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Can you trust that post about Tom Steyer? How paid influencers are flooding into the governor’s race
By Joe Taglieri joet@civicnewsgroup.com
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California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer on Feb. 21, 2026. | Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters
encer videos. But experts and transparency advocates aren’t optimistic: The law was intentionally designed with no real penalties, and the agency responsible for enforcing it sometimes takes years to resolve investigations. “This is where the ‘Wild West’ analogy becomes useful,” said Dan Schnur, a political science professor and former chair of the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission. ‘Inundate the internet’ Campaign finance filings from January through April 18 show Steyer has paid over $123,400 to at least eight influencers. The New York Times reported that includes $100,000 to Texas-based Latino mega-influencer Carlos Eduardo Espina, whose 14.3 million Tiktok followers are a coveted target for Democrats and who has endorsed Steyer. The campaign is also paying over $870,000 to a
digital media agency, Group Project Digital, that solicits creators to post daily videos about Steyer. The listing initially offered $10 per video; it was amended last week to offer $1,000 a month and now includes a sentence telling creators they need to disclose the payments. The state investigation covers just one of the influencer videos, in which content creator Isaiah Washington (known as @ zaydante) did not disclose that Steyer’s campaign paid him $10,000 for a nowdeleted video. It was sparked by a complaint from a pair of political social media influencers who post frequently in support of Becerra. On Tuesday, they filed another complaint alleging numerous additional paid, undisclosed posts, including from accounts in other countries. See Tom Steyer Page 04
“What he’s done is inundate the Internet in every way, shape and form to try and create an echo chamber,” said Beatrice Gomberg, one of the complainants. Among the accounts they’ve recently highlighted: @foosgonewild, which has posted memes, content about Southern California street culture and, on May 5, an interview with Steyer talking about his opposition to ICE. The account has 3.3 million followers on Instagram and 1 million on Tiktok. The Tiktok video has no disclosures. On Instagram, at the bottom of the video description, the account notes it’s a partner with California-based social video firm Flighthouse. Neither the content creator nor Flighthouse responded to requests for comment. The Steyer campaign would not disclose
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Cheng appointed Arcadia mayor; council seeks to fill seat vacated by PRC spy
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By Jeanne Kuang, Yue Stella Yu and Maya C. Miller, CalMatters
az Roche, also known to nearly 11,000 Tiktok followers as @spo0kymom, hawks facial cleansing bars, baby wagons and AI tools in short social media videos. On a website where clients can pay her to post videos about their products, she says she’s based in Pennsylvania. Yet the content creator has taken an interest in the California governor’s race lately. Tiktok and Instagram accounts linked to Roche have posted 34 times in the past 10 days to boost the campaign of billionaire Tom Steyer or to criticize his main Democratic opponent, Xavier Becerra. “Hear me out, I have something to admit,” she says in the first video, posted May 8, on an account where she describes herself as a “so-cal girlypop.” “I did not expect the most progressive governor candidate to be a billionaire. But look at the policies, you guys.” What she didn’t say was that Steyer’s campaign is paying her to say it. Steyer, who has poured nearly $200 million into the most expensive primary campaign in state history, is under scrutiny for using paid social media influencers to post favorable things about him. Is that legal? Gov. Gavin Newsom three years ago signed a law meant to bring transparency to the increasingly intertwined world of politics and content creators, enacting a law requiring influencers to be upfront in their posts about being paid by a political campaign. In one of the first tests of the law, regulators have opened an investigation into one of the Steyer influ-
Survey: Nearly half of all wildfire survivors set to lose housing support in a year or less
he Arcadia City Council on Tuesday appointed Councilman Paul Cheng to the vacated mayor position following the resignation of Mayor Eileen Wang after federal authorities charged her with secretly acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China. Wang represented Council District 3, and officials are now accepting applications from prospective appointees to serve the remainder of the ex-mayor’s term that was up for election in November. Cheng will serve the remainder of Wang’s unexpired term until December. Cheng represents District 4 and was the mayor pro tem when Wang resigned May 11. He has been on the City Council since 2020. After his appointment, Cheng spoke about the need for civic unity during difficult times. “To every resident listening tonight, do not let fear consume you, do not let negativity divide you, and do not let anyone convince you that Arcadia is broken,” Cheng said. “This city is filled with good people, hardworking people, patriotic people, and compassionate people.” District 1 Councilman David Fu was appointed mayor pro tem, which continued the established rotation among the council members. The mayoral positions usually change every nine months. The council also started the process of filling the District 3 vacancy until the November election. They voted 4-0 to seek candidates using an application and
See Arcadia mayor Page 28
interview process. Applications are available on the internet at ArcadiaCA.gov and must be submitted via email to CityClerk@ArcadiaCA.gov by Friday, May 29 at 11:59 p.m. Interviews will take place at 5 p.m. on June 2 before the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting. Candidates must live in Arcadia’s 3rd District, be a registered voter, a United States citizen and at least 18 years old. City officials said more than 5,300 registered voters live in District 3. The ex-councilwoman faces up to 10 years in federal prison following her guilty plea that she was a clandestine agent of the Chinese government. She also admitted that she worked with her former fiance, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, to publish PRC propaganda via a website that the two operated. Sun received a four-year prison sentence earlier this year on similar federal charges. Sun was arrested in December 2024, when his ties to Wang and PRC intelligence operations first came to light, and pleaded guilty in October. Following Wang’s resignation, community members and news reporters have asked lots of questions that officials have compiled on the city’s website. “At no time could the city council have removed Eileen Wang from office,” City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said at Tuesday’s meeting. “The city charter only allows the City Council to remove another member if the person is convicted of a serious crime.”