Big donor Steyer's presidential run could deny millions to other Democratic races

Billionaire Tom Steyer, a longtime friend and key donor to liberal candidates and causes, says he decided to run for the Democratic presidential nomination next year because no other candidate was offering a “mandate for change”.

But by deciding to fund his long-shot bid with $100 million of his own money, some Democratic activists believe all he will end up doing is denying his money to grassroots organizations and candidates in Senate and House races that Democrats are desperate to win.

Steyer’s political bona fides and passion are not in question. He has worked for years on issues of climate change and voter engagement and donated about $170 million since 2015 to his independent political action committees, Need to Impeach and NextGen America.

During the 2017-2018 election cycle, he was the second-largest donor to Democratic and liberal candidates and causes, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The 62-year-old former hedge fund manager from San Francisco is not well-known beyond political circles, however, and most self-funded candidacies fail. He also joins a field that numbers more than 20 candidates, currently led by former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.

“Every dollar he spends on himself is a dollar that’s not going into something that can make a difference,” said California Democratic campaign consultant Steven Maviglio, who worked with Steyer in 2010 to defeat a ballot measure aimed at weakening the state’s greenhouse gas emissions law.

Democrats face high stakes in November 2020 to defeat Republican President Donald Trump, hold on to their new majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and pick up seats in the Senate.

The money Steyer plans to spend on his own campaign could fund five Senate elections, which the Center for Responsive Politics says cost $19.4 million apiece to win in 2016.