I had lunch with Tom Steyer today. Ask me anything.

[CoopersDad]

About 20 local Dems were invited to join Tom and his wife, Kat, for lunch at a restaurant in Santa Cruz.
It was delightful, and San Jose Assemblymember Ash Kalra dropped by.

I already intended to vote for him after watching debates and positions of major candidates.
Tom's position on housing, energy, education, and fair taxation were clearly articulated.
He answered my questions on housing and others' questions on energy costs, education, social justice, and other matters.

Becerra is polling better, but his failure to champion single-payer healthcare and his friendliness with Chevron turn me off.

https://www.tomsteyer.com/

[RandySF]

1. Two votes for Steyer here.

[JoseBalow]

2. No

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. I like Billionaires that have Democratic instincts.

I'd be OK if Steyer runs against a Republican for Cal Governor,

[diane in sf]

4. PG&E and Google are also spending millions attacking Steyer, which puts Becerra in the position of owing them.

[msongs]

6. no it does not. he is not responsible for what others spend.

[msongs]

5. why does he complain about PACS when he is in fact his own PAC. $200 mil he spends on ads coulda

paid off a lot of student loans

[hunter]

7. Steyer is in over his head.

Should he win I think he'll be at best ineffective.

[beaglelover]

8. 2 votes for Steyer already mailed in from this household. It's time for new ideas in CA.

[LogDog75]

9. I'm voting for a Democrat

I like Katie Porter but at this point in the race, she's too far behind to win. The only two Democrats with a chance ate Becerra and Steyer. I've taken a look at their websites and Steyer has more information than Becerra but neither really expxlains their plans in other than general terms.

Becerra has the political and legislative experience at various levels to get his agenda passed. He could, IMO, work with the Democratic legislature better than Steyer could.

Steyer has little political experience and Democrats in the state legislature are not like republicans in that they will not be rubber stampers for the governor so Steyer will have more problems with Democratic legislators.

So the question for me is whom to vote for. Right now, it looks like there will be a Democrat and a republican in the general election so I'm thinking of voting for the second-leading Democrat in the hopes enough people will do likewise and we'll have two Democrats in the general election.

[beaglelover]

10. IMO, Steyer has a better chance of defeating Hilton in the general. Hilton will campaign as the change candidate

and paint Bacerra as the 'same old, same old' candidate. IMO, CAs want change this cycle to improve their lives in CA. Steyer can beat Hilton since he has better ideas and solutions than Hilton.

[Auggie]

11. Very few California Democrats will vote for a Republican. Doesn't matter who it is.

[CoopersDad]

12. Thank you and this is why I posted about the one hour meeting.

We got clear answers the needed to be asked.

He feels sure we won't see two republicans in the fall and suggested that we might even see two Democrats, which would be so fine!

Tom vows to abolish ICE, to fight for single-payer healthcare, and to bear down hard to become 100% renewable with our power grid.

Beyond the positions, we heard about his various non-govenment roles and I am more convinced than ever that he's the one to take us in the directions we need to go.

[airplaneman]

14. Yes one of my reasons voting Steyer is to increase the odds Hilton does not win. Im with you on this.

[airplaneman]

13. I will probably vote for Steyer this weekend.

In the beginning I was worried about two Republicans being on top meaning it was a bad idea to vote for a Democrat below the top 6 candidates. Now that Bianco is down considerably. I feel safe picking Steyer or Becerra but will still avoid down ticket as I see it as an independent vote in consequences. Steyer is the better liberal candidate and probably the only realistic one that cares about Climate Change issues. Like you I am also turned off by Becerra on MFA and Oil interests. Lucky you getting to meet Steyer. I would not pass up an opportunity like that. Overall I don't like the open primary. Normally I would vote for my favorite candidate despite odds of them winning. If the Democrat vote is too split up the top two could be R in an open primary. I therefore I was forced to abandon my favorite and only vote strategically although Steyer is a really good choice on a lot of issues.
-Airplane

[CoopersDad]

15. Endorsements are impressive. Jane Fonda, SEIU, Sierra Club, Robert Reich...

https://www.tomsteyer.com/endorsements

[NBachers]

16. Filling out my ballot and voting for Steyer tomorrow or Saturday. What restaurant did you eat at?

[CoopersDad]

17. We were at Iveta on Pacific Avenue.

I had never been but the food, mostly appetizers, was tasty.
They ended up sitting at the left side of that table, just a few feet away.
I already liked him more than the other candidates and hearing him respond to questions about healthcare, housing, energy, and social justice made me wish I'd gotten behind him sooner.
I hope it's him vs Becerra.