier Becerra (27.7%) and Steve Hilton (25.1%), with 83% of votes counted. <\/p>\n<p>California\u2019s jungle primary system sends the top two candidates to a November runoff. Steyer\u2019s spending-on top of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-not-to-judge-anti-pipeline-activist-dismissed-pedophilia-allegation-against-colleague\/\" title=\"\u2018I\u2019m Not to Judge\u2019: Anti-Pipeline Activist Dismissed Pedophilia Allegation Against Colleague\">failed 2020 presidential campaign<\/a> where he won no delegates-has pushed his total out-of-pocket election costs to about $557.8 million.  <\/p>\n<p>The article also notes that Steyer\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >approach helped drive record levels<\/a> of self-funding statewide,with candidates collectively investing roughly $250 million of their own money in this cycle-over eight times the amount seen in the 2022 governor race-far exceeding other historic examples such as Meg Whitman\u2019s $144 million self-funded 2010 campaign. Critics,including political figures quoted in the piece,argue he should stop financing campaigns at these levels,while similar (but smaller) wealthy self-funding efforts have occurred in past California elections.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Billionaire <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tom-steyer\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"2792\">Tom Steyer<\/a>, who had been polling near the top of the leaderboard for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/california\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"60\">California governor<\/a>, sank more than $213 million of his own money into what now increasingly looks like a futile<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"11675\"> bid<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/elections-2026\/california-primary-results-governor\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/elections-2026\/california-primary-results-governor\/\">Associated Press<\/a><\/em> has not officially called the primary contest, a week after polls closed, the vote count as of Tuesday afternoon had Steyer in third.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4594151\/thune-moves-neutralize-immigration-bill-landmines-doj-fund\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Thune moves to neutralize immigration bill landmines from DOJ lawfare fund<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance\/4593233\/trump-official-deletes-post-new-path-compensate-lawfare-victims\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump official deletes post suggesting new path to compensate victims of lawfare<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4583796\/trump-dumpsters-garbage-lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump says 10 dumpsters full of garbage were taken out of Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tom Steyer speaks during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/indiana-gop-primary-to-set-off-massive-leadership-shakeup-in-hoosier-state\/\" title=\"Indiana Republican primary triggers significant leadership changes in the state of Indiana\">gubernatorial candidate forum<\/a> on Latino and immigrant communities in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Godofredo A. V\u00e1squez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With 83% of the\u00a0vote counted, Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, has already advanced to the general election with 27.7%. Republican Steve Hilton has 25.1%, while Steyer, a Democrat, has 22.4% (215,734 votes), placing second and third, respectively. California uses a jungle primary, meaning all candidates, regardless of party, compete in one race in June. The\u00a0top two winners go on to the November runoff.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap\" style=\"min-height:5px;\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" style=\"display:none;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Combined with a failed bid for president in 2020, in which he received zero delegates, Steyer\u2019s out-of-pocket expenses now total an eye-watering $557,781,638. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it\u2019s time for Tom Steyer to stop wasting his money and everyone\u2019s time running for elected office,\u201d\u00a0Jeff Burton, a former senior National Republican Congressional Committee official and partner at Maven Advocacy, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Steyer\u2019s decision to pour $213 million into his gubernatorial bid helped drive candidate self-funding in California to unprecedented levels this election cycle.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap\" style=\"min-height:5px;\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" style=\"display:none;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe way Tom Steyer and Rick Jackson [a Republican running for governor in Georgia] are burning through cash, I am wondering if they are in a real-life remake of <em>Brewster\u2019s Millions,<\/em>\u201d David McLaughlin, a Democratic political expert, told the <em>Washington Examiner.<\/em> <em>Brewster\u2019s Millions<\/em> is a 1985 comedy in which the main character must spend $30 million in 30 days, with nothing to show for it, to claim his full $300 million inheritance. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In California, candidates across the ballot have collectively invested roughly $250 million of their own money into their campaign coffers, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cbs-slammed-for-smearing-ron-desantis-on-60-minutes-one-of-the-more-blatant-political-hatchet-jobs\/\" title=\"CBS Slammed For Smearing Ron DeSantis On \u201860 Minutes\u2019: \u2018One Of The More Blatant Political Hatchet Jobs\u2019\">finance records<\/a>. That figure is more than eight times what candidates spent on themselves during the 2022 governor\u2019s race and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hyundai-kia-car-thefts-on-the-rise\/\" title=\"Car thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles are increasing\">highest amount recorded<\/a> since California began maintaining digital campaign finance records in 1999.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The scale of Steyer\u2019s investment eclipses nearly every self-funded campaign in modern state history. One of the few comparable efforts came in 2010, when Meg Whitman spent $144\u00a0million of her personal fortune in an unsuccessful bid for California governor. At the time, her self-funded spending shattered all previous records for an individual candidate in U.S. election history.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap\" style=\"min-height:5px;\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" style=\"display:none;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California has seen other wealthy candidates bankroll statewide campaigns over the years, though at far smaller levels. Steve Poizner contributed $14 million to his 2006 insurance commissioner campaign, Eleni Kounalakis invested more than $8 million in her 2018 lieutenant governor run, while Yvonne Yiu spent nearly $6 million during her 2022 controller campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4594510\/desantis-rips-california-voting-count-delays-its-pathetic\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"4594510\">DESANTIS RIPS CALIFORNIA VOTING COUNT DELAYS: \u2018IT\u2019S PATHETIC\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this year\u2019s primary race to succeed <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nancy-pelosi\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"454\">Rep. Nancy Pelosi <\/a>(D-CA), Democrat Saikat Chakrabarti spent nearly $9 million of his own money on his campaign, the largest self-funded congressional primary effort in California history. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chakrabarti did not advance in the runoff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tom Steyer spent over $213M on a likely losing bid for CA governor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2646,"featured_media":2612507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26105034227461.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[43137,6571,49985,5894,38835],"class_list":["post-2612506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-campaign-spending","tag-elections","tag-government-waste","tag-politics","tag-public-policy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26105034227461.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2612506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2646"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2612506"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2612506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2612510,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2612506\/revisions\/2612510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2612507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2612506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2612506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2612506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}