TO: Interested Parties FR: Heather Hargreaves and Rebecca Katz DATE: May 20, 2026 RE: Closing Argument

With less than two weeks to go, a race that was once wide open has simplified. There are three candidates vying for two spots: Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra, and Tom Steyer. 

Three choices. A Republican, a corporate Democrat, and a progressive Democrat. 

TOM STEYER IS THE ONLY PROGRESSIVE WHO CAN WIN IN JUNE & NOVEMBER

This is a three-way race. The math doesn’t add up for anyone else. Matt Mahan’s help from allies has dried up, largely because he never broke through even when the money was flowing. Katie Porter gambled most of her remaining resources on a TV blitz from weeks 7 to 4, hoping to produce momentum and movement in the polls and that never materialized. Voters are now casting their ballots and have moved on from Porter and Mahan.

Hilton has consistently polled in the top two, and as Trump’s endorsement is as good as gold among Republican primary voters, he will undoubtedly earn the majority of Republican support.  For Democrats, the choice comes down to Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra.

THE CHOICE 

If you’re happy with the way things are going in California, and how much things cost – Xavier Becerra is your candidate. He is the candidate of the special interests that don’t want things to change because the status quo is very profitable for them. Xavier Becerra is more of the same. 

It’s not a coincidence that the same crowd of Sacramento lobbyists, consultants, and corporate interests that all backed Swalwell – precisely because they knew he was an empty suit who wouldn’t rock the boat – have moved en masse to get behind Xavier Becerra.  

But if California is ever going to be more affordable, it needs a Governor who can bring change. 

Tom Steyer is the only one who’s going to take on powerful interests, lower costs, and deliver real change. He’s the only candidate willing to fight back against the corporate interests that are blocking progress and making California unaffordable – because he’s the only candidate who doesn’t take their checks.

Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer have chosen clear sides, and it’s not a subtle or nuanced distinction. Becerra stands for the status quo, while Steyer stands for change. Becerra stands with corporations, while Steyer stands with working people.  

The fact that corporate special interests are spending $28 million against Steyer – the largest-ever super PAC spending against a candidate for governor in California – and spending millions more backing Becerra tells you two things: They’re afraid Tom Steyer is going to bring change. And that they’re confident that Xavier Becerra won’t. 

CLOSING ARGUMENT

The campaign comes down to a simple choice for voters, between a billionaire who fights for working people, or a career politician who fights for billionaires. That’s the fundamental question of this race, one we’ll be asking voters over the final two weeks.

Corporate profits are soaring and Californians are struggling. Tom Steyer is the only one running to change that. As Governor, he will stand up to the corporations that are ripping off working people. That’s exactly why special interests including Big Oil, the utilities, realtors, and the medical industry are spending millions of dollars to try and defeat him. Those same special interests are bankrolling Becerra’s campaign, because they know he’ll protect a status quo that means high costs for California and huge profits for them.  

Tom himself makes this case in a brand new TV ad that will begin airing statewide this week:  

“This campaign is about representing people who aren’t represented because it’s not in the interest of the politician to do it. And my whole point is that’s my only interest – my only interest is sticking up for working people in California and sticking up for people who aren’t fairly represented. Honestly that’s why these people are spending tens of millions of dollars against me.”  

California is too expensive because powerful corporate interests drive up costs and block change. The people who are making things so expensive are supporting Becerra – and trying to stop Tom Steyer. That tells you everything you need to know.  

XAVIER BECERRA: BETTER ON PAPER 

Reporters, voters, and his own corporate backers are discovering that Xavier Becerra is a much better candidate on paper than in reality. Despite being a public official for four decades, he somehow is still not ready for primetime – unable to answer simple questions and unwilling to face tough ones. 

His surge in support post-Swalwell was soft, and the more people learn about him, the less they like him. Whether it’s losing track of 85,000 migrant children at HHS, a corruption scandal under his nose involving his two top aides, reversing his position on single-payer to get support from medical industry lobbyists, or taking money and taking sides with big oil – voters are alarmed by the things they’re learning. 

WITH BECERRA OR HILTON, IT’LL BE “DRILL BABY DRILL” 

It’s now or never for taking action on climate, and it’s clear that California needs to lead since Washington won’t under Donald Trump. That’s why either Hilton or Becerra would be a disaster for our state, planet, and future. With Trump Republican Steve Hilton, that’s expected. But Becerra has clearly decided to align himself with fossil fuel companies as well. 

As attorney general, Becerra took thousands from big oil, and declined to investigate oil companies accused of lying about climate change. In this campaign, he got a max donation from Chevron, then defended Chevron saying, “they’re not the bad guy.” Becerra came out in support of opening up oil drilling again in Kern County – something he had even opposed as attorney general – then the oil drilling company California Resources Corporation made a $500,000 contribution to the IE supporting him.  

California is, once again, literally on fire. And Xavier Becerra has sided with the fossil fuel companies that are actively causing and denying climate change. 

Tom, on the other hand, has been on the frontlines of the fight for our climate for over 15 years. As a private citizen, he beat Big Oil at the ballot box and won nearly $2 billion dollars for clean energy projects in schools. His climate plan – which centers environmental justice, strengthening cap-and-invest to make polluters pay, and deploying clean tech to bring down costs and accelerate the energy transition – has earned him the endorsement of environmentalists across the state, including groups like the Sierra Club, California Environmental Voters, and the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, and leaders like Bill McKibben, Jane Fonda, and Rebecca Solnit.

THE FINAL STRETCH: BECERRA IS HIDING, TOM IS NOT 

Xavier Becerra continues to dodge the press, avoid tough questions, and only appear at safe heavily-scripted events – trying to run out the clock and sit on a lead that is already evaporating.  Tom Steyer meanwhile will be traveling everywhere, and talking to everyone. And as Tom often says, he will not be outworked.  

Tom is criss-crossing the state on his ‘A California You Can Afford’ bus tour and working to earn every vote. He is listening to the concerns of voters, answering every question they’ve got (even the hard ones), and sharing his detailed plans for real change. 

Last week alone, Tom spent 1,135 minutes – that’s 19 hours – talking to voters at block parties, town halls, union meet and greets, and press conferences. He has visited communities across the state, including San Mateo County, San Francisco’s Chinatown, Oakland for the California Nurses Association’s campaign kickoff, Los Angeles press conference with Jane Fonda, Koreatown meet and greet with content creators, small business walk in Santa Ana, town hall with the Dem Club of South OC, pickup soccer in Santa Ana, visit to a Sikh Gurdwara in Riverside County, town hall in Riverside, East LA block party, San Diego block party, roundtable with LA African American leaders, and AAPI Heritage Month celebration in Santa Ana.

For the next two weeks, he’ll be traveling all across the state of California, to coastal and inland communities, to small towns and big cities, making the choice in this race clear to everyone he talks to.

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