Left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer announced Monday that he will not run for U.S. Senate or for Governor of California in 2018. Instead, he will spend $30 million to defeat Republicans in 24 key U.S. House races.
“People have been asking me for 12 months and five days what I’m going to run for,” Steyer told the Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel. “I’m not going to run for anything. I’ve said all along, the question I always ask is: Where can I make the most differential impact? And when I look at the jobs I can run for in California, they all have reputable Democrats running for them already.”
Weigel notes: “Steyer now plans to spend $30 million to build NextGen Rising, his 2018 campaign to increase millennial voter turnout. The targets are 24 Republican-controlled congressional districts and a handful of swing seats currently held by Democrats, in 10 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.”
Democrats need to win 24 House seats to take control of the lower chamber and restore House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to the Speaker’s chair.
Steyer has already spent $20 million on an advertising campaign to encourage Democrats to impeach President Donald Trump. He plans to hand-deliver 535 copies of Michael Wolff’s bestselling Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House to members of Congress this week.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) welcomed Steyer’s decision in a statement Monday:
I know I speak for many Californians who want to thank Tom Steyer for his work to raise the issue of climate change, achieve progressive victories in our state and empower voters across America. And I look forward to his continued activism in the months ahead as we campaign to take back both chambers of Congress to protect the nation from the dangerous Trump agenda.
Feinstein already faces a primary challenge from Senate President pro Tem Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles).
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.