Steyer to focus on helping Dems gain in Congress
WASHINGTON – Tom Steyer, a billionaire environmentalist who has waged a high-profile campaign calling for President Trump’s impeachment, announced Monday that he will not run for public office this year.
Instead, the San Francisco-based mega-donor plans to pump $30 million into helping Democrats seize control of Congress by mobilizing young voters in what he and his aides say will be the country’s largest youth turnout push.
Steyer called Trump’s election a “disastrous turn.”
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to save our country,” Steyer said during a news conference. “The task I feel called to do is organizing and mobilizing America’s voters.”
He described the 2018 midterm elections as a “fierce battle for the soul of America. We, the people, have to win this battle. And we don’t just have to win, we have to run the table.”
Steyer plans to target more than two dozen House seats, eight Senate contests and several gubernatorial races in 10 states: Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, California, Pennsylvania, Iowa, New Hampshire and Arizona.
Democrats must flip 24 seats to win the House and face a tough Senate map with 10 Democratic incumbents on the ballot in states won by Trump.
Steyer has openly weighed a possible bid for elective office in California, and his announcement eases the political drama about a potential primary challenge to Sen. Dianne Feinstein.