Even Mark Zuckerberg wanted to move because his fortune was in danger. The proposal returned from the ballot box

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressive politicians have supported the billionaire tax, seeing it as a remedy for economic inequality and a potential model for the rest of the country.

Supporters of the wealth tax saw the proposal, which is considered an important part of global efforts to combat income inequality, as having a high chance of being accepted in California, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost two to one among registered voters.

The proposal, which was announced with great publicity in California, which would be the fourth largest economy in the world if it were a country on its own, was put to the ballot box in the state where there is a deep gap between the rich and the poor.

Democrats won sweeping victories across the country against Trump and his policies in last week's midterm elections, gaining a clear majority in both houses of Congress and inflicting a heavy defeat on Trump's Republicans.

But the rejection of the billionaire tax, one of many proposals presented to voters in the midterm elections, dealt a blow to the left wing of the Democratic Party.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose term of office is expiring and who is expected to enter the White House race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2028, announced that he would vote "no" in the vote.

Newsom argued that the bill would be counterproductive in the long run by creating a negative environment for high-tech entrepreneurs aiming to rise.

The governor's opposition and differences among party leaders caused initial support for the proposal to erode before the vote.

Opponents of the proposal argued that the tax would push the ultra-wealthy to leave the state, taking their income tax payments and job-creating businesses with them, and would also discourage entrepreneurs from establishing their new companies in California.

Labor unions were also divided on the issue of regulation.

At least 12 billionaires, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, donated a total of $269 million to the political action committee Building a Better California.

This committee allocated more than $300 million to campaigns against the law.

The ads, financed by billionaires contributing more than a quarter of a billion dollars, presented the proposal as a step that would open the door to more aggressive taxation for all Californians and a threat to retirement accounts.

"No" campaign ads, warning that future tax revenues would be lost if billionaires left the state, were broadcast non-stop on television channels in California before the vote.

It is considered that these arguments may have found a response among voters at a time when the increase in gasoline prices and concerns about financial difficulties created a pessimistic economic atmosphere in large parts of the country.