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Arcata’s Chris Lehman is trying his hand on the big stage of national politics as a senior advisor to Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer.

You may remember Lehman from his run for California State Senate back in 2013, when he initially gained the support of a handful of influential state and local reps, essentially establishing himself as the main contender for the seat left vacant by Noreen Evans. LoCO’s own Hank Sims called the early support and maneuvering a “textbook in how to muscle aside any conceivable challengers.” 

However, Lehman did not go on to secure the coveted spot in the state senate. The infamous Boy Fight of 2013 happened (Rounds 1, 2 & 3), and our current State Senator and Restorer of Power Mike McGuire laid waste to his contenders and emerged the victor. 

But back to our current times: Tom Steyer is loaded, the dude has racks of stacks, scrilla, dough, money. He’s got billions of dolla’, dolla’ bills ya’ll. He got his $1.6 billion by running Farallon Capitol, a worldwide asset management firm currently with $27 billion worth of “flexible capital” (whatever that means), for 26 years. Back in 2012, Steyer sold his stake in the company and in 2016 spent around $65 million dollars to back Democratic candidates, according to Forbes. 

Steyer qualified for the next presidential debate — which takes place tomorrow — back in early September, when he met the requirement of 130,000 individual donations and a 2-percent support rating in four different polls. Steyer’s platform includes a focus on climate change amd social justice as well as “Five Rights” — the right to an equal vote; the right to clean air and water; the right to learn; the right to a living wage; and the right to health.

Our boy Lehman — the “Angel-faced Arcatan” as Hank dubbed him back in 2013 — started working for Steyer’s campaign back in July, according to his LinkedIn page. 

Lehman (left) behind the scenes with the Steyer campaign.

The Outpost was able to catch up with Lehman Saturday morning and asked him a few questions via email.

How did you end up working with Tom Steyer?

In 2012, Tom asked me to join his Prop 39 campaign to close a corporate tax loophole and send the money to California schools. It was an egregious tax loophole that corporate lobbyists (I’m convinced it was tobacco lobbyists) slipped into a midnight budget deal during the Great Recession that ripped off California taxpayers and disadvantaged California’s biggest employers. I had just finished being the campaign manager on Prop 29 fighting Big Tobacco for a coalition of public health groups like the American Cancer Society. We were massively outspent, but we made it one of the closest initiative races in state history through asymmetric campaign tactics I learned from a mentor of mine, Chris Lehane. I learned a lot from that tobacco fight and was able to use those lessons in the Prop 39 campaign to beat the out-of-state corporations and close that tax loophole. I’ve worked for Tom ever since. 

How did your work in California politics prepare you for national politics?

As we know well on the North Coast, California is a state of many different unique regions - It’s really a scale model of the country. We have ultra-conservative areas, rural areas, ultra-liberal areas, urban, suburban, etc. Having experience working statewide across all the different regions in California definitely helps in national politics. But my competitive advantage in political campaigning and messaging really comes from growing up on the North Coast. On the surface, our community doesn’t have a lot of diversity - but we actually have a ton of political diversity. From cowboys to communists, we’ve got all types. Growing up in Humboldt County, you learn the only way to bring people together who have very, very different ideologies is to treat everyone with respect, value where they’re coming from especially when they believe differently from you, and give folks the hard truth. That type of communication is badly needed in national politics right now.

What did you do in Sacramento?

I started working in the Capitol as an unpaid legislative intern for Senator John Vasconcellos because I saw from my father’s work as Humboldt County’s Chief Probation Officer how policy changes can transformationally change people’s lives for the better. That internship turned into a job as a legislative aide, then I moved up to be a policy consultant. But I gravitated towards communications and messaging and political campaigns because I learned in Sacramento, that no matter how good your policy ideas are, if you don’t win the elections — it doesn’t matter. I started working heavily on political campaigns, starting with writing mail, and working on everything from coalition building to fundraising. My campaign work was where I really started to understand the massive amounts of power and money that come together to stop good common sense ideas from ever happening.

What’s it like on the campaign trail?

I’m having a blast.  I’m having an opportunity to work alongside some of the brightest and most gifted group of professionals who are totally committed to making a positive difference on climate, justice, and changing the direction of our country. Tom and I have talked about it before that when you see something wrong, there is great joy in doing every single thing you possibly can do to try and make it right. Most days I cannot believe I’m so blessed to get paid to do what I do.

Why do you support Steyer?

More than anyone else I’ve ever met, I trust Tom Steyer to match his actions to his words. A lot of folks know Tom and his wife Kat Taylor were among the very first people to take the Giving Pledge to give the majority of their self-made fortune to charity. But after working with Tom and being his friend for 7 years, I know it’s way more than just that Giving Pledge. Tom works so hard every single day (outworking pretty much everyone on his team except maybe our campaign manager Heather Hargreaves) trying to do as much as he possibly can to make a positive impact on the world - particularly when it comes to climate - but also on other issues like Prop 39 (closing the corporate tax loophole), and Prop 56 (we came back and beat the tobacco companies, making them pay their fair share of healthcare costs and reducing cigarette sales by 20% with a $2 per pack tax). 

Tom puts his money where his mouth is. In 2016 he registered a million voters. In 2017 he started Need to Impeach an 8 million person petition drive that turned into a massive grassroots operation that I strongly believe created the circumstances for Trump’s impeachment. In 2018 he also funded and ran the largest youth voter turnout operation in American history.

The amount of impact Tom has been able to make without holding political office makes me very excited about the impact he will have in the White House when he wins this campaign. Regardless, I know Tom is very very different from other generous wealthy people - he was one of the most successful investors in American history, and while he left investing in 2012, he now brings his gifted ability at investing to the world of social change. He works relentlessly to figure out how he can make the BIGGEST positive impact with his time, money and energy. That won’t stop no matter what happens in his Presidential campaign - and it’s an absolute honor to be a friend of his and get to work with him on his mission.

What do you think he can do for the people of Humboldt?

Tom’s campaign is laser focused on two things, 1) breaking the corporate stranglehold on our democracy and giving power back to the American people, and 2) Meeting the climate challenge head-on. 

If we get those two things right, Tom says our future will be more amazing than we can possible imagine - we’ll be healthier, more prosperous, and more able to reach our potential. Tom believes when we break the power the corporations have over our government, and start keeping the promise of government “of by and for the people”, we will be able to deliver basic rights that all Americans need to thrive in the 21st Century (the right to healthcare, the right to quality public education from preschool to college, the right to a living wage, and the right to clean air and water). If Tom’s successful and we get a government that works for all of us, not just the corporations and well-connected, that is something that will help our whole country - including the people of Humboldt.

Do you think he has a shot?

Absolutely I think Tom has a shot - his campaign is just starting to get national attention because he was the last candidate to enter the race.  However, a poll this week (click on “Early States”) showed Tom is already in fourth place in the four states that have the first caucuses and primaries before Super Tuesday (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada). Voters hearing his message love Tom - just like I do. 

What are your aspirations for politics?

I’m still driven by the same heart that started an unpaid-internship in the state capitol, learning how to make positive change happen. Now at 42, I want to keep going and leave a better world for my three children and my community.