Silicon Valley's Primary Bet Pays Off—With a Few Stumbles

California’s primary election this week delivered a mixed but largely favorable outcome for the tech industry, which poured tens of millions of dollars into races across the state. While high-profile gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan, a San Jose Democrat backed heavily by Silicon Valley, conceded after securing just 4% of the vote, the industry notched wins in key down-ballot contests. Scott Wiener, tech’s preferred candidate for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Nancy Pelosi, advanced decisively to the November midterms. State Insurance Commissioner candidate Ben Allen, another industry favorite, also appears poised to move forward. More telling were the victories in smaller legislative races, where super PACs like Grow California and California Leads—funded by crypto moguls, Google, and Meta—spent millions to support favored Democrats and oppose incumbents. Nearly all of their backed candidates advanced. The strategy is deliberate: shape the state legislature to fend off regulations and taxes, including a proposed 5% wealth tax on billionaires heading to the ballot in November. University of California Berkeley professor Francesco Trebbi called the primary spending “just a drop in the bucket,” predicting record-breaking midterm outlays as the fight escalates. For tech leaders, the message is clear: political investment is expensive, but the alternative—losing influence on home turf—is far costlier.