CARSON, CA — Joined by members of the California Carpenters Union at a union training facility Monday, gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer blasted corporate influence in California politics and criticized Xavier Becerra for siding with billionaire donors and special interests over working families.

Introducing Steyer, Carpenters Western District Vice President Pete Rodriguez said California workers need a governor focused on “trabajos, sueldos y beneficios — jobs, wages, and benefits.”

“We look to the governor to give us opportunities to be able to compete, and we look to the governor of California to give us an opportunity to live here because we can afford it here and to raise our families here,” Rodriguez said. “And we look to you, Mr. Steyer, as our next governor to take us to the finish line. We'll stand shoulder to shoulder with you, sir. We got three weeks to get this done.”

Thanking union workers for their support, Steyer called for dramatically expanding housing and infrastructure construction with union labor and blasted Becerra for siding with corporate donors over working families, accusing him of changing positions to win support from anti-single-payer interests while benefiting from millions in corporate-backed spending. Steyer pointed to more than $30 million in outside spending against his campaign — the largest super PAC effort ever mounted against a California gubernatorial candidate — as proof that oil companies, utility monopolies, and billionaire-backed interests are trying to stop a governor who will stand up for workers instead of corporate profits. Below are key excerpts from his speech:

“We don’t live in cyberspace. We have to build physical things again — housing, public transportation — using union workers. That is our future.”

“We have this system because special-interest corporations bought and paid for this system. Career politicians sided with oil companies, utility monopolies, insurance companies, and billionaires while working families got crushed by the cost of living.”

“Xavier Becerra wants Californians to believe he’s standing up for working families, but every time it’s mattered, he’s folded. Corporate money is flooding into this race because they know I’m willing to stand up to them and fight for working people.”

“They know I’m going to show up in Sacramento and not do what the lobbyists tell me to do. They know I’m going to stand up for working people and cut into their profits — and they’re right.”

“[Carpenters] stand with me, and I stand with [Carpenters]. We build together, and we change California together.”

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