California voters reject one-time 5% billionaire tax, projections show

California voters are rejecting a proposed wealth tax on billionaire residents, according to a projection from Decision Desk HQ, an election-results firm. Its count showed 54 percent voting no and 46 percent voting yes, with 76 percent of the vote counted ¹. The result is a major win for tech and business executives who spent hundreds of millions against the measure ¹.

Proposition 40 would have set a one-time 5 percent tax on billionaires' wealth, a first in the nation ¹. Most of the money would have gone to state health care programs. The rest would have gone to food assistance and education ¹.

On tapeABC7 News Bay Area · Nov 5

▶2:16

What the tax would have done

The tax would have covered stocks, bonds, business holdings and other personal property of about 200 billionaires ². People who lived in California on Jan. 1, 2026 would have been taxed on their net worth as of Dec. 31, 2026. They could have paid in one lump sum or over five years ².

The state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office said California would have collected tens of billions of dollars ¹. The union behind the measure projected about $100 billion over five years for health care and education ².

From Channel GOPNewsom lists Trump family's crypto and contract windfallsGavin Newsom · 198 plays · captioned, with the source named

Democrats were split

The fight divided Democrats. The California Democratic Party, the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters backed the measure ¹. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, opposed it ¹.

Newsom said he supports a federal billionaire tax. He objected to sending "almost all of the revenue" to health care ¹. He laid out his case in a June post on Substack, a newsletter site ¹.

On tapeABC10 · Nov 4

▶1:46

There is nothing for housing, nothing for childcare, nothing for public safety workers who must answer 911 calls, and nothing for our public universities that have powered California’s economy for a decade

Opponents outspent supporters by a wide margin. Billionaires gave more than $333 million to a nonprofit called Building a Better California, according to The Hill ¹. CalMatters, a nonprofit news site, counted $316.7 million in opposition spending, including money for two other ballot measures. It said Google co-founder Sergey Brin gave $102 million ².

Those two measures, Propositions 41 and 42, were written to block the tax. Under the state constitution, if either got more votes than Prop. 40, the billionaire tax would be void ². Early returns showed Prop. 42 ahead with 54.3 percent ².

What happens next

The union behind Prop. 40 appeared to concede, but it said it will try again in 2028. Its president, Dave Regan, said so directly ².

That's not a hypothetical. That's our plan.

That matters beyond California. Democrats nationally have campaigned on making the wealthy pay more. This result shows that even in a deep-blue state, voters can balk at a tax when its design is contested and the other side spends heavily. Before the election, polls showed more voters opposed it, though the margins were tight ¹.

Vote counting continues, and the totals may shift. These are projections, not final results.

The Record

1. Jan 1, 2026Billionaires living in California on this date would have been subject to the Prop. 40 tax ².
2. Nov 3, 2026California voters decided Proposition 40, the one-time 5% billionaire tax, along with competing Props. 41 and 42 ².
3. Nov 7, 2026Decision Desk HQ projected Prop. 40 failing, 54% no to 46% yes, with 76% counted ¹.

Free to reprint Republish this story on your site or in your newsletter

Any site, blog or newsletter may run this story free of charge. Keep the credit line and its link to the original, do not sell it, and edit only for length or house style (the full terms). Photos carry their own licenses, noted under each photo on this page, so use the text alone unless a credit says otherwise.

<h2>California voters reject one-time 5% billionaire tax, projections show</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files Kitchen-Table Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/california-voters-reject-one-time-5-billionaire-tax-projections-show">The GOP Files</a> on Friday, November 6, 2026.</em></p> <p>California voters are rejecting a proposed wealth tax on billionaire residents, according to a projection from Decision Desk HQ, an election-results firm. Its count showed 54 percent voting no and 46 percent voting yes, with 76 percent of the vote counted . The result is a major win for tech and business executives who spent hundreds of millions against the measure .</p> <p>Proposition 40 would have set a one-time 5 percent tax on billionaires&#39; wealth, a first in the nation . Most of the money would have gone to state health care programs. The rest would have gone to food assistance and education .</p> <h2>What the tax would have done</h2> <p>The tax would have covered stocks, bonds, business holdings and other personal property of about 200 billionaires . People who lived in California on Jan. 1, 2026 would have been taxed on their net worth as of Dec. 31, 2026. They could have paid in one lump sum or over five years .</p> <p>The state&#39;s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst&#39;s Office said California would have collected tens of billions of dollars . The union behind the measure projected about $100 billion over five years for health care and education .</p> <h2>Democrats were split</h2> <p>The fight divided Democrats. The California Democratic Party, the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters backed the measure . Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, opposed it .</p> <p>Newsom said he supports a federal billionaire tax. He objected to sending &quot;almost all of the revenue&quot; to health care . He laid out his case in a June post on Substack, a newsletter site .</p> <blockquote><p>There is nothing for housing, nothing for childcare, nothing for public safety workers who must answer 911 calls, and nothing for our public universities that have powered California’s economy for a decade</p><p>&mdash; Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, Democrat</p></blockquote> <p>Opponents outspent supporters by a wide margin. Billionaires gave more than $333 million to a nonprofit called Building a Better California, according to The Hill . CalMatters, a nonprofit news site, counted $316.7 million in opposition spending, including money for two other ballot measures. It said Google co-founder Sergey Brin gave $102 million .</p> <p>Those two measures, Propositions 41 and 42, were written to block the tax. Under the state constitution, if either got more votes than Prop. 40, the billionaire tax would be void . Early returns showed Prop. 42 ahead with 54.3 percent .</p> <h2>What happens next</h2> <p>The union behind Prop. 40 appeared to concede, but it said it will try again in 2028. Its president, Dave Regan, said so directly .</p> <blockquote><p>That&#39;s not a hypothetical. That&#39;s our plan.</p><p>&mdash; Dave Regan, president of the union behind Proposition 40</p></blockquote> <p>That matters beyond California. Democrats nationally have campaigned on making the wealthy pay more. This result shows that even in a deep-blue state, voters can balk at a tax when its design is contested and the other side spends heavily. Before the election, polls showed more voters opposed it, though the margins were tight .</p> <p>Vote counting continues, and the totals may shift. These are projections, not final results.</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/california-voters-reject-one-time-5-billionaire-tax-projections-show">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/california-voters-reject-one-time-5-billionaire-tax-projections-show.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

Copy the HTML Paste it into your editor's HTML view. The one-pixel image at the end tells our newsroom the story ran; it stores no reader data.

Sources

1. The Hill, “California rejects billionaire tax proposal in win for executives, Newsom” (2026-11-07). thehill.com/business/6185092-california-voters-reject-wealth
2. CalMatters, “California election 2026: Props. 40, 41, 42” (2026-11-04). calmatters.org/health/2026/11/california-election-2026-prop-

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.