Antonio Villaraigosa, a California gubernatorial candidate and longtime environmental advocate, appears to be pivoting from his years of climate concerns to supporting his state’s struggling oil industry, after an influx of campaign donations from pro-oil donors.
Villaraigosa — who served as Los Angeles mayor from 2005 to 2013 and was previously a state Assemblyman — has long championed policies such as lowering carbon emissions, encouraging solar power and expanding mass transit. However, the former mayor has received over $1 million in campaign contributions from oil companies over the last three decades, suggesting a pivot in his stance on oil and its importance to Californians.
Villaraigosa has accepted over $176,000 from donors linked to the oil industry since he announced his gubernatorial campaign in 2024, according to the LA Times. The contributions surfaced after Valero announced its oil refinery would be closing in 2026 — shortly following Phillips 66 announcing its own Wilmington refinery closure.
The Democratic gubernatorial candidate, like some GOP politicians from California, is now warning of soaring gas prices and the “absurd” policies that potentially led to the closures.
“I’m not fighting for refineries,” Villaraigosa said in an interview with the LA Times. “I’m fighting for the people who pay for gas in this state.”
Still, Villaraigosa said he hopes California’s refineries stay operational as the state needs more time to build infrastructure to support alternatives such as green-energy storage systems, transmission lines and charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs).
Villaraigosa denounced the Senate’s vote to repeal California’s de facto national EV mandate despite acknowledging the current lack of infrastructure. Considering the potential strain California taxpayers would feel if the de facto mandate was enforced, Villaraigosa recognized efforts to fight climate change cannot come off the backs of hard working Americans.
The former mayor pointed to his own party for the harsh economy harming working-class Americans, claiming it has been a major factor in the Democrats’ recent string of electoral disappointments. He also slammed the party’s apparent singular focus on Trump at the expense of kitchen-table issues.
“We’re losing working people, particularly working people who don’t have a college education. Why are we losing them? The cost of living, the cost of gas, the cost of utilities, the cost of groceries,” he told the outlet. “The cost of everything we’re doing is on the backs of the people who work the hardest and who make the least, and that’s why so many of them — even when we were saying Trump is a threat to democracy — they were saying, yeah, but what about my gas prices, grocery prices, the cost of eggs?”
Villaraigosa previously sought the governorship of California in 2018, but finished in a distant third place in the state’s all-party primary. The race was won by now-incumbent Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited in 2026.
Other Democratic contenders for the governor’s mansion include former Biden-era Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, failed Senate candidate and former California Rep. Katie Porter, former state Controller Betty Yee, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Entrepreneur Stephen J. Cloobeck and Former State Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins.
There are also rumors that failed 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris may enter the gubernatorial race — however, she has yet to make a decision on her political future.
Kounalakis, Porter, Thurmond and Yee have all signed a pledge to not accept any money from oil-related donors.
Republicans running to lead the deep blue state include conservative commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
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