For early voting sites, ballot drop boxes, and election information please visit sonomacounty.gov
California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer hosted his final “Shared Prosperity” town hall event at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts Wednesday evening. Accompanied by Congressmembers Ro Khanna and Jared Huffman, a packed house largely composed of undecided voters anxiously awaited their next potential governor.
The Tom Steyer who spoke to a scant crowd of 50 in February at the Oakstop-California Ballroom in Oakland was not the same one speaking to a capacity crowd of 600 in Larkfield-Wikiup. The Lytton Rancheria Grand Lobby at LBC ran out of standing room and balcony space before Steyer hit the stage. His answers were more succinct and better rehearsed; each answer he delivered wove together several of his core policies.
An answer to any given question could start with educational disparities, move to healthcare, shift slightly to urban design and move back to education without skipping a beat. If you had a question about agriculture or homelessness you better believe Steyer related it to decades of state financial policy, tax code and zoning.
Steyer has been matching corporate donations to his rivals with personal donations to himself at each turn of the contentious primary campaign. According to the latest Emerson College polling released May 10 and Steyer’s internal polling data released at 9 p.m. this evening, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra is in a dead heat with billionaire Steyer, with Republican and Englishman Steve Hilton narrowly in first place. Becerra has received maximum donations from Chevron, McDonalds and Pacific Gas & Electric.
Of PG&E Steyer said, “They can spend $13 million trying to stop me but they can’t reduce your rates. Go figure.” He emphasized that, “We pay twice as much as the rest of the United States for our electricity. It’s a monopoly. It’s a legal monopoly.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, a rising star in the Democratic Party for his dogged pursuit to release the Epstein files, endorsed Steyer instead of his Washington D.C. colleague Becerra. He remains dedicated to that pursuit of justice, noting the upcoming hearing for Pam Bondi on Friday and his intent to secure the release of the remaining 3 million Epstein files. Khanna opened for Steyer and said, “I’m here because Tom Steyer, the billionaire, is the only candidate willing to say ‘tax the billionaires.’” Khanna noted that there currently is three times the wealth concentration of the Gilded Age present in the United States. While potentially more deceptive, modern monopolies and billionaires have a proportionally larger slice of the pie than ever before. “Democrats aren’t against wealthy people,” Khanna said. “Democrats are against people who use wealth to rig the economic and political system.”
All the hallmarks of Steyer’s ads made an appearance, including dismantling PG&E, prosecuting ICE agents, closing the corporate real-estate tax loophole and protecting the environment. Steyer alerted voters that farm-to-table school lunches are on the menu and the demise of a utility monopoly are on the horizon.
Attendees at Wednesday’s event asked Steyer to comment on how he would balance the need for affordable housing with protecting the wilderness urban interface (WUI), to which Steyer said he wants to build affordable high-density housing surrounding public transit hubs, rather than rural areas with higher wildfire risk. Steyer is also prioritizing affordable housing over luxury, single-family homes and zoning. Steyer heard from Eli Cohen, a politically involved and active Ukiah high school student. He also heard from a 74 year old woman who was spending half of her income to rent a room in a home. Steyer answered that he wants to expand the California Renters Tax Credit since homeowners enjoy write-offs for mortgage interest.
Steyer quoted Thomas Jefferson’s reply to the Barbary Pirates saying California will, “Spend millions on defense and not a cent on tribute.” Steyer envisions a California actively combating our federal government rather than capitulating to it.
He believes that ICE agents will be used in the midterm and general elections as a tool to instill fear in voters and as a method of influencing elections. Any mention of ICE or the Trump family incited jeers from the crowd, “They’re evil” and “with our tax dollars.” In recognition of this, he vowed to control elections at the state level to actively safeguard voter rights.
A constant in Steyer’s political life is the advice and experience of his closest confidant, his wife Kat Taylor. Taylor sings Steyer off of the stage at every Town Hall and he relies on her for her expertise in a variety of policy areas that he is not personally familiar with. Steyer highlighted the nonprofit Beneficial State Bank he founded alongside Taylor for redlined and rural communities.
The line to gladhand and take a selfie with Steyer felt as long as the line to get in the building, and the energy was lively. Tied together with a bright blue “California You Can Afford Bus Tour” sign and a happy-go-lucky, modern playlist in the background, the closing of the Shared Prosperity Tour sounded like a high note. Looking ahead on the calendar, Steyer is hosting “Get Out The Vote” or GOTV events in San Francisco on Saturday and Los Angeles on Sunday from here through June 2 when California’s primary elections close.
For more information on where to vote and how visit sonomacounty.gov or ca.gov
