Tom Steyer presidential campaign, 2020
Date: November 3, 2020 |
Candidates on the issues • Battleground states • Electoral College • Pivot Counties |
September 29 debate • October 7 debate • October 15 debate • October 22 debate • Democratic debates |
Democratic • Republican • Libertarian • Green • Constitution |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
| “ | America faces many crises right now––the environment, gun violence, opioids, even our Constitution. It's clear that business as usual isn't working. Our next president must be prepared to rebuild our democracy.[1] | ” |
| —Tom Steyer (June 2019)[2] | ||
Tom Steyer is an investor, activist, philanthropist, and donor to progressive and Democratic Party causes. He announced on July 9, 2019, that he was running for president of the United States.[3] He suspended his presidential campaign on February 29, 2020, after placing third in the South Carolina Democratic primary.
“The other Democratic candidates for President have many great ideas that will absolutely move our country forward, but we won’t be able to get any of those done until we end the hostile corporate takeover of our democracy,” he said in a statement.[3]
Steyer founded NextGen Climate, which he rebranded as NextGen America in 2017. According to its official website, the advocacy group is a "diverse coalition of young people, organized to take power by winning elections for progressive candidates."[4]
Election results
South Carolina primary
Candidate |
% |
Votes |
Pledged delegates |
|
|
| Joe Biden |
48.6
|
262,336 | 39 |
|
| Bernie Sanders |
19.8
|
106,605 | 15 |
|
| Thomas Steyer |
11.3
|
61,140 | 0 |
|
| Pete Buttigieg |
8.2
|
44,217 | 0 |
|
| Elizabeth Warren |
7.1
|
38,120 | 0 |
|
| Amy Klobuchar |
3.1
|
16,900 | 0 |
|
| Tulsi Gabbard |
1.3
|
6,813 | 0 |
|
| Andrew Yang |
0.2
|
1,069 | 0 |
|
| Michael Bennet |
0.1
|
765 | 0 |
|
| Cory Booker |
0.1
|
658 | 0 |
|
| John Delaney |
0.1
|
352 | 0 |
|
| Deval Patrick |
0.1
|
288 | 0 |
| Total votes: 539,263 • Total pledged delegates: 54 |
Nevada caucus
New Hampshire primary
Candidate |
% |
Votes |
Pledged delegates |
|
|
| Bernie Sanders |
25.6
|
76,384 | 9 |
|
| Pete Buttigieg |
24.3
|
72,454 | 9 |
|
| Amy Klobuchar |
19.7
|
58,714 | 6 |
|
| Elizabeth Warren |
9.2
|
27,429 | 0 |
|
| Joe Biden |
8.4
|
24,944 | 0 |
|
| Thomas Steyer |
3.6
|
10,732 | 0 |
|
| Tulsi Gabbard |
3.3
|
9,755 | 0 |
|
| Andrew Yang |
2.8
|
8,312 | 0 |
|
| Deval Patrick |
0.4
|
1,271 | 0 |
|
| Michael Bennet |
0.3
|
952 | 0 |
|
| Cory Booker |
0.1
|
157 | 0 |
|
| Joe Sestak |
0.1
|
152 | 0 |
|
| Kamala D. Harris |
0.0
|
129 | 0 |
|
| Marianne Williamson |
0.0
|
99 | 0 |
 | Steve Burke |
0.0
|
86 | 0 |
|
| Julián Castro |
0.0
|
83 | 0 |
|
| John Delaney |
0.0
|
83 | 0 |
|
| Steve Bullock |
0.0
|
64 | 0 |
|
| Tom Koos |
0.0
|
64 | 0 |
|
| David John Thistle |
0.0
|
53 | 0 |
|
| Lorenz Kraus |
0.0
|
52 | 0 |
|
| Robert Carr Wells Jr. |
0.0
|
45 | 0 |
|
| Henry Hewes |
0.0
|
43 | 0 |
|
| Sam Sloan |
0.0
|
34 | 0 |
|
| Mosemarie Boyd |
0.0
|
32 | 0 |
|
| Ben Gleiberman |
0.0
|
31 | 0 |
|
| Mark Stewart Greenstein |
0.0
|
31 | 0 |
|
| Thomas Torgesen |
0.0
|
30 | 0 |
|
| Rita Krichevsky |
0.0
|
23 | 0 |
|
| Michael Ellinger |
0.0
|
19 | 0 |
|
| Jason E. Dunlap |
0.0
|
12 | 0 |
|
| Roque De La Fuente III |
0.0
|
11 | 0 |
|
| Raymond Moroz |
0.0
|
8 | 0 |
| Other |
2.0
|
6,081 | 0 | |
| Total votes: 298,369 • Total pledged delegates: 24 |
Iowa caucus
Steyer in the news
- See also: Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing and Editorial approach to story selection for the Daily Presidential News Briefing
This section featured five recent news stories about Steyer and his presidential campaign. For a complete timeline of Steyer's campaign activity, click here.
Biography
Steyer was born in 1957 and grew up in New York City. He studied economics and political science at Yale University, graduating summa cum laude. After college, he worked on mergers and acquisitions for the investment bank Morgan Stanley. He went back to school to earn an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[5][6]
After graduate school, Steyer worked for the New York investment bank Goldman Sachs and moved to San Francisco in 1986 to join the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. He then started his own hedge fund, Farallon Capital Management, which he managed until 2012, when he retired to focus on political advocacy and philanthropy.[6][7]
In 2013, Steyer founded NextGen Climate. According to its website, NextGen Climate was formed "to prevent climate disaster and promote prosperity for all Americans."[8] Steyer rebranded NextGen Climate as NextGen America in July 2017 to reflect a broader focus on opposition to President Donald Trump and support for a range of progressive policies. "This is a fight for the soul of American democracy and we have expanded our mission to meet the challenge at hand," he said.[9]
According to Investor's Business Daily, Steyer spent more money on the 2014 and 2016 elections—$73 million and approximately $100 million, respectively—than any other individual donor.[10] In May 2016, Forbes listed Steyer at number 387 on its list of the 400 wealthiest people in the United States.[7] He spent $74 million during the 2018 elections.[11]
Campaign finance
The following chart shows Democratic presidential campaign fundraising, including both total receipts and contributions from individuals, as well as campaign spending. Figures for each candidate run through the end of June 2020 or through the final reporting period during which the candidate was actively campaigning for president. The total disbursements column includes operating expenditures, transfers to other committees, refunds, loan repayments, and other disbursements.[12]
Satellite spending
Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[13][14][15]
This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.
Democratic presidential primary debates, 2019-2020
- See also: Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
The following table provides an overview of the date, location, host, and number of participants in each scheduled 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate.
Debate participation
During his candidacy, Steyer participated in six Democratic presidential primary debate.
Campaign advertisements
Support
This section shows a sampling of advertisements released to support or oppose this candidate in the 2020 presidential election.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Policy positions
The following policy positions were compiled from the candidate's official campaign website, editorials, speeches, and interviews.
Immigration
Tom Steyer tweeted, "The first step to comprehensive immigration reform is examining the factors that cause mass migration in the first place—which means we need a president who understands that climate change is real." [source, as of 2019-08-25]
Healthcare
Tom Steyer's campaign website says, "Every American has the right to health care. To give Americans a real choice, Tom supports the creation of a public option. Every American should have the ability to choose the plan that best suits their health care needs. But choice is only meaningful if there are good options available. Tom’s public option will compete aggressively with the insurance companies to drive down costs, expand coverage, and deliver quality health care."
His website continues, "Tom’s public option will be administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which charges a far lower overhead than private insurers, but be fiscally separate from Medicare and Medicaid. It will enable the government to negotiate health care costs directly with medical groups and providers, just like Medicare does today. Tom will end surprise out-of-network medical billing by ensuring that emergency room expenses are equitably capped, that all medical professionals on call at an in-network facility accept the insurance that the facility as a whole accepts, that the lab contracted by an in-network facility accepts that facility’s coverage, and that there is a cap on the price of services like emergency ambulances and air ambulances to prevent a medical disaster from sending a person into bankruptcy." [source, as of 2019-11-19]
Energy and environmental issues
Tom Steyer's campaign website says, "As president, Tom will declare the climate crisis a national emergency on his first day in office, and will begin implementing his Justice-Centered Climate Plan, with or without Congress. He is prepared to use the emergency powers of the presidency to take on the climate crisis, protect the American people, redouble our commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, and establish our global leadership as we build a safer, more sustainable world. Tom’s five-pillar framework for the Justice-Centered Climate Plan addresses the urgency and global nature of the climate crisis while creating millions of good jobs, providing everyone in the U.S. with clean air and water, ensuring an inclusive process for workers transitioning from fossil fuel industries, and prioritizing justice for communities that have been treated as environmental dumping grounds for too long. The Justice-Centered Climate plan will get the U.S. back on track to be a global leader in climate change solutions. Tom will lead us in moving from an extraction economy — where fossil fuel companies strip value from people and communities — to a regenerative economy, where we invest in people and places for the long term."
He lists the following policy priorities: "Justice-Based Pollution Reduction Targets and Actions. Community-Led Civilian Climate Corps. A Regenerative Economy. Climate-Smart Infrastructure. A Resilient Disaster Plan to Restore America’s Global Leadership." [source, as of 2019-09-10]
Trade
Tom Steyer's campaign website says of trade in the context of climate change, "Reduce the threat of global conflict and support other nations to achieve prosperity without fossil fuels by meeting and increasing our investment in international clean energy and sustainable development systems, eliminating our demand for fossil fuels, leading a worldwide transition to clean energy, and using the global purchasing power of the United States and international trade agreements to send a clear signal that the fossil fuel era is coming to an end and the clean energy age has begun." [source, as of 2019-09-10]
Economy
Tom Steyer's campaign website says, "Under the Justice-Centered Climate Plan, there won’t just be more jobs — there will be better jobs. Tom’s plan will reward workers for the skills and training they acquire to tackle the challenges of this transition and will respect the dignity of working people. One job will be enough, and workers will receive family-sustaining wages and benefits, job stability, and security. As we build a climate-smart economy, the highest job growth will be in in traditionally densely unionized industries, such as the power sector, public works construction, and manufacturing, and we will invest in sectors like agriculture, forestry, efficient buildings and industry, where jobs cannot be outsourced and workers won’t have to compete with exploited workers overseas." [source, as of 2019-09-10]
Education
Tom Steyer's campaign website says, "Without guaranteed access to a good education, there’s no such thing as equal opportunity. Our government must protect the right to a free, quality, public education from preschool through college and on to skills training." [source, as of 2019-09-10]
Gun regulation
Tom Steyer's campaign website says, "Tom Steyer supports universal background checks, red flag laws, banning assault weapons, and restricting high-capacity magazines. He supports prohibitions on 3D firearm printing, and banning gun possession for those who have been convicted of domestic violence. Tom thinks that gun manufacturers should not be immune from civil liability, and would support funding to study gun violence as a public health issue. He also supports federal databases to track gun sales, and opposes concealed carry reciprocity." [source, as of 2019-09-10]
Criminal justice
Tom Steyer's campaign website says, "The school-to-prison pipeline benefits private prisons and the bail bond industry." [source, as of 2019-09-10]
Foreign policy
Tom Steyer's campaign website does not include a position on foreign policy.
His website says about international agreements in the context of climate change, "Join the international Powering Past Coal Alliance, work to end global finance for coal-fired power plants, and strengthen and improve accountability procedures for enforcing human rights and environmental requirements for projects that receive funding through the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other international finance mechanisms. Lead a global plan to help prevent, address, and reduce climate-related disasters, including supporting pre-disaster resilience planning and investment, and helping protect the human rights of the growing number of people displaced by these disasters domestically and globally." [source, as of 2019-09-10]
Impeachment
Tom Steyer tweeted, "Two years ago, we began a movement to hold this lawless, criminal president accountable. We are finally at a watershed moment. The beginning of an official impeachment inquiry is the beginning of taking our democracy back." [source, as of 2019-09-24]
Other policy positions
Click on any of the following links to read more policy positions from the 2020 presidential candidates.
Criminal justice
Economy
- 2020 presidential candidates on coronavirus recovery
- 2020 presidential candidates on the economy
- 2020 presidential candidates on Social Security
- 2020 presidential candidates on the minimum wage
- 2020 presidential candidates on paid leave
- 2020 presidential candidates on taxes
Education
- 2020 presidential candidates on education
- 2020 presidential candidates on student loan debt
- 2020 presidential candidates on charter schools and voucher programs
Energy and environmental issues
- 2020 presidential candidates on energy and environmental issues
- 2020 presidential candidates on climate change
- 2020 presidential candidates on the Green New Deal
Foreign policy
- 2020 presidential candidates on foreign policy
- 2020 presidential candidates on China
- 2020 presidential candidates on Russia
- 2020 presidential candidates on North Korea
- 2020 presidential candidates on the Middle East and North Africa
- 2020 presidential candidates on South and Central America
Gun regulation
Healthcare
- 2020 presidential candidates on healthcare
- 2020 presidential candidates on the Affordable Care Act
- 2020 presidential candidates on Medicare for All
- 2020 presidential candidates on prescription drugs costs
Immigration
- 2020 presidential candidates on immigration
- 2020 presidential candidates on border security
- 2020 presidential candidates on DACA and Dreamers
- 2020 presidential candidates on immigration enforcement
Impeachment
Labor
- 2020 presidential candidates on labor policy
- 2020 presidential candidates on Janus v. AFSCME
- 2020 presidential candidates on public-sector unions
- 2020 presidential candidates on unionization and organization
- 2020 presidential candidates on the right to strike
Trade
Campaign themes
As of March 2025, Steyer has not yet published campaign themes.
Archive of Political Emails
The Archive of Political Emails was founded in July 2019 to compile political fundraising and advocacy emails sent by candidates, elected officials, PACs, nonprofits, NGOs, and other political actors.[16] The archive includes screenshots and searchable text from emails sent by 2020 presidential candidates. To review the Steyer campaign's emails, click here.
Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing
The following section provides a timeline of Steyer's campaign activity beginning in February 2019. The entries, which come from Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing, are sorted by month in reverse chronological order.
See also
- Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
- Presidential candidates, 2020
- Presidential election endorsements, 2020
- PredictIt markets in the 2020 presidential election
- Presidential candidate campaign travel, 2020
- Democratic presidential primary debates, 2020
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Twitter, "Tom Steyer," June 27, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Associated Press, "Tom Steyer launches 2020 campaign after saying he wouldn’t," July 9, 2019
- ↑ NextGen America, "Home," accessed November 25, 2019
- ↑ Bloomberg, "Thomas Fahr Steyer," accessed May 3, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Forbes, "Tom Steyer: Hedge Fund Billionaire's Foray Into Politics," September 21, 2011
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Forbes, "#121 Thomas Steyer," accessed April 17, 2017
- ↑ NextGen Climate, "Tom Steyer: Founder - NextGen Climate" accessed January 20, 2018
- ↑ Propeller, "NextGen Climate relaunches as NextGen America, broadening cause efforts," July 24, 2017
- ↑ Investor's Business Daily, "The Biggest Loser in The 2016 Election? Tom Steyer," accessed November 18, 2016
- ↑ Open Secrets, "Top Individual Contributors: All Federal Contributions, 2018 election cycle," accessed July 10, 2019
- ↑ FEC, "U.S. President," accessed July 16, 2019
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," November 6, 2015
- ↑ Archive of Political Emails, "About," accessed September 16, 2019
| |||||||||||