CALIFORNIA — Tom Steyer's campaign has begun airing television advertisements in support of his 2026 bid for California governor, with recent polls placing him near the top of the state's unsettled gubernatorial field. Steyer has spent more than $150 million of his personal funds on the campaign.

Steyer, a hedge-fund billionaire turned climate activist, has pledged to address entrenched political and economic forces to create affordable housing, increase taxes on the wealthy, lower energy bills, and protect the environment. He has also pledged to break up Pacific Gas & Electric to reduce utility costs. A super PAC supported by the real estate industry and Pacific Gas & Electric has spent millions of dollars in the gubernatorial race.

"The companies that are running up the costs are fighting like hell, because that's how they make their money. But somebody's got to stand up to them," Steyer said.

The campaign has been endorsed by Our Revolution, a Bernie Sanders-affiliated organization, as well as the California Teachers Association, the California Nurses Association, and environmental groups. A proposed tax on billionaires is scheduled to appear on the California November ballot.

Since 2010, Steyer has donated at least $875 million to federal and state political committees, according to an analysis by OpenSecrets and campaign finance records. Of that total, he has spent nearly $500 million on his two political campaigns. Over the past two decades, he has been one of the Democratic Party's largest political donors. In the past, he made investments in coal plants and private prisons.

"This election is about who you can trust to fight for you. One candidate is a billionaire who got rich off polluters and ICE prisons and is now using that money to fund his election," former U.S. Representative Katie Porter said.

Addressing skepticism about his wealth, Steyer said, "I know that people are skeptical of billionaires, and I'm skeptical of billionaires. But if you look at this race, I'm the only progressive in the race. I'm the person who's taking on the corporate special interests."

Former U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell withdrew from the gubernatorial race after facing sexual assault allegations. Polls show no notable increase in support for Steyer following Swalwell's departure. Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra appears to have gained momentum in the race. "It would be easy to say that he's reached his peak, except for the fact that there are so many undecideds and Steyer has so many resources at his disposal," said Mark Baldassare, statewide survey director for the Public Policy Institute of California.

Steyer, 68, a San Francisco resident, has never held public office. He spent more than $340 million in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary before dropping out after finishing third in the South Carolina primary. In 2010, Steyer contributed $5 million to the No on Prop. 23 campaign in California, which defeated an effort to overturn the state's greenhouse gas emission reduction law.