What a year for billionaires in presidential politics. After a disappointing and expensive run for the presidency, Tom Steyer spent 2020 donating and fundraising to help Democrats win the White House and beyond. Ever the reliable donor, Steyer pumped money into a variety of liberal PACs and funds, but none were more successful than his NextGen America organization, which proved a key ally for the left: The youth voter-turnout group helped bring out the most voters under 30 in at least 100 years.
Steyer’s time in politics has always focused on the climate, and his presidential campaign was no different. He was a vocal supporter of the Green New Deal on the campaign trail, promoting it as a holistic means to restructure the economy away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy programs that create jobs. According to Open Secrets, Steyer spent more than $340 million of his own money on the campaign, and he spent more on ads in South Carolina than all opponents ahead of the state’s primary. The money would only help him take third in that contest, and Steyer dropped out shortly after. Steyer’s mostly self-funded campaign raised some questions about whether running for office was more useful to his political goals than his philanthropy.
Returning to his familiar role of liberal donor, Steyer shelled out millions more to help Democrats win races around the country. Steyer endorsed Biden and was quickly appointed to the former vice president’s environmental council. He was able to tap his climate donor network to raise money for Biden and hosted fundraisers like the small virtual fundraiser in June that brought in $4 million. He campaigned for and donated to a variety of down-ballot candidates around the country, always emphasizing his climate goals and reaching out to younger voters.
But Steyer’s most successful venture this cycle was no doubt NextGen America, a PAC he founded in 2013 under the name NextGen Climate Action. The group focused its efforts on youth turnout this year, leading information campaigns around the country that helped young voters register and apply for mail-in ballots. In May, the group pledged to spend $45 million on the presidential race, focusing primarily on key battleground states like Arizona, Michigan, Florida and North Carolina. Steyer himself supplied the money, giving more than $45 million total to NextGen over the cycle. The group adjusted its strategy to use more web ads and direct text messaging campaigns to reach potential voters and focused on issues like climate change to inspire young people to register. “We are seeing climate as a huge motivator for young voters,” Steyer told Reuters at the time.
While Biden didn’t win all the states NextGen targeted, the increase in youth votes was undeniable. Turnout overall in 2020 was the highest in 100 years for the presidential election, and early analysis finds the same was true of the youth vote—with a majority of those voters supporting Democrats. Analysis of mail-in ballots in late October found six million voters under 30 cast their ballots before election day—and the number of first-time young voters was more than double the number from 2016. Federal records show NextGen spent around $50 million on is turnout efforts, and spokespeople say NextGen organizers registered 122,000 voters around the country.
And NextGen isn’t done yet: Its mobilization efforts in Georgia continue, as Democrats are hoping to win two Senate run-off races that would secure them a narrow majority in the chamber. Organizers are teaming up with local groups to do focused outreach ahead of election day in January.
Steyer’s other PACs were active but less fruitful in the 2020 cycle. For Our Future, formed in the spring of 2016 by Steyer and a handful of labor groups, spent nearly $12.5 million in the 2020 cycle, according to Open Secrets, most of it supporting Biden and a handful of Congressional candidates. He shut down his Need to Impeach PAC after three years following the House vote to impeach Trump—the Senate voted to acquit.
Before running for president in the 2020 election, Steyer was the largest individual donor to Democrats. He made his money running a hedge fund for about 25 years, and while he has given away a significant chunk of change as a political donor and philanthropist, he currently holds a net worth of $1.4 billion.
Climate change has long been Steyer’s top issue, and the one that attracted him to politics. He started NextGen Climate with the goal of forcing climate policy into the national agenda. Around the time he founded the group, Steyer said he wanted to reshape the landscape so candidates would be politically punished for not believing in or acting on climate change.
Steyer has distinguished himself among the billionaire class in his willingness to support economy-altering climate proposals and wealth taxes. He gives quotes you wouldn’t expect from someone in his position, like: “I will say this: Unchecked capitalism in this respect has failed and will fail. The way that we’re going has failed and will fail.” He is a rare billionaire contributor to a member of “the squad”—he’s given several donations to Rep. Rashida Tlaib—and was uniquely enthusiastic about the Green New Deal, championed by progressive Democrats, as part of his clean climate agenda.
Most of his donations go through his PACs, with records showing he’s given at least $190 million of his own money to NextGen, and he’s given at least a million to a half-dozen California ballot initiatives, including a clean energy initiative and a measure to close tax loopholes in the state. After Donald Trump won the presidency, Steyer launched Need to Impeach in 2017 with the goal of getting him out of office—Steyer gave more than $27 million while it was active.
Steyer has been all over the press lately, giving a few one-on-one interviews highlighting the importance of prioritizing climate policy. There are rumblings he could be in the running for a cabinet position in the Biden administration, Politico reported. He’s preaching optimism about potential climate policy from a Biden White House and maintains that stronger government intervention working in tandem with private businesses will pave the way for healing the planet.
