10 Mar Q&A With Billionaire Tom Steyer: The Only Question I Ask Is What’s Good for Working Californians?’

Tom Steyer, seen during New York Climate Week in September 2025, is running for governor of California. (Xuthoria, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Tanu Henry and Edward Henderson | California Black Media 

Editor’s Note:
This California Black Media Q&A series with California’s gubernatorial candidates is intended to inform voters about where the candidates for governor stand on key issues. The opinions, assertions and claims expressed are those of the candidates and have not been independently verified; they may or may not be supported by publicly available data.

As California’s 2026 gubernatorial contest takes shape, candidates are offering competing visions for addressing some of the state’s most persistent challenges, including housing costs, homelessness, public safety, education and economic inequality. 

Tom Steyer, a billionaire investor and longtime political activist, says his campaign is focused on affordability and what he describes as structural imbalances in the state’s economy. 

In a recent interview with California Black Media, Steyer discussed how his proposed policies would shape his approach to governing. 

How would the housing and utility policies you propose address the affordability crisis facing middle-and-low-income Californians?

Californians cannot afford to live in California. They can’t afford the rent. They can’t afford to buy a house. People are in this tight economic squeeze. At the same time, electricity prices are about twice the national average, and insurance, food and gasoline are all extremely expensive. If we lower the cost of housing and utilities and focus on what’s good for working Californians, we start to relieve the pressure. 

You’ve pledged to ban corporate PAC money from California elections. Some critics see this as contradictory for a billionaire.  How do you respond to concerns about campaign finance reform, considering your own profile as a wealthy candidate?

I have an unfair advantage, but, ultimately, it’s about the message. If you don’t have a message, it doesn’t matter how much money you spend. I don’t believe we should have serious amounts of money in elections that affect people’s lives when the only value behind it is profit. Corporate PAC money should be banned.

Your platform includes expanding free education from preschool through community college. How would you ensure that this policy is sustainable? 

We have a structural deficit in California, and nobody wants to talk about how we actually pay for the things we say we want to do. I’m very specific about raising $15 [billion] to $20 billion a year by closing corporate tax loopholes like the corporate real estate loophole from the 1970s and the “water’s edge” loophole that lets companies shift profits overseas. If we close those loopholes and bring that revenue back to the state, we can invest sustainably in education that builds opportunity over the long term.

You’ve singled out utility giants like PG&E as part of the state’s affordability problem. What regulatory or legislative actions would you support to hold utility monopolies accountable and reduce energy costs? 

These electric utilities are monopolies, and they charge Californians roughly twice the national average for electricity. The only way to lower those prices is to take on the monopoly and break the system that allows them to keep charging so much. I’m willing to take them on because I don’t owe them anything and I’m not taking their money. 

What policies would your administration pursue to close the racial wealth gap and expand economic opportunities for Black Californians?

I started a nonprofit community bank out of Oakland specifically to undo the structural redlining that has gone on in California for decades, really for a century. 

That bank makes low-income housing loans, used-car loans, business loans and nonprofit loans because, in order for people to build wealth and live a successful life, they need access to capital, and that access has been denied structurally to Black and Brown communities.

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There’s also been all this DEI criticism. People have tried to say you can’t hire with race or ethnicity in mind. Yet, at our bank, our answer was that we hire the best people, and we are absolutely determined to continue doing that, and it has resulted in an overwhelmingly Black and Brown workforce. My view is: don’t tell me we’re being racist when we are dealing with the facts on the ground in a just way and trying to correct structural injustice.

You have linked systemic racism to criminal justice reform efforts. If elected governor, how would you address racial bias, reduce mass incarceration, and improve rehabilitation outcomes? 

California is coming out of a period where the incarceration system was incredibly racial and racist, and we’ve worked hard to push reforms that address that. We absolutely want safe streets and police officers who protect our communities, but we also believe strongly in treatment and rehabilitation instead of incarceration for many nonviolent offenders. The goal should be to help people reenter society successfully so they can become contributing members of the community rather than returning to prison.

How would your administration mobilize and sustain civic engagement among Black voters, especially around critical issues like special elections and ballot measures?

It’s really important to physically go see people and spend time in communities because no one is a statistic. They are human beings. You have to listen, build relationships and talk honestly about structural racism and justice while also connecting on a human level. If you want to represent people, you have to be comfortable with them, enjoy being around them and actually hear what they’re saying. 

How would you ensure that California’s climate policies also prioritize environmental justice for communities disproportionately affected by pollution or lacking access to clean resources?

There is no environmental policy that’s going to work that does not include environmental justice upfront. Pollution has been distributed through structural racism. If we’re serious about climate policy, we have to name the injustices and be intentional about fixing them. That’s why I have fought projects that would have put more pollution in Black and Brown neighborhoods. 

What executive actions or state policies would you pursue regarding immigrant communities in California?

For decades, my wife and I have supported immigrant service organizations because immigrants come to California needing housing, education and community support. The state has to make sure those systems exist — from housing and language services to social programs — so people can succeed. That work is part of a broader commitment to human dignity and fairness.

What sets you apart as the candidate best positioned to lead Californians across diverse communities?

I’m the only person in this race who represents working people and who is willing to go get the money we need by taking on powerful corporate interests. I’ve spent 14 years taking on tobacco companies, oil companies and corporate tax loopholes and winning at the ballot box. The only question I ask is what’s good for working Californians, not what’s good for me.