A pro-Becerra committee recently received significant cash dumps from major companies like McDonalds, which contributed $500,000, and Meta, which gave $950,000. Realtors, the California Medical Association, and tribes have also collectively given millions to support Becerra, who most recently served as President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services secretary.

Energy companies in particular have shelled out to bump Becerra and block Steyer, a longtime climate activist who signed a pledge not to take fossil fuel money and said that he would take on big oil companies and break up the state’s major utilities as governor — long-shot promises that would require some assistance from the state Legislature but that have nonetheless appealed to young liberal voters.

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Meanwhile, an anti-Steyer committee has raised some $33 million to block his rise, which includes more than $13 million from Pacific Gas and Electric and a union representing electrical workers and nearly $12 million from a pro-business committee that has received roughly $7 million combined from PG&E, Sempra Energy, Edison, and Chevron.

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The flood of money comes as Becerra and Steyer duke it out in the polls for a shot out of the June 2 primary and onto the November ballot. Becerra, who was polling in the single digits only a handful of weeks ago, has emerged as the clear Democratic front-runner in recent polls, with Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton close behind.

Becerra supporters argue that the money flowing into his campaign and supporting committees is nothing compared to the more than $210 million Steyer has dumped into his bid from his fortune. And while Steyer has pitched himself to voters as a climate champion who will run Big Oil out of business, Becerra’s backers have noted that his billions came from his success at Farallon Capital, the hedge fund he started in the 1980s that invests in the fossil fuel industry.