Key Differences in the 2026 California Governor’s Race
Bianco Vs. Steyer
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- CHAD BIANCO VS. TOM STEYER
Side-by-Side: Bianco vs. Steyer
Issue-by-Issue: Bianco vs. Steyer
The Choice Couldn't Be Any Clearer
Tom Steyer is a billionaire. He made his fortune running Farallon Capital, the San Francisco hedge fund he founded in 1986. Farallon’s investments included substantial positions in fossil fuel companies, coal-fired power plants, oil and gas operations, and the kind of energy infrastructure Steyer now spends his time campaigning against. He profited from those investments for decades. He divested in the 2010s. He is now running for Governor of California on a platform of green energy and climate action.
That is who is asking Californians to keep paying the highest gas prices in the country in the name of climate.
Like the rest of the 2026 Democratic field, Steyer blames Donald Trump for California’s problems. He has spent more than $200 million of his personal fortune on Democratic political infrastructure — the Need to Impeach campaign in 2018, NextGen America for over a decade, his own 2020 presidential run, and ballot measures across the country. He is one of the largest single donors in the Democratic Party. He has helped build the political ecosystem that produced sixteen straight years of Democratic governance in California. He cannot name the people responsible for the current California because he has spent his fortune electing them.
Sheriff Chad Bianco offers the opposite. 33 years in California law enforcement. Currently serving his second term as Sheriff of Riverside County. A career built inside this state, on the front lines of every crisis Sacramento has refused to fix. Bianco has never made his money on energy he now demands Californians pay more for. He has never funded a political infrastructure and then run against the consequences of that infrastructure. He has spent the last seven years standing up to Sacramento on sanctuary state law and federal vaccine mandates when it cost him politically to do so.
This is the choice in 2026. A Sheriff who has done the work of fixing what is broken, or a billionaire who made his fortune on the energy he now wants California to pay more for.
On Energy and the Source of His Fortune
This is the contrast voters need to understand most clearly because it is the contradiction at the center of Tom Steyer’s political career.
Tom Steyer founded Farallon Capital in San Francisco in 1986. Over the next two and a half decades, Farallon grew into one of the largest hedge funds in the world, with investments across nearly every sector of the global economy. Among Farallon’s investments were substantial positions in fossil fuel companies, coal-fired power plants, and oil and gas operations. This is documented in SEC filings and was widely reported during Steyer’s 2020 presidential run. He profited from those investments. The fortune that funds his current political activity was built on returns generated, in significant part, by the energy industry he now demands California shut down.
Steyer divested in the 2010s and rebranded as a climate activist. He founded NextGen America in 2013. He spent more than $50 million on the 2014 midterms alone. He spent roughly $120 million on the 2018 Need to Impeach campaign. He ran for President in 2020 on a climate platform. He is now running for Governor on a continuation of that platform.
Sheriff Bianco never made a dollar on the energy he is asking Californians to pay more for. He has spent his career as a public servant. The contrast for voters is direct. One candidate built a billion-dollar personal fortune on the same energy industry he now demands California’s working families pay higher prices to oppose. The other has spent 33 years on a public servant’s salary.
Bianco’s plan as Governor: suspend the gas tax, approve in-state oil production, end the CARB regulatory regime closing California refineries, and lower the cost of energy for working Californians. Steyer’s plan is the opposite — extend the regulatory framework that produced the highest gas prices in the country, in the name of the climate concern he ignored for the first 25 years of his investment career.
On Who Actually Broke California
Tom Steyer, like the rest of the Democratic field, blames Donald Trump for California’s problems. He blames Trump for housing prices in San Francisco. For homelessness in Los Angeles. For crime in Oakland. For everything Sacramento Democrats have spent the last sixteen years building.
Donald Trump did not create those problems. Sacramento Democrats did. The gas tax was raised by Sacramento Democrats. The CARB regulatory regime closing California refineries was built by Sacramento Democrats. The CEQA framework slowing housing construction was built and defended by Sacramento Democrats. The state income tax structure that has driven outmigration was set by Sacramento Democrats. None of it came from Washington. None of it came from a Republican. All of it came from the Democratic political infrastructure Tom Steyer has spent more than $200 million of his personal fortune building.
Steyer cannot name the people responsible for California’s failures because he has spent his fortune electing them. That is not a coincidence. That is the political business model. The 2026 Democratic candidates blame Trump because the alternative is naming Newsom, Brown, the Democratic supermajority, and the donors who funded all of them. Tom Steyer is one of those donors.
Bianco can name them because he is not one of them.
On the Cost of Living
California is the most expensive state in America. Gas, groceries, electricity, housing — every line on a working family’s budget has been driven up by two decades of Sacramento policy.
Bianco’s positions are direct: suspend the gas tax, approve in-state oil production, end the CARB regulatory regime, cap state spending growth, and cut the state income tax. No new wealth tax, no mileage tax, no exit tax. Get government out of the way of the people who actually build, work, and pay the bills in this state.
Steyer’s positions point the opposite direction. He is a long-time advocate for federal wealth taxes. He supports California’s existing climate and energy regulatory framework — the framework that has produced the highest gas prices and electricity rates in the country. He is asking Californians to pay more for energy in the name of a climate concern he discovered after decades of profiting from the industry he now opposes.
California families are not leaving the state because of Donald Trump. They are leaving because rent, gas, groceries, and electricity cost more here than anywhere else. Every one of those costs has been driven up by Sacramento policy. The next Governor either reverses those policies or extends them. Steyer is the candidate of extension. Bianco is the candidate of reversal.
Why It Matters for California in 2026
California uses a top-two primary system. The two highest vote-getters in March advance to November regardless of party. The November contest will be a referendum on whether California continues the policy direction of the last decade or reverses it.
Steyer is offering continuation, funded by a fortune built on the energy industry he now opposes. A career in finance pivoting into politics. More than $200 million in personal political spending across the Democratic infrastructure that produced the current California. A climate-first agenda paid for by oil-and-coal-fund returns. The candidate of the donor class running on the policies the donor class has funded for fifteen years.
Bianco is offering reversal. 33 years in California law enforcement. Roll back Prop 47. End sanctuary state law. Suspend the gas tax. Cut state income tax. Restore consequences in the criminal justice system. Build water storage. Hold California’s largest agencies and DAs accountable for outcomes. A Governor who, when asked who is responsible for California’s failures, names them.
California has had a Democrat in the Governor’s office for sixteen straight years. The donors who funded those Democrats include Tom Steyer. The voters get to decide whether the answer is to elect one of those donors directly, or to elect a Sheriff who has spent his career fixing what their policies broke.
FAQs
What is the difference between Chad Bianco and Tom Steyer?
Bianco is a Republican Sheriff with 33 years in California law enforcement, currently running Riverside County. Steyer is a Democrat, a billionaire hedge fund founder, and a long-time political donor who has spent more than $200 million on Democratic political infrastructure over the past 15 years. Bianco is running on reversing the Sacramento policies that have made California the most expensive state in America. Steyer is running on extending them.
How did Tom Steyer make his money?
Tom Steyer founded Farallon Capital, a San Francisco hedge fund, in 1986. Over the next 25+ years, Farallon grew into one of the world’s largest hedge funds. The firm’s investments historically included substantial positions in fossil fuel companies, coal-fired power plants, and oil and gas operations. Steyer profited from those investments for decades before divesting in the 2010s and rebranding as a climate activist. Forbes has estimated his net worth at approximately $1.6 billion.
Why does Tom Steyer blame Donald Trump for California’s problems?
Because he cannot blame the people who actually made those decisions. Steyer has spent more than $200 million of his personal fortune building the Democratic political infrastructure that produced sixteen years of Democratic governance in California. The candidates and policies he has funded are the same candidates and policies responsible for the current California. Naming the failures honestly would mean naming the people he has worked alongside and helped elect. Attacking Trump is the only direction he can point that does not lead back to himself.
Has Tom Steyer ever held elected office?
No. Tom Steyer has never held elected office. He ran for President of the United States in 2020 and dropped out after the South Carolina primary. The 2026 California Governor’s race is his second campaign for elected office.
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