By Bonnie Burns Price, Ph.D.
Ma7 19, 2026 (La Mesa) — There is no state in the USA that houses nearly 40,000,000 people and hosts such a huge economy, the fourth largest in the world. To properly govern California at this time, a capable candidate with extraordinary vision, concern, and skills must be in place. To me, that person is Tom Steyer.
Steyer is not an ordinary politician, who climbed the heights, office by office, over the years.
Therefore, many voters do not know him well, or at all.
As a political scientist and political activist, I take note of matters that many do not consider when deciding for whom to vote. They are summed below:
Tom Steyer is a successful business leader, who left his business years ago to dedicate his time to civic matters, with special attention to climate change, in terms of planet protection and preservation. He also financed three successful public ballot proposals.
He established and funded a non-profit organization, NextGenAmerica in 2013, hiring young people to register voters and spread the dire predictions of a hellish climate ahead. Since then, that organization has registered 1.6 million voters and informed millions about climate change.
His current campaign is an extension of that initial act. His campaign promises shared prosperity with all Californians. This is necessary to ensure that those who work hard are participants in what Tom Steyer plans to achieve: a strong economy where all benefit, not just a few wealthy entrepreneurs. He also plans to increase taxation of businesses that have reaped huge benefits without commensurate contributions to the public treasury.
Tom Steyer has won the support of individuals and groups, such as: Climate leader Bill McKibben, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California School Employees Association, California Nurses Association, United Domestic Workers, and others. (See his website for more: tomsteyer.com)
As a business executive, educated at Stanford for his MBA, Tom Steyer knows that his judgment must be supplemented by experts. Thus, he has welcomed the support of two seasoned political leaders to advise him: Toni Atkins and Betty Yee. Toni Atkins is well known across the state and locally as a speaker of the assembly and state senator pro tempore, the only person to hold both leadership positions . Betty Yee served as the state budget director, board of equalization member, and state controller. Betty also served as the vice chair of the state Democratic Party. Both leaders ran for governor, but dropped out and endorsed him. I applaud Tom Steyer’s willingness to acknowledge their significant expertise.
Policies that Tom Steyer put high on his agenda include: control the public energy monopolies, create a single payer healthcare system to serve all, protect public lands, expand funding of all education systems: K-12, community colleges, Cal State and UC systems, expand needed home care programs, promote research to solve pressing problems and expand our economy, and employ innovative solutions to address public issues. (The latter may include use of more interstate compacts to ensure that sufficient water supplies are available to replace dwindling supplies from the Colorado River and other sources.)
Given Tom Steyer’s private sector experience in business, I expect him to foster more collaboration with businesses to achieve common goals that benefit everyone.
Tom Steyer will likely be required to address needs now funded by federal dollars, but largely dropped by the current administration. Given his experiences in the private sector economy, he is likely to provide novel ways to manage these tasks successfully.
Some prefer seasoned politicians for governor, but this time around, I do not. In Tom Steyer I see a leader of considerable capacity to serve a public that recognizes the desperate need to resolve existential peril to our planet. We have not had such a leader available until now.
I urge all voters to choose a planet protector whose past achievements warrant our vote: Tom Steyer.
The opinions in this editorial reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine.
One Response
Whom I voted for. We need leadership that’s proactive and insightful such as this. As an Independent voter, my goal moving forward is voting for Democrats in every position opening up. No more Republican votes for me after the way American citizens have been treated lately by the majority of them in power, especially DJT and his MAGA minions. The greed, manipulation, racism, massive spending for their projects, etc. while huge reductions to programs that legit help people in need. This country is in desperate need of positive change, not the negative I’ve witnessed lately…