It's roughly 10 days away from the June 2 California primary, and a recent Emerson College/Insider California Politics poll shows the California governor's race tightening. Former Health and Human Services Secretary and Democrat candidate Xavier Becerra has surged ahead, leading the field at 19 percent. Republican candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton and billionaire former hedge fund manager and Democrat candidate Tom Steyer are tied at 17 percent. Republican candidate Sheriff Chad Bianco is at 11 percent, while former Congresswoman and Democrat candidate Katie Porter, and San Jose Mayor and Democrat candidate Matt Mahan are languishing toward the bottom. Most telling: 12 percent of voters are still undecided.
As RedState reported, Becerra experienced a surge only after former Congressman Eric Swalwell was unceremoniously booted from the race. Becerra jumped from fifth place to the top of the poll. Steyer has been doing his utmost to change this calculus, using social media attacks in an attempt to pull Becerra down in order to make the Top 2 in California's jungle primary.
Both candidates are equally terrible, but it is Becerra who is the anointed one of the Democrat Party; so, all the endorsements, money and union love has flowed in his direction. Steyer is self-funded, so he has no worries in regard to funding. Which means both men have participated in a social media flame war to dent each other's armor, with varying degrees of success.
Now new accusations have surfaced that Becerra and Steyer have funded fake social media accounts in order to boost their campaigns.
Shocker.
Fake social media accounts are mysteriously boosting Becerra's campaign, report claims https://t.co/3dsZWYJea0 pic.twitter.com/tqPtXiPBYc
— New York Post (@nypost) May 22, 2026
Democratic California gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer are both under accusations they improperly paid social media influencers to boost their bids — but another front in the social media wars between the two around fake accounts is also underway, a report claims.
More than 3,000 fake accounts across Instagram, X and Facebook are boosting former Health and Human Services secretary Becerra while attacking billionaire Steyer, according to an analysis by Cyabra, an AI-powered disinformation security company. It’s used by clients like NATO and the US Department of State, its website said.
That's some pretty powerful tech to create the illusion of consensus. These Astroturf accounts are as fraudulent as Spencer Pratt's mayoral campaign is authentically grassroots. We all know Becerra: From California congressman to California's AG to HHS Secretary, he has been a complete shill and grossly incompetent. Steyer comes off milquetoast, but is turning out to be an undercover Machiavelli. As RedState reported, Katie Porter accused Steyer of leaking the videos of Porter abusing her staffer during a Zoom call. All of this is on brand for California Democrat politics: They are too busy jockeying for position and one-upping each other to care one whit about what the people of California really want or need.
The analysis, which was shared with The Post, alleges a “coordinated cross-platform effort to amplify negative narratives and increase online visibility” — though it notably doesn’t draw any conclusions about who may be controlling the accounts and why.
The alleged fake accounts’ activity drove more than a million views and around 42,000 engagements, per the report.
The accounts focused on pro-Becerra messaging that tried to create a perception of grassroots support, the report alleged. Many focused on criticizing Steyer, such as his payment to influencer Carlos Eduardo Espina.
Of course, Steyer is twisting the knife, a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Meta gave $950K to get you elected, and then, literally the next day, laid off 10% of its workforce. https://t.co/H3zInDqYGD
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) May 22, 2026
Read More: Xavier Becerra Praised Scientology on Video—Then Used Government Power Against Catholic Groups
Dem Infighting Heats Up As Katie Porter Drops Big Claims Against Primary Opponents
But Steyer has social media influencer troubles of his own.
A political influencer has filed a complaint against Tom Steyer’s campaign for governor, saying the committee failed to notify her of disclosure requirements, as required by law, when she was paid to meet with Steyer in March and later produced social media content from the meeting.
What’s more, she said the Steyer campaign falsely accused her of posting paid content in support of Steyer’s chief Democratic rival, Xavier Becerra, and failing to disclose it in a complaint filed by the billionaire’s campaign this week.
Maggie Reed, who regularly posts satirical takes on politics to roughly half a million followers on Instagram and TiKTok under the username mermaidmamamaggie, said she was actually paid by Steyer’s campaign and signed an agreement that barred her from disclosing the payment.
She posted, and later deleted, a video from her meeting with Steyer in March.
“In plain terms: the Committee paid for political content, structured it to look like an ordinary creator’s organic opinion, and used a non-disclosure agreement to keep the public from learning the truth,” says the complaint, filed Thursday with California’s Fair Political Practices Commission.
They do love their NDAs. The state of California is already circling the drain, waiting for someone to pull the plug. If Becerra or Steyer make the Top 2 and manage to win the general, expect that to happen. They will ensure that it will be business as usual: same corrupt apparatus, with a different puppet pulling the levers.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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