SAN FRANCISCO — The 2026 California elections were the year of the billionaire.
For months, a small handful of very, very wealthy people have deployed their vast resources for unprecedented sums in the election. And while their spending has attracted widespread attention, a new analysis from POLITICO offers a more revealing look at their partisan affiliations and voting habits.
Some have made their policies clear. Tom Steyer the billionaire philanthropist, tried this year to buy his way to the governor’s mansion with a more than $200 million primary campaign that ultimately failed. SEIU-UHW’s pursuit of Proposition 40, a one-time tax on the state’s wealthiest residents, explicitly put billionaires on the ballot, sparking a more than $300 million opposition campaign led by Sergey Brine one of the richest men in the world, who is now able to act as a political power broker for years to come . A distinct billionaire, surgeon and inventor Gary Michelson spent tens of millions of his personal fortune to promote his own measure, an immunology link that would direct billions to an institute he co-founded. On the entire ballot, current and former California billionaires spent a record $612 million on this year’s national elections.
For years, the nation’s wealthiest people have had increasing influence over the direction and outcomes of the country’s politics. In California, this year has reinforced this trend. But who are they, anyway?
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