Becerra’s primary win leads to flood in donations from business, labor and tech
Many of the special interests doing business in Sacramento watched this year’s chaotic primary for governor from the sidelines, wary of picking a losing candidate in an unpredictable race.
Now that the dust has settled, they have a clear favorite: Democrat Xavier Becerra.
Becerra’s campaign has taken in more than $2.6 million since the June 2 primary, driven by large donations from industry and business groups. The records show the former state attorney general is also amassing support from California tribes, tech companies and their executives, labor groups and longtime Democratic donors.
Since the primary, Becerra collected about four times more large donations (over $5,000) than his opponent this November, Republican Steve Hilton. Voters will get a more complete picture of the candidates’ fundraising after the campaigns file paperwork due at the end of this month.
Industry groups representing dentists, doctors, debt settlement firms, health insurers and car dealers all cut maximum $39,200 checks to Becerra in recent weeks. Major business donors like Comcast, Uber and Doordash all maxed out their donations. Labor allies representing construction workers, firefighters, university faculty and Los Angeles police officers also boosted Becerra.
Thad Kousser, a political science professor at the University of California-San Diego, said Becerra couldn’t take the November election for granted despite Republicans’ long statewide losing streak, and would need resources to run his campaign.
For donors, Kousser said contributions offered the hope of currying favor with a possible future governor.
“What contributions mostly do is help ensure access,” Kousser said. “They don’t guarantee influence. They give groups the chance to access a politician—to have that person take their calls, and have their staff listen to their policy arguments.”
Becerra’s donors include some high-profile individual donors, including filmmaker J.J. Abrams and a trio of tech figures who’d previously backed San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan in the primary: Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and venture capitalist Ron Conway.
Their shift is notable in part because Mahan ran as a business-friendly disruptor to the Sacramento status quo, a system he argued was embodied by veteran, labor-friendly politicians like Becerra.
Tan, a pugnacious “radical centrist” who has worked to moderate San Francisco politics, said in a statement that he identified with Becerra’s roots as the child of immigrants.
“He understands what California is supposed to be for, and he’s shown a genuine commitment to building housing and growing an economy where the next generation gets the same shot we did,” Tan said.
Hilton, a former Fox News host, raised at least $685,000 since June 2, almost entirely from individual donors. Many of Hilton’s donors are retirees. He picked up another primary-day donation from Palmer Luckey, the outspoken founder of the defense company Andruil.
Hilton has attacked the business community for backing Becerra rather than his own campaign, which focuses heavily on cutting regulations, arguing they’re vying for “scraps” from the perceived frontrunner.
