On Wednesday, billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer announced he’s running for governor of California.
Steyer spoke with L.A.’s Morning News about the focus of his campaign, which is affordability.
“People who wanna live in California, who have built the state of California, can't afford to live here anymore,” he said. “And I think that somebody's got to address that fact and get the results that Californian citizens deserve, which means bringing down rent, which means bringing down electricity costs, which means dealing with the healthcare crisis.”
He thinks his background makes him equipped for the job.
“We have to have someone who has a history of getting results for Californian people, not just describing problems, but getting things done. I've done that for Californians in the public sector by taking on corporations and beating them and winning propositions and putting billions of dollars into education and health in the state of California without charging Californian citizens a dime.”
Steyer, who ran for president in 2020, also discussed how he plans to make corporations pay their fair share.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get pod
“If you look at my history of closing tax loopholes, I closed tax loopholes against the tobacco companies when the legislature couldn't,” he said. “ I closed tax loopholes against out-of-state corporations that weren't paying their fair share. I took on the oil companies and beat them. We can. It's easy to look through and see gigantic loopholes that are advantaging corporations right now and actually change those to put money into the budget for healthcare, for education.”
Those currently running to succeed Gov. Newsom include former Rep. Katie Porter, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra.
You can listen to our full interview with Steyer in the audio above.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok