Tom Steyer has my vote for California Governor
- 16 hours ago
- 12 min read
Facing an important election, I won’t tell you how to vote. I will share my choices in a key races. And urge you to vote before the MAGA mobsters permanently turn the American dream into a nightmare
By Alex Ben Block
Tom Steyer is not a perfect man but after consideration based on research and analysis, I feel he stands above other contenders. He may be the only one with the public in mind who can win this election.
Below, I will tell you why I support him and a few others.
Why this is urgent: At a time we face spiraling food, gas, energy prices, and attacks on the rule of law, our health, schools, and even the Constitutional right to free speech are threatened, the two party political system is corrupted, traditional media is in a death spiral, social media floods us with difficult- to-verify claims, AI is leading to huge job losses, instead of a savior we often get slick, greedy billionaires who get ever richer at the cost of our quality of life and ability to raise our children to have good values.
I have put off writing this post because I do not feel anyone should tell you how to vote. So, my purpose is just to share insights about my choices as I filled out my ballot this year.
If you are voting – and I strongly recommend you do –do not vote out of anger or just to elect a fresh face even if they come with a flood of impossible claims. Consider carefully the impact that can have.
That is the great lesson of the Trump dump of lies and tricks turning the U.S. into a second world country. Our technology now makes this a single world where ever you reside. He even managed to anger our best friend in the world, Canada.
Despite that, Trump is shredding alliances that have existed since WW2 while praising dictators. He is effectively working to tear down 250 years of adherence to the U.S. Constitution, and the rule of law, to boost his own glory and pay off pals.
Trumpism has made a mockery of the need for elected officials who care about voters and not just enriching themselves. Our President lies to us on a daily basis about everything from the right to free speech to claims the world is turning against us.
Fake promises from a con artist and crook lacking ethics, shame and empathy, is leading us from a nation of hope to one of fear. His only success - I believe history will show - is his ability to make his family rich while the rest of us get poorer, less, healthy and no longer can count on fairness for all.
So why Steyer? Yes, he is a billionaire. Yes, he does have money in the U.S. and off-shore, which is the prudent thing to do if you are super rich. What the hate ads flooding the air waves will not tell you is that he does pay a considerable amount of taxes (while other rich avoid paying any taxes), that he gives to charity, that he is a family man with great empathy for everyone, that he believes all races, religions, ethnic groups and those legally in America deserve to be treated equally, and that he and his wife are committed to sharing their fortune.
In 2010, Steyer and his wife signed onto The Giving Pledge, an initiative backed by. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to share their fortunes after their death with others as well as their families.
He grew up in New York City to a middle class family (his father was a lawyer), attended good schools, but is mostly self-made. He graduated from Yale with honors and earned his advanced degree at Stanford.
He has come down a long road learning the real and only goal of capitalism is to relentlessly make money. He worked for years on and around Wall Street – until he could not be one of them any longer.
It is the back story that matters of how he was able to take on big business, especially big oil and energy companies, to force them to face their big role in the very real and lasting dangers of climate change.
If you want to do your research read Steyer’s 2024 book “Cheaper, Faster, Better: How We'll Win the Climate War. “ It is a great way to understand what he is about.
It provides not only important insights into the need to save our planet but also what shaped him as a man, as a business person, as a human being and eventually a politician.
From his Wiki: He is a philanthropist, environmental advocate, and political activist. He founded the San Francisco hedge fund Farallon Capital in 1986, and was its co-senior managing partner until leaving the firm in 2012. He then became active in climate advocacy and Democratic politics, founding NextGen America and later co-founding Galvanize Climate Solutions, a climate-focused investment firm.
He has taken on the biggest companies beginning in the era where Climate change was ignored, and as a result of that and his campaign promises, he is the enemy of big oil, big utilities and the super-rich.
If you read the fine print at the end of millions in deceptive hit ads on TV attacking him you will usually find the money behind the expensive ads is from those same oil companies, utilities and select unions who fear him. He is the enemy of those getting rich off soaring gas prices, and efforts to unravel clean air, water and destroy natural resources, protected by laws put in place in the recent past.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Another reason to vote for Steyer is that he is a real leader, and has the strength, voice and knowledge to be a strong advocate for California and its bright future. He has the business experience, the experience with successful ballot initiatives (including beating big oil with a lot less money for ads, for climate change best practices and more), the passion for citizen rights and climate change, a strong family history and more. He can take on Trump, oil, utilities and others and make it clear is what is best for the people of California. He is a real leader with nerve, heart and a strong will to do what is right.
Contrast that to his opponent who at present is considered the front runner. Xavier Becerra (Democrat) is the former HHS Secretary. Steyer has been attacked because he paid for ads claiming Becerra did not do enough to. help immigrant children when he had the chance, a charge he denies. For every dollar on such ads he spent, his opponents spent 10x more attacking Steyer.
Controversies? Becerra, always the businessman and bureaucrat, drew funds for his gov run by transferring money from previous campaign accounts. A May 11, 2026, report filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), accused him of violating campaign finance laws regarding payments from a dormant account, of over $225,000.
The rest $$$$ comes largely from big oil companies, especially Chevron, including a $39,200 contribution this year. Over the years - including when he was California Attorney General - he took contributions from major utilities including PG&E, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric.
Steyer has vowed if elected to address abuses by the utilities and even break them up, to lower utility costs for consumers and facilitate the growth of alternative energy like solar and wind power. Do not expect Becerra to do that. Expert Steyer to keep. His word.
Next time you get a bloated utility bill or go to the gas pump (gas prices are not just up due to the Iran War, Trump loving big Oil is seeing record profits) think of how much those getting richer on your pocketbook pain support Becerra.
Among others still in the running, San José Mayor Matt Mahan is the candidate of other big businesses, including tech billionaires. His big backers include Google co-founder Sergey Brin (who is spending millions to avoid Steyer’s call for a tax on millionaires), Trump buddy and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and L.A. businessman and former Republican Rick Caruso, who ran unsuccessfully for L.A. Mayor.
Orange County Rep. Katie Porter is a decent person and was a strong voice in Congress but is unlikely to win in the primary. She should return to Congress with her white board intact.
Dark horse Trump lover and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator and former Fox News host Steve Hilton - both Republicans - are unlikely to win in California unless the Democrats so split the vote that they can squeak into the general election. Trump supports Hilton.
What else does Steyer offer. He is experienced enough and rich enough that he will not be afraid to take on the rich and powerful, and he will stand up to the MAGA mafia.
Two final notes.
I am voting to re-elect Karen Bass as Mayor of Los Angeles. Being Mayor sounds like a big deal but it is an office with a lot of limits and she has done her best for the city. She has been accused of everything from failing to fix sidewalks to the not doing enough in the face of terrible wildfires to not addressing homelessness effectively but those are all complicated, difficult situations that no Mayor could be sure to counter in a way that would make everyone happy.
What I do know is that Bass is a caring woman, a good citizen, a decent person, honest and works hard. She is on the side of all people, all religions, all races and all classes. She may not be as flashy as some but she is tough, smart and trying hard. She deserves, in my view, to be re-elected.
Counter that with her former friend Councilmember Nithya Raman, a self-important politician who seems to change her views to fit her political needs. As one who lives on the fringe of her district, based on what I have seen and felt, I do not like or trust her and believe she wants to be Mayor out of her need for glory, power and wealth, not to make L.A. better.
I read the book that Pratt wrote about this years on reality TV, including MTV’s “The Hills,” which aired between 2006 and 2010. He no longer describes himself as a reality TV star. But he is still the bad boy who loves to upset and break things for his amusement.
Here is some of what Pratt’s sister told People Magazine:
The Headline: Spencer Pratt’s Sister Stephanie Urges People Not to Support His L.A. Mayoral Campaign: ‘A Vote for Him Is a Vote for Stupidity
” Stephanie also claimed that her brother is “just trying to stay famous and sell his memoir,”
After her posts urging people not to vote for Spencer inspired backlash, Stephanie also shared allegations of an alleged assault that occurred when she was 18, writing: “Everyone saying I should support him no matter what. Sorry he beat me up when I was 18 & put me in the hospital. So no he doesn’t belong in the government. Run the palisades all you want not LA.”
She also alleged that he got her “hooked” on drugs. “Almost forgot how it all started - he’s the one who got me hooked on hard core drugs at 15,” she claimed on X. “I’ve kept this all a secret for years. He also had a hidden drug addiction. Now do you get he shouldn’t be running LA. Thank you. Amen.”
Pratt says he is now a community advocate. He certainly is a Pratt advocate who loves to be in the limelight, no matter who he has to step on or dump on for his purposes.
Worst of all, he has no real experience in government, politics, or business, beyond the greedy way he was in the TV business before he burned all those bridges.
If there is any lesson from the Trump era, it is that a lack of experience in how government works, or what it takes to build a coalition to get anything. done, lacking a character or understanding of what it takes to satisfy a broad range of constituents is not good news. Government is not business, because it is not just about profits. It is about caring for people (unlike Trump, known for a lack of empathy).
The idea of his on-the-job training as Mayor frightens me. The only thing he has proven is that he likes to cause trouble, play the bad boy, and mess with people, all of which makes him a non-starter for me. And a danger to the people of Los Angeles.
Finally, I do strongly endorse Josh Sautter in his run for Congress in the 32nd district, to replace the sleepy, mostly useless Brad Sherman, who after 30 years in DC has not a single piece of important legislation to his credit. He shows up in ads every two years but is otherwise known only for boring town halls.
His claim to fame was that he was one of the first to file a bill to impeach Trump in Trump’s first term. The problem is Sherman did it without support from the other leading Democrats who were not ready then to trigger the impeachment effort yet. As unusual, Sherman was an embarrassment and annoyance to other Democrats.
Sherman lives almost all the time in Washington, and has both physical problems and personality faults. He has lasted because he is good at helping constituents do things like get a child into a military academy or reach out to the IRS.
It is time for Sherman to retire with a fat pension and let us have an advocate in the House of Representatives from a new generation who will have energy, new ideas, and the ability to work with other Progressives to deal with the Trump disasters, while there is still time to save our democracy.
I believe Josh Sautter can be a strong new voice and be part of a new generation that wants to rescue America from Trump.
I know Josh Sautter as a decent man, a family man and my neighbor in the East san Fernando Valley. He grew up in Washington, DC but for over four years has been committed to Southern California, where he is dedicated to his two young children.
He has a lot of good ideas, works well with other progressives and has shown an ability to build a coalition of supporters who work for him, knock on doors for him, and believe in him, as I do.
The rest....
Another candidate in the race, Jake Levine, IS a lawyer and politician who has served in DC under Democrats as a senior director for climate and energy on the United States National Security Council, Levine has not lived in LA for years. For his run he has rented a place locally.
His father is a former L.A. Congresman who is now a prominent attorney in L.A and who has sought revenge on Sherman for years. Levine also has vast financial backing from the Democratic establishment in DC that wants their own guy to replace Sherman. Levine also is the choice of Rick Caruso, the former Republican businessman who wants to play the role of power broker now.
Levine and his wife live in DC where his wife has a big job as a TV anchor. He has not lived in L.A. for many years and like Sherman will only show up for photo ops. He seems like a decent guy but he is wrong for this job at this time in this district.
Others running include Larry Thompson, who as Editor of The Hollywood Reporter, I knew as a nice man, charming, a salesman type, pushing projects mostly tied to his management clients for TV shows he produced. He dances around Trump but has shown support for El Bad News Prez.
Finally there is candidate Anna Wilding a charming lady I met in the 90s at the Cannes Film Festival where she was promoting herself as an actress and sometime writer. In recent years she lived in DC where she was a photographer and worked was on the fringe of the White House press corps. Her government experience appears to be nil. She is aggressive, and often seems angry. He chances of making it out of the primary is not promising but I still wish her well.
Finally note that you not only MUST vote but you also need to get your mail in ballot in the mail at least two weeks before the election, because Trump has stripped the US Post Office of most of its staff and financing, and instituted a rule just in time for this election that any mail in ballot is not to be post marketed immediately but must be sent to a central post office where the post marking will take an extra week or two.
If the ballot arrives at the polls after the election day date it will not be counted.
An excellent alternative is to drop off the ballot at one of many government drop boxes around the area, or even at the polling place.
But do not wait and DO VOTE as if your life and those of family and friends depends on it. That may well be the case.
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