Steyer: “Mahan’s Donors Show Who He’s Fighting For”

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer released the following statement after Matt Mahan’s first campaign finance report revealed maximum contributions from tech billionaires, venture capitalists, a co-founder of Palantir and anti-union operatives tied to Peter Thiel and Elon Musk:

“Matt Mahan’s first campaign finance report confirms exactly who is enabling his campaign, who he must please, and who is behind his candidacy.

His campaign is bankrolled by tech billionaires and corporate insiders who profit off your data, crush competition, attack unions, and pour money into surveillance and defense contractors. These are the same powerful interests who think government should work for them, not for the public.

This race comes down to one simple question: Who are you fighting for?

There is always a direct line between who funds a campaign and how someone governs. When you take maximum checks from corporate giants and anti-union crusaders, you can’t represent working families, you represent the people who signed the checks.

Californians deserve a governor who will stand up to corporate power, not bend the knee to it.”

BACKGROUND: Mahan received maximum contributions from:

• $78,400 from Steve Jurvetson, Elon Musk ally and VC investor, and $78,400 from his wife Genevieve Jurvetson
• $78,400 from Joe Lonsdale, Palantir co-founder and Peter Thiel ally, who called for the “return of public hangings” and that the 2020 election was stolen
• $78,400 from Sergey Brin, Alphabet co-founder
• $78,400 from Garry Tan, Y Combinator CEO and anti-union and anti-educator mouthpiece
• $78,400 from Brian Singerman, Partner Emeritus at Founders Fund (Peter Thiel VC)
• $39,200 from David Crane, co-founder and President of Govern for California, an organization dedicated to decimating unions

The news comes as San Jose Spotlight published a story outlining the many tentacles of the tech industry funding Mahan’s independent expenditure. Excerpts from the piece:

• “Neil Mehta, founder of venture capital firm Greenoaks, with investments in tech companies Databricks, Stripe and Canva, donated $500,000 to the committee. Mehta garnered controversy in San Francisco last year — and sparked displacement fears — for buying eight buildings across three blocks in the Fillmore District for $40 million through limited liability companies.”
• “Brian Singerman, a venture capitalist and one of the earliest employees of Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund tech investment firm, donated $250,000, records show. Singerman eventually became a partner — and later stepped down to be a strategic advisor — of the firm that invested in Elon Musk’s SpaceX, as well as surveillance and defense companies Palantir and Anduril.”
• "For the role of campaign manager, Mahan has enlisted 23-year-old Adrian Rafizadeh, a self-described conservative…”
• “Eric Jaye, a San Francisco-based consultant who helped lead campaigns by former Mayor-turned-Congressman Sam Liccardo, is also advising the campaign. Jaye is CEO of Storefront Political Media, a firm linked to a racist campaign ad scandal in 2020 that forced the Silicon Valley Organization to rebrand as the San Jose Chamber of Commerce the following year.”

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