Tech money flooded California's primary election this week, and while the industry's marquee governor candidate crashed spectacularly, the real strategy paid off across smaller races that matter far more to Silicon Valley's long-term grip on state power.
The tech world's preferred gubernatorial pick, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, absorbed roughly $50 million in donations from Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, DoorDash, Palantir and dozens of venture capitalists before finishing with just 4 percent of the vote. It was a stinging loss for an industry betting heavily that getting the right people in office was essential to fighting regulation, taxation and maintaining free rein over artificial intelligence development.
But look past the governor's race and the picture flips. Tech-backed candidates scored decisive victories in state senate and assembly contests across California. Scott Weiner, tech's choice to replace Nancy Pelosi in Congress, won the most votes in his primary and advanced to November. Insurance commissioner candidate Ben Allen, another industry favorite, appears poised to move forward as votes continue trickling in. Super PACs funded by tech money supported eight local assembly and state senate candidates, with all but one advancing to the general election.
The strategy was laser-focused on legislative races where money could determine outcomes outright. Grow California, bankrolled with $20 million from crypto executives Chris Larsen and Tim Draper, spent millions backing candidates across six local races while opposing five others. California Leads, funded with $10 million from Google and Meta, poured resources into eight local contests. One beneficiary was Democrat Mark Pulido, running for state assembly in Orange County, who pulled in $2.25 million from the two Super PACs and secured a general election slot.
Both Super PACs laid out their intentions plainly on their websites. Grow California aims to "rebuild a state capital." California Leads wrote that "who serves in the State Legislature matters." The two groups appear to have concentrated fire on Democratic districts, strategically supporting favored Democrats to eliminate less friendly candidates from the ballot before November.
University of California Berkeley public policy professor Francesco Trebbi sees this as merely the opening act. "By September, you'll probably see records being broken for midterm campaign spending," he said. "It's going to be exponential."
The coming spending surge will center on a November ballot measure imposing a one-time 5 percent wealth tax on billionaires. Tech executives have already deployed millions to defeat it, and the battle is expected to intensify dramatically as election day approaches.
The Tuesday results revealed a bifurcated picture: expensive, public losses on the governor's stage overshadowed by quieter, methodical wins in the legislative trenches where actual regulatory and tax policy gets written. Tech's strategy of flooding smaller races with cash, rather than betting everything on a single marquee candidate, proved far more effective at producing outcomes the industry could work with.
Author James Rodriguez: "The real story wasn't Tuesday's blowout loss in the governor's race, it was tech systematically buying its way into the legislature where the real power to block regulation and taxes actually lives."
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