With just several weeks to go before the California state primary and still no clear frontrunner, gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer has turned to activist and commentator Cenk Uygur to add even more teeth to the billionaire’s campaign.
Even after saturating the airwaves with ads and spending over $132 million of his own money, Steyer risks missing the runoff, in which only the top two vote-getters in the primary advance following the June 2 election.
Several polls show Steyer trailing former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Fox News host Steve Hilton.
Tom Steyer has turned to activist and commentator Cenk Uygur Sportsfile via Getty Images Steyer risks missing the runoff, in which only the top two vote-getters in the primary advance. Getty Images for CBS Television Stations By turning to Uygur, the 68-year-old Steyer signals that if the gloves aren’t already off in this race, well, they are about to be. “I draw a lot of attention and I say things loudly and aggressively,” Uygur tells Page Six Hollywood. “Let’s see how much room there is for that in the next month.”
As the co-creator of the progressive news network, The Young Turks, Uygur has a large media apparatus at his disposal. And while he has been a fixture of national politics backing progressive politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, assuming a role — albeit vague — within a campaign like Steyer’s is out of the ordinary for him.
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On Thursday, CAA hosted an event for Steyer at its Century City offices.
After disgraced Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race, candidates like Becerra and Steyer have been scrambling to pick up his supporters to hopefully break away from a crowded field that includes former Rep. Katie Porter and San Jose Mayor Matthew Mahan. Steyer got a boost when Susie Tompkins Buell, one of San Francisco’s most influential activists, and a close friend of Hillary Clinton, endorsed him last month.
Buell’s endorsement brought author and activist David Brock into Steyer’s orbit. (Brock is an advisor to Buell). Brock is the founder of the media watchdog group Media Matters, and for two decades was one of the most feared and controversial operatives working within the Democratic party. Brock and Uygur were also present at a separate event held on Thursday at Jane Fonda’s house.
