"Billionaire activist Tom Steyer won’t run for the U.S. Senate in 2016, saying Thursday he will instead concentrate on electing a Democratic president and in continued activism on his signature issue of climate change.

“This was a very hard decision,” he said in a blog post on Huffington Post. “The U.S. Senate offers a unique opportunity to serve, but I also know that we will have excellent candidates. ... Given the imperative of electing a Democratic president — along with my passion for our state — I believe my work right now should not be in our nation’s capital but here at home in California and in states around the country where change is on the move.”

The decision by the country’s single biggest political donor leaves Attorney General Kamala Harris as the front-runner — and only announced candidate — for the Senate seat to be vacated by retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, and opens the way for former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to be Harris’ chief competitor for the seat."

Carla Marinucci reports for the San Francisco Chronicle January 22, 2015. [2]