Founder of Farallon Capital and NextGen America; 2020 Democratic presidential candidate; left finance in 2012 to focus on climate.
12-term U.S. Representative, former CA Attorney General who filed 122 lawsuits against the first Trump administration, U.S. HHS Secretary under Biden.
Background
- Yale B.A. summa cum laude (1979); Stanford MBA (1983)
- Founded Farallon Capital, growing it from $8M to roughly $20B in assets under management; left in 2012
- Founded NextGen America and Galvanize Climate Solutions
- 2020 Democratic presidential candidate
- Stanford B.A. (1980, first in family to graduate); Stanford Law J.D. (1984)
- CA Assembly (1990–92); U.S. House, 12 terms (1993–2017); chaired the House Democratic Caucus
- CA Attorney General (2017–21): filed 122 lawsuits against the first Trump administration
- U.S. HHS Secretary (2021–25): oversaw the COVID-19 response and ACA implementation
Key priorities
Climate
100% clean energy; break up PG&E's monopoly; windfall profits tax on oil; green jobs.
Housing
Build one million affordable homes; close corporate property tax loopholes.
Healthcare
Single-payer transition.
Economy
Reform corporate taxes; make the wealthy pay a fair share.
Education
Free preschool and community college; subsidized childcare.
Climate
Bureau of Environmental Justice (created as A.G.); defended California clean car standards; less central to his 2026 platform.
Housing
State power where the market has failed; crack down on price gouging; expand rent protections.
Healthcare
Strengthen Medi-Cal; lower prescription costs; long-term path to Medicare for All.
Economy
Take on corporations; protect workers; preserve the California Dream.
Rights
Defense of immigrant communities and civil liberties.
Key endorsements
Elected officials
Betty Yee (endorsed upon suspending her own campaign), Toni Atkins (former CA Senate President pro Tem), Rep. Jared Huffman, Rep. Ro Khanna, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (AD-67), John Podesta, Ali Zaidi, Bill McKibben, Jane Fonda.
Labor
California Teachers Association (April 15), California Nurses Association, CFT, United Domestic Workers (250,000 members), California School Employees Association, California Federation of Labor (co-endorsement).
Progressive & environmental
Our Revolution (April 20), Courage California, California Environmental Voters (co-endorsement), Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund.
Elected officials
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (notably, Rivas was instrumental in stopping single-payer healthcare legislation, which is a direct conflict with Becerra's stated long-term support for Medicare for All).
Labor
LIUNA, CCPOA (California Correctional Peace Officers Association), CSLEA (California State Law Enforcement Association).
Healthcare & education
CPCA Advocates, California Primary Care Association, California Partnership for Health, California Faculty Association.
Reproductive rights
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
Party & youth
California College Democrats, Fresno and San Diego Young Democrats.
Advantages
- Virtually unlimited self-funding; no donor entanglements
- Decades of climate credibility and proven youth voter mobilization through NextGen
- Outsider appeal; national Democratic network
- Combined legislative, state executive, and federal executive experience
- 122 lawsuits against the first Trump administration as CA AG, a proven legal fighter
- Strong appeal to Latino voters, organized labor, and institutional Democrats
Vulnerabilities raised by critics
- "Buying the race" framing, with self-funding that dwarfs every other candidate
- No elected office experience
- Farallon-era investments in private prisons, fossil fuels, and predatory lending, though divested roughly twenty years ago
- Active opposition: multiple anti-Steyer PACs funded by PG&E ($2M), the California Chamber of Commerce ($5M), and others, with reported total spending of approximately $13.9M
- Questions about temperament and leadership style raised across party lines
- Missed 5.5% of House votes overall; about 65% in the final months of his term
- Lost the 2024 U.S. Senate primary to Adam Schiff
- Seen as an establishment figure, tied to a low-approval Democratic brand
- ExxonMobil climate case opened by AG Harris, dropped by AG Becerra, then re-opened by AG Bonta
- Declined to file charges in the 2018 Stephon Clark shooting, which sparked protests
- Threatened journalists with legal action over their possession of public records on officers with criminal convictions
- His former chief of staff was indicted on 23 counts of bank and wire fraud, with approximately $225K diverted from a dormant campaign account; Becerra is not personally accused, but the case raises oversight questions
Campaign finance & major donors
- Total raised: $122.7M, of which $122.5M is his own money; about $161K from outside donors
- Outspending the entire field combined in advertising
- Outside donors include Nat Simons, Alfred Clark, and Richard & Dee Lawrence (Cool Effect)
- Advocates banning corporate PAC money in state elections
- Total raised: $2.89M, the smallest war chest among the leading Democratic contenders
- Seeded with more than $2.6M transferred from prior campaign accounts
- Notable donors include Chevron (per state filings), as well as labor and healthcare PACs
- The Chevron contribution has drawn scrutiny given his environmental record as Attorney General
- Indirect benefit: PG&E donated $2M and the California Chamber of Commerce $5M to anti-Steyer PACs, weakening a rival
- Border Health PAC, a Texas-based, healthcare-tied committee that typically leans Republican, has maxed out contributions to Becerra
Foreign policy: Israel and Gaza
U.S. aid to Israel should be conditional on halting settlements; called Iran escalation "unnecessary war"; favors multilateral diplomacy over military action.
Supports a two-state solution; called for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian surge to Gaza; referred to "Israel and Palestine" at the WHO Assembly, which his office later clarified as a misstatement.
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