Steyer planning town halls in early primary states

Activist Tom Steyer will hold town hall meetings in states that hold early presidential primaries in the coming months, the most overt step the California billionaire has taken so far in advance of a likely run for the White House.

Steyer, who spent millions of dollars registering new voters in support of Democratic candidates in the midterm elections and also launched a petition campaign for President Trump’s impeachment, on Tuesday unveiled a set of five policy prescriptions that would set the foundations of his platform.

In a statement, Steyer said he would urge Democrats to unite behind the right to vote, rights to clean air and water, universal pre-kindergarten and access to college, a living wage and the right to health care.

{mosads}“These rights are fundamental to our shared belief in the promise of America, the promise of freedom and the power to pursue our dreams and earn a fair share of this country’s vast wealth,” Steyer said. “A hostile takeover of our democracy by large corporations and their enablers in politics has eroded that promise, and we must act to reclaim that power and put it back in the hands of the American people.”

Steyer took out full-page advertisements in Gannett newspapers across the country, including in USA Today. He said he would hold a town hall meeting in Charleston, S.C., next month to begin a conversation about equal access to the ballot box.

Steyer also plans town hall meetings in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and California, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Two groups headed and funded by Steyer, NextGen America and Need to Impeach, dropped a combined $120 million on the midterm elections, mostly focused on voter registration and mobilization in key states.

The groups spent on behalf of a handful of candidates including Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, during his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida, and in Nevada, Arizona, Virginia and California, where Democrats picked up House and Senate seats. Steyer also ran advertisements in which he addressed voters about his drive to impeach President Trump.

Steyer is one of at least four California Democrats openly plotting a bid for the White House, alongside Sen. Kamala Harris, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Rep. Eric Swalwell, an Iowa native who has returned to his home state multiple times this year. 

Steyer has never run for office before. He considered running for governor of California in 2018, though he ultimately decided against it.

Democrats have never nominated a presidential candidate from California, though several candidates have tried.