By james art 
Hospitality entrepreneur Stephen Klubeck has a new venture: a campaign for governor of California.
In an exclusive interview with Southern California News Group, Klubeck, an entrepreneur who has worked in the hospitality industry, including timeshares, said he is concerned about how unaffordable California has become. Citing his business background, Klubeck decided Tuesday, Nov. 5, to join a rapidly growing field of candidates vying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited and ineligible for re-election in 2026 .
Related: These are the 2026 California gubernatorial candidates
“We need a new look, someone who understands how to make sure that the leaders of this country have the backs of every taxpayer, make sure that the government is always off their backs, and make sure, most importantly, that every a taxpayer is treated as a customer, so each taxpayer or customer receives equal or greater value for the tax dollars they spent,” Klubeck said.
“There is no difference between a consumer business and those running a country, but our current leaders have forgotten that.”
A self-described fiscally conservative, “socially responsible” Democrat, Klubeck denounces what he sees as identity politics. California, he said, “must move forward to the right because we can’t go any further to the left.”
For him, that means supporting efforts he believes will make California more affordable. He wants to see “ambitious dates” for electric vehicles, not mandates that he says “steal our freedom as Californians.” He has an education political action committee, Save Our Schools PAC, which advocates for every child’s civil right to a quality education. Home ownership plans, he added, it should also account for apartment living rather than detached houses.
“I think public-private partnerships are the secret to success for California’s future,” Klubeck said.
He is critical of Gov. Gavin Newsom, especially regarding the crime rate.
“Our current leadership,” Klubeck said, “doesn’t know how to move away from the mistakes they’ve made.”
Klubeck, 63, said he once believed he would become a doctor, perhaps a heart surgeon. But he changed his mind his senior year of college at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, he said, and returned to California after graduation. He took accounting classes at Cal State Northridge and night business classes at UCLA. He began working for companies in the shopping center development industry and eventually started his own business.
His father was against him branching out on his own, he said, but a family friend advised “let the kid try.”
So he did. Klubeck builds its first shopping center in Burbank. From there he ventured into the hotel business. His first major development was the Polo Towers in Las Vegas in the early 1990s, according to his website. In 2007, his company, Diamond Resorts, acquired Sunterra Corp., a deal that industry analysts described at the time as “one of the timeshare industry’s largest acquisitions ever.” In 2016, Klubeck retired from Diamond Resorts.
“I am not a career politician. I am an activist; I’m a businessman,” Klubeck said.
“But I know politics and policy because I’ve been taught by the best in politics and finance,” he added. “And I’ve always been used to crossing paths.”
Although he has not held elected office, Klubek has long been involved in politics. In 2004, he was appointed to serve on the Nevada Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices. He later served as chairman of Brand USA, a public-private partnership created during the Obama administration to support American tourism around the world. He has spoken in media interviews about golfing with former Democratic presidents and about his relationships with politicians, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Klubeck said his mentor was the late Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader of the U.S. Senate, who died in 2021. Klubeck was part of the push to rename the Las Vegas airport after Reid, whom he called “ stepfather’.
Klubeck is also close to Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, who called the hotel magnate “a very close friend.”
“He’s an interesting person,” Correa said. “The man is smart. He really knows how to get things done. The only question is how he will get that message across to voters.
Correa compared Klubeck to former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both were successful outside of politics, Correa said. Both men were also bodybuilders.
Cloobeck’s campaign seemed always in the plans.
The question was whether he would run in California or Nevada.
Klubeck grew up in Encino, spending his summers in Simi Valley, Sanger and Willits, his biography said. He had offices in Orange County and now resides in Los Angeles County.
But a few years ago he was living in Nevada, where he was chairman of the state athletic commission. He stepped down from that position at the end of 2022, saying he couldn’t work with Joe Lombardo, a Republican slated to take over as governor, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported at the time.
At one time there were rumors that he might run for governor of Nevada.
Klubeck completed his L.A. home in 2020, he said, but lived in a hotel while it was being built.
“That’s how great California is,” Klubeck said, noting that Nevada has no state income tax. In California, on the other hand, residents pay tax rates based on their filing status and income.
“I wasn’t going to come back here and mess up like this,” he continued, referring to his new political journey.
“But because I was so involved and I couldn’t find anyone else who had the attributes to fix a broken business by legislating, changing laws in many states, I was the regulator and I was the judge.”
“It’s kind of a ‘unicorn,’ having all these qualities and being successful at these things,” he said.
Klubek is a man full of maxims, who puts them seriously.
“We are at the end of a dead end. It’s time to turn around and move on.”
“I am law and order. In my book, this is the eighth commandment. We don’t steal. “Thou shalt not steal.”
“It’s not $950; it’s zero,” he added, referring to California’s Prop 47, which increased the dollar amount for which property theft will be treated as a felony.
“I just don’t have opinions; I have solutions – because I have.”
Klubek said he is also detail-oriented and deliberate about his political philosophy and the work he has already done. And he’s an avid cook and entertainer, bragging about his recipes for osso buco, spicy pasta, and fried chicken. He plays pickleball and appears on Undercover Boss, a reality show that assigns low-level executives at their own companies to interact with their employees.
Klubeck said he values honesty and, if elected governor, will be upfront with voters.
But he also prioritizes tangible results.
“It’s time to govern with respect, accountability and results that are meaningful and measurable.”
One way he believes he can measure his success as governor is by population. He wants to see the state grow by an additional 5 million people to 44 million. The state Department of Finance currently estimates that California’s population — which has declined periodically in recent years — will peak at about 40.2 million in 2044 and begin to decline thereafter.
“It’s a success. That means we’re bringing people back to our state,” Klubeck said.
He is a longtime Democratic donor, listing California and Nevada as his residence for the past two years. He has donated to the US Senate campaign of Representative Adam Schiff, as well as to Representatives Katie Porter and Barbara Lee when they were also running for an open California Senate seat.
Other candidates running for governor in 2026 include state Sen. Tony Atkins, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former state inspector Betty Yee. All are Democrats.