Tom Steyer will not run for Boxer Senate seat
Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer said Thursday he will not be a candidate to succeed U.S. Senate Barbara Boxer and instead will continue his focus on helping fellow Democrats and working to reverse the effects of global climate change.
“Given the imperative of electing a Democratic president – along with my passion for our state, I believe my work right now should not be in our nation’s capital but here — at home in California, and in states around the country where change is on the move,” Steyer, a 57-year-old Democrat from San Francisco, wrote in an entry on The Huffington Post.
Steyer came to his decision after watching President Barack Obama and California Gov. Jerry Brown give recent speeches in which they made protecting the environment a top priority. Steyer’s exit from the field shifts attention to a possible run for governor in 2018, and more immediately to other potential Boxer successors such as former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has indicated he is looking closely at the Senate seat.
“Tom Steyer has shown himself to be a real champion for change in his passionate campaign for a cleaner and healthier world,” Villaraigosa said Thursday. “I am proud to be an ally in that fight and wish him all the best.”
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article7945884.html#storylink=cpy
