Steyer’s Santa – In downtown Santa Ana, Tom Steyer’s campaign stop drew sharp questions from a first-time voter and business owners—especially about insurance costs, taxes, and whether a billionaire’s outreach is genuine or staged.
When Tom Steyer stepped into Alta Baja Market in downtown Santa Ana on Saturday, Delilah—who runs the shop and has been worn down by inflation—treated the visit like something she had to fit around the day’s grind, not a political spectacle.
Delilah is one of the 16% of undecided voters in a recent California Democratic Party poll. a group that could shape which two candidates for governor face each other in the general election.. She agreed to let Steyer stop by after her husband explained that many friends support the billionaire’s progressive platform. even as Steyer’s campaign has appeared stalled in the polls.. The doubts linger as well: voters question whether they want a billionaire to lead the state even as he has spent more than $150 million of his own money.
Santa Ana—described here as the heart of Latino Orange County—has been a strategic target for Steyer.. He came looking to talk with Mexican American residents and other blue-collar Latinos.. Delilah, though, wasn’t starting from a blank slate.. The only other candidates she said she had heard of were Antonio Villaraigosa and Katie Porter.. She said she liked Villaraigosa as mayor but added that he needed to keep his pants on, referencing extramarital affairs.. About Porter, she said some of her workers like her, but she didn’t know what she had done.
Steyer’s stop also echoed a contrast with a recent visit by rival Xavier Becerra. who came to Orange County for a private fundraiser attended mostly by professional Latinos—an atmosphere Delilah didn’t share.. Her anger is tied to what she says the Trump administration’s deportation deluge did to daily life in Santa Ana last summer. leaving downtown streets empty for months.. She described the government in blunt terms: “Because right now, our government is a hot-ass mess.”
Before Steyer arrived, Delilah had prepared her own questions.. “So insurance had to cover all the disasters that happened with the fires,” she said.. “So why is everybody else having to pay for it?. And what are you really gonna do to help the state?” She also asked a test question first: “Tom is a Democrat. right?”
Around the counter. Angela Nino—19. an Alta Baja employee voting in her first election—stood out as the voice pushing for specifics.. Nino said she often hears people around her talk politics. including debates. but she usually doesn’t have the energy to watch them.. Still, she had questions about Steyer.. “It’s like I agree with some of his things, but he’s a billionaire,” she said.. She added that Steyer’s answers at debates have been pretty broad so far.
“You’re the future, girl, so ask him anything,” Delilah told her.
Almost everyone who came in during the wait was connected to the campaign. including former state Controller Betty Yee. who ended her campaign for governor last month and endorsed Steyer.. Also present was Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento. who initiated Steyer’s Santa Ana visit and thanked Delilah for the opportunity.. Sarmiento. who has known Delilah since the start of his political career on the Santa Ana City Council nearly 20 years ago. said the candidate needed to listen to residents shaped by a rough stretch—“a city where our residents were criminalized because of ICE. our downtown suffered because of construction. and all this on the heels of a pandemic.”
Steyer entered the store with a videographer and photographer. He wore what he has used on the campaign trail here—white-and-cardinal Nikes, jeans, a checkered shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and a colorful Southwestern-style fabric belt.
At the counter, he moved quickly into the first exchange. “Are you running for governor?” he asked while shaking Delilah’s hand, to which she replied, “I don’t want to.” After Steyer said, “I knew you were a smart woman!” Delilah steered him back to local concerns.
She complained about a years-long light-rail project in front of Alta Baja she said has been worse for businesses than COVID.. She also said insurance rates have gone up 30% in the last year alone.. Steyer responded in the language that Delilah recognized from television and YouTube ads: he said he was willing to take on big corporations he described as ripping off California. and he said they were spending money against him.
Delilah gave a weak smile and said, “I appreciate that. And we need more of that.”
Then Nino stepped forward.. Her question cut right to the tension of the pitch: “Why do you have to be governor in order to do something while you have billions of dollars?” Steyer replied by describing how he has funded ballot propositions and nonprofit initiatives to pursue what he said was a more equitable California.. He said he has been able to do something, then argued that “big corporations actually run the state.”
Nino pressed further, turning from power to trust.. She asked whether Steyer planned to take on billionaires through taxes and followed with a challenge about where his wealth sits.. “You want to tax the billionaires. is that correct?” she asked. then added that on some campaign disclosure forms. it shows his billions are in different countries besides in the U.S.
Steyer vigorously shook his head and said he might have investments outside the United States. but insisted that “there’s nothing I’m doing to not pay — I pay full California and American taxes on everything. promise.” He told her he could avoid taxes in other ways but said he doesn’t. adding: “And so. anything that I’m doing overseas is not to avoid taxes.. … I give you my word.”
One more question followed from Nino: “And how can the people trust billionaires when currently they have been very disappointing towards us?” Steyer acknowledged skepticism and said, “I understand why people are skeptical. They couldn’t be more skeptical than I am.”
He then made a pointed argument about opposition and proposed policy.. Steyer said other moguls “are supporting every other candidate. ” and he argued that they hate him because they think he stands for something that makes them pay their fair share—referring to a proposed November ballot initiative that would impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires like him.. “And they’re right,” Steyer concluded.. “And so it’s like, they hate me, and that’s fine.”
Nino stayed silent as the exchange ended.
Delilah thanked Steyer, who then moved on to visit other local businesses owned by friends of theirs. He bought a bottle of rosé and posed for photos with Delilah and Sarmiento. Before he left, a staffer adjusted the back of his collar.
When the candidate was gone, the questions returned to the shop’s everyday rhythm.
Nino said she remained skeptical. “To be honest, I’m so skeptical,” she said. She added that she doesn’t think Steyer has enough experience compared with other candidates and that she felt he could have been more into detail about his policies.
Delilah said she saw better manners than she expects from many politicians.. “Gracious, very kind and not pompous, which is what I would expect from most politicians,” she said.. She said she liked that Steyer heard Angela. calling it important that politicians listen to the next generation. and she said politicians should be doing that.. Still, she said she “wasn’t satisfied with my insurance question.”
Nino then raised the possibility of performance. “And we don’t know if this is a performance,” she said, adding that in the past political figures have gone into regular businesses to seem relatable to people and claim they understand struggles. “Do they really?” Delilah interjected.
Nino frowned, saying they could just be putting on a show for the cameras—an unanswered worry that hung over the last moments of the visit.
Tom Steyer Santa Ana California governor race Alta Baja Market undecided voters Latino voters Xavier Becerra Betty Yee Vicente Sarmiento insurance rates light-rail project billionaire tax initiative