Billionaire Tom Steyer, experiencing a surge of momentum after Eric Stalwell’s candidacy imploded, brought his campaign for governor to Santa Barbara on Wednesday, where he promised to make housing more affordable in California, take on President Trump and fight for immigrants.
“ICE is a criminal organization,” Steyer said, prompting a loud ovation. “This is a criminal, violent, corrupt organization not designed to control immigration, but designed to terrorize people in our community. They should be abolished.”
Steyer spoke to more than 300 people inside the Fleischmann Auditorium at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Another 100 people were turned away outside because the auditorium reached its capacity. Standing on a bench, Steyer delivered a brief talk to them, apologizing for not booking a larger venue, before entering the main hall.
“I had no idea how many people would come here today,” Steyer told the overflow crowd. “People are starting, maybe for some terrible reasons, to pay attention to this race.”
Steyer has surged to the top spot, according to a variety of polls, as the leading Democratic candidate for governor. Just a few days ago Stalwell was leading the polls, but his campaign collapsed after allegations of sexual abuse emerged. Stalwell was leading polling at the time of his exit from the race, leaving Democrat voters scrambling to find a candidate.
Steve Hilton, a political commentator, is leading Republicans, and slightly behind Steyer in polling. With the possibility that a Republican could win California for the first time since Arnold Schwarzenegger more than 20 years ago, several in the audience attended Wednesday’s town hall desperate to find a new candidate and listen to Steyer make his pitch. The top two candidates in the June primary, regardless of party affiliation, will square off in November.
The long lines to get into the venue snaked from the Museum of Natural History on Puesta del Sol almost Mission Canyon Road. Cars filled the parking lot and the surrounding neighborhood. Steyer met with select members of the media for one-on-one interviews prior to taking the stage inside the auditorium.
Steyer has faced criticism from some Democrat activists over his billionaire status, and how the hedge fund he managed, Farallon Capital, funded CoreCivic that are now home to immigrant detention centers. Steyer sold his investment into the hedge fund in 2012.
In a one-on-one interview with the News-Press at the Museum, and during his town hall speech, Steyer strongly defended immigrants and working-class people.
“Immigrants have built California,” Steyer said. “You need more immigrants, not less.”
He portrayed himself as a candidate for the working class, who said immigrants built the country. He criticized California’s high poverty rate and said he supported taxing billionaires at a higher rate. Steyer has given money to environmental causes, and said even though he is a billionaire now, “I won’t die a billionaire,” because of his philanthropic causes.
He wore dark jeans, a blue shirt and Nike tennis shoes and displayed a sense of joy when talking about how Trump mentioned him on Fox News Wednesday.
“I got this really nice love letter today, which is so awesome, from Donald Trump,” Steyer told the crowd, quoting Trump. “‘Why is Fox News showing sleazebag Tom Steyer, doing a big piece on him right now…instead of talking about the Republican candidates. Nobody cares about Tom Steyer. He is a loser.'”
The audience roared with laughter. Steyer said he did not know what he did to spark Trump’s interest in him, “but I am going to do it a lot more.”
Several prominent names were in attendance, including Santa Barbara City Councilmembers Eric Friedman and Oscar Gutierrez, Santa Barbara Unified School District board member Gabe Escobedo, Indivisible Santa Barbara steering committee members Ian and Myra Paige, Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County activists EJ Borah and Marian Shapiro and former Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum, and several Democratic Party activists and political candidates were among the attendees.
Gregg Hart, 35th District Assemblyman, D-Santa Barbara, has endorsed Steyer, and introduced him at the event.
“He has the vision, the drive and the passion to make California the state that it really ought to be, a leader across the country and the world, having the highest standards, protecting our environment, protecting us from vicious corporations that are trying to take advantage of us,” Hart said.
Steyer was also joined by Spanish-language influencer and YouTuber Carlos Eduardo Espiña, who attracted his own followers, many of whom took selfies with him after the event. Espiña said he initially made assumptions about Steyer because of his wealth, but learned to like him after meeting him and seeing what a “humble” guy he is.
After speaking for about 15 minutes, Steyer fielded a wide variety of questions from the audience, ranging from the environment and health care, to education and housing.
One person asked Steyer his position of eliminating military aide to Israel.
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been breaking international law for a long time,” Steyer said. “They have worked for a long time to make sure that a two-state solution is impractical-slash-impossible.”
He said the U.S. government has supported Netanyahu’s position. Steyer said he supports a two-state solution.
“When I say that the head of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is a criminal and bad for the people of the world and bad for the people of Israel, it doesn’t mean I hate Israel, it means their government is doing something that is wrong and breaking the law.”
Another question from a Carpinteria resident centered on housing and what Steyer would do to increase housing, while still protecting communities.
Steyer said he wants California to build one million units in four years by shortening permitting times, cut the cost of getting permits, and build differently by constructing off-site and assembling on-site.
“I am aware that one size in a state this big does not fit all,” Steyer said. “Do I think Santa Barbara is the same as Fresno? I am guessing No.”
Steyer said every place is different, but that “every place is going to have to build.”
The 68-year-old candidate also told the crowd that he was the only one in the governor’s race with a policy for artificial intelligence. He said he would work to protect working people from losing their jobs.
“Artificial intelligence is a tool for workers, not a replacement of workers,” Steyer said.
He promised to make AI companies pay.
“We are going to charge a fee on every calculation done by artificial intelligence companies,” Steyer said.
He said that California residents need to own a part of AI.
“We own the beach, we need to own AI,” Steyer said. “It’s a California innovation. It’s a California technology.”
Steyer said that AI companies are taking “the experience and knowledge and data from millions of people, sticking it in a computer, and then using it to replace the people with the experience, knowledge and data they took.”
“And then they get paid for the job that those people would have performed. Can’t happen,” Steyer said.
Steyer is in Santa Barbara again on Thursday and set to speak wth environmentalists in the morning.
