By
Ed Kilgore,
political columnist for Intelligencer since 2015
The king of California’s political airwaves, Tom Steyer.
There have been plenty of dramatic story lines in the contest to choose a successor to term-limited California governor Gavin Newsom, from the sudden implosion of Eric Swalwell’s once-robust candidacy to the gradually subsiding fear that the very Democratic electorate would be forced to choose between two Republicans in November. But things settled down as the race came to a close (registered voters received a mail ballot in early May, and they must be turned in or postmarked by Tuesday, June 2). Now the main source of mystery is the gubernatorial candidate whose ads have dominated airwaves for months: reformed hedge-fund billionaire and latter-day progressive Tom Steyer.
