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Democrats try new creator playbook in California
LOS ANGELES – At an Oaxacan restaurant in Koreatown last week, California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer (D) fielded questions in front of a crowd of raised iPhones — about fire risk and reduction, the impact of AI on jobs, and Medicaid and Medicare cuts.
But this was not a press conference, nor a typical rally or campaign stop. It was an invitation-only event for a couple dozen creators, the majority of whom are focused on political content, who each have five to six figure followings. After they asked their questions, the creators posed in a photobooth for pictures with the candidate and held up their phones for selfies. While waiting for one-on-one time to interview Steyer, some creators debated whether they would endorse a campaign or if they consider themselves journalists over margaritas. Others filmed stand-ups using a ring light in front of a pink, red and orange campaign-branded backdrop.
The event was organized by the candidate’s niece Carly Steyer, who oversees “creator relations” for the campaign, with the goal of building relationships with creators skeptical of the campaign. “Sometimes, we get wonky in politics,” said Julie Chávez Rodríguez, who managed the Biden-turned-Harris campaign and attended the event as an advisor to the Steyer campaign. “Creators are a way to break down the wonk and make sure that it's relatable to real people.”
The scene ahead of California's crowded primary election in early June provides a preview of the outsized impact creators will have on the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election. Campaigns have incorporated creators into their approach — not just to deliver messaging or in a promotional role, but as key surrogates and strategists — at a time when voters increasingly get political news from social media.
The Steyer campaign brought on Carlos Eduardo Espina as an advisor for Latino Digital Mobilization, marking one of the first times a creator has been brought on in such a capacity and not just tapped for endorsement. And down ballot, one of the leading candidates in the LA mayoral race, Republican former reality TV star Spencer Pratt is a creator himself – a master of evolvution to maintain online relevancy, from The Hills to Snapchat stardom to crystal and hummingbird TikToks, to his entry into politics after becoming an outspoken political voice online after wildfires destroyed his home.
And on an even more meaningful level, the gubernatorial race itself was upended after political creators helped bring to light allegations of sexual misconduct against Rep. Eric Swalwell (D), leading to him ending his campaign and resigning from Congress.
The California elections also reveal how much creators' roles in politics have evolved since 2024, when they were given photo-line access and prime rally seating, but little ability to actually engage with — let alone question — candidates (who, in fairness, largely avoided questions from the press and voters as well).
Still, creators in attendance remained skeptical of the Democratic Party's broader digital strategy, viewing Steyer's outreach as an exception rather than a model and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the stand out nationwide. A majority of the creators in attendance at the Steyer event are also politics-first — which Democrats have identified as an area for improvement — though those political accounts are better aligned for a primary setting like this race in California than a national election.
“I think there's an improvement in terms of the scale of engagement. I don't know if there's an improvement in regards to the quality of engagement,” said Clara Cox, who works for an environmental services firm and is a creator. “A lot of engagement from politicians comes across as slightly inauthentic because they haven't taken the time to treat this as an actual media platform.” …
The Takeover
🏛 President Trump met with the Nelk Boys
🤳 Rage-bait MAGA influencer targeted a gay couple
📺 Meet the growing class of YouTube consultants
🚇 “SubwayTakes” has launched a new kind of TV show
🎬 Cannes’ Marché du Film expands creator focus
🏨 TikTok wants travelers to book their trips through the app
The Group Chat
CREATORS IRL: The creator focus on real life experiences continues. While in LA last week I went to the opening of Emma Chamberlain’s first standalone Chamberlain Coffee cafe in Venice to see how her company translated a digital-first brand into a physical space. Followers were taking photos and making content of the Marie Trohman and Ashley Drost designed space, while noting the similarities to Chamberlain’s recent Architectural Digest home tour. Chamberlain said, in a statement “We wanted to build a place that feels personal, creative, and somewhere people actually want to spend time.”
This week in New York City, I caught up with Keith and Ronni Lee ahead of their “Keith Lee’s Familee Day” festival in New Orleans this weekend — a food and music event — and we discussed the same idea of creators going from promoting events to creating their own real life activations. “Having people come as a community and come together is really important and I’m blessed enough to be able to bring that many people out. I didn’t think this many people would buy tickets, it might get a little crazy,” Lee said. He said it’s just the first to come and teased a big announcement on the day of the festival. Lee hosted the Complex Family Style Food Festival in New York last year, which drew more than 30,000 people — more than double the number of attendees he anticipated.
Grant Gibbs and Ashley Gill are also preparing for their upcoming tour of “A Twink and a Redhead: A Musical Comedy.” “It’s not what people expect. People are like oh, TikTokers on tour? No, this is like a whole show, a production, dancers, drag queens,” Gibbs told me. Gill added that they’ve built a “really fun, loving, enthusiastic community online and getting to put faces to those followers and meet people in real life and see their reactions firsthand is really really exciting and very rewarding.”
@dylanewells here’s what your @The Webby Awards winners are watching on their fyp @Keith Habersberger @Zach Kornfeld @Keith Lee @Ronni Lee @Tiff Baira ... See more
Close Friends
This week I was influenced: on the magic of Shout wipes. Let’s just say there was an incident at Scalable Summit and the girls at the Venice Madewell saved my day with these.
Dichotomy of TikTok drama: are you a 50 day bender girl or banned from Solidcore guy? Our Washington Post Creator team is split.
Main character of the week: the ice cream crossing guard.
Seen: a perfect encapsulation of what it feels like making content.
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See you next Wednesday!
