Why Tom Steyer's $216-million gubernatorial bid failed

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Californians couldn’t escape billionaire Tom Steyer’s political ads — during newscasts, sitcoms, or sporting events; on streaming services, YouTube, influencers’ social media feeds, or their mailboxes.Even the Puppy Bowl.Yet despite spending a record-shattering $216 million of his wealth on his run for governor, the Democrat failed to win enough votes in last week’s primary to advance to the November general election to replace termed-out Gov.

Gavin Newsom.“Money isn’t everything, even though it obviously helps,” said Andrea Godfrey Flynn, a marketing professor at the University of San Diego.“It boosted Steyer way up.

… But there are so many other factors at play that it may not have been enough.”Steyer, a hedge fund co-founder turned environmental warrior, polled at 1% shortly before he entered the governor’s race in November, according to a survey by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies that was co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.He climbed in subsequent polls, hitting 19% in the same poll shortly before the June 2 primary, putting Steyer in contention for winning one of the top two spots in the contest that would allow him to advance to the November election.But then he hit a ceiling, and on Tuesday, it became official that he failed to advance.Steyer emailed supporters Tuesday expressing gratitude for their efforts backing his campaign, endorsements and votes.“Together, we fought for a California that belongs to the people who keep it running every day, and we insisted that they do not have to settle for a system that protects corporate profits at the expense of working people,” he wrote.

“I’m proud of how we never compromised our values or lowered our sights for what California can and should be.”He pointed with pride at major corporations such as Chevron and Meta spending heavily to oppose his bid, and said their tens of mi...