Some of the nation's top liberal donors, both in and beyond California, helped Governor Gavin Newsom keep his job with millions of dollars in contributions. Newsom warded off a recall effort earlier this month week after conservatives succeeded in getting the issue to the ballot following years of trying to organize his opponents. Ironically, the campaign turned into a chance for money-movers on the left to flex their muscles in a non-election year as Newsom won the race handily.
Megadonors, organized labor, and the state Democratic Party topped the list of donors opposing Newsom’s recall. The right-wing campaign against him started essentially when he took office in 2019, but he was able to thoroughly out-raise the pro-recall camp by nearly 2 to 1, according to a tally by the Los Angeles Times’ tally. (It's worth noting that under California law, targets of a recall vote are not subject to contribution limits.)
Among the biggest individual donors were Reed Hastings of Netflix, who gave more than $3 million; real estate billionaire George Marcus, Connie Ballmer, wife of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and longtime liberal megadonor George Soros each gave $1 million. Other notables were Liz Simons and Mark Heising, who together gave more than $1 million, and Priscilla Chan, wife of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, gave $750,000.
Hastings’ gift is notable not only for its size but because Hastings was the top donor to Newsom’s primary opponent in 2018, Antonio Villaraigosa. This is the first major political donation from Hastings since 2020 when he gave more than a million dollars to the Senate Majority PAC, as well as smaller gifts to a variety of Democratic Party offices and candidates. Ballmer, meanwhile, wrote a larger check this year to Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund for $3.5 million, following up a $7 million contribution to the group last year. This could indicate Ballmer is looking to be more active in her giving in the coming months and midterm election year, and she’ll be worth keeping an eye out for in the news.
Other regular donors to liberal campaigns and causes gave smaller sums, including Dreamworks and Quibi co-founder Jeffery Katzenberg ($532,400), Laurene Jobs ($400,000), Google’s Eric Schmidt ($259,800), James Simons and Doris Fisher ($250,000 each). Additionally, influential Los Angeles donors Edythe and Eli Broad together gave $164,800, Hollywood director James Brooks gave $100,204, and Medium’s Evan Williams gave $50,000. Other folks who gave directly to Newsom included names familiar to Blue Tent readers, such as Hastings’ wife Patty Quillin, Jeff Skoll, and Steven Spielberg.
The Newsom recall effort came in a non-election year after elite liberals contributed record numbers to help Democrats win as many elected offices as possible. The groundswell of donations for the Governor is a reminder of just how much money liberal mega-donors can deploy—and how quickly—when the stakes are high.