Top California Democrat flops with call for candidates to exit governor's race

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A late-hour attempt by California’s top Democratic official to thin out the party’s crowded field for governor emphatically flopped, leaving the contest virtually unchanged and Democrats vexed over the possibility of a Republican upset in November.

Outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has acknowledged fears inside the party that multiple Democratic candidates could undercut each other in the June 2 primary election, opening a pathway for a Republican to seize the top job in one of the nation’s most solidly Democratic states.

Friday is the deadline for candidates to formally enter the contest. California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks' call earlier this week for lagging candidates to exit the race was largely ignored. Just one, former state Assembly majority leader Ian Calderon, has since ended his campaign. Hicks, meanwhile, is facing allegations from Democratic candidates of bullying, elitism and racial insensitivity.

Los Angeles-based Democratic consultant Bill Carrick said Hicks was making an improbable appeal, asking candidates in a wide-open field to step aside when the party has no clear front-runner with the primary still months away.

“People don’t say, ‘You want me to drop out? OK,’ ” said Carrick, noting that candidates have been campaigning and raising money for months, if not longer.

Even for candidates who have barely registered in polling, in a muddled field they “don’t see themselves so far from being competitive,” Carrick added.

This election marks the first time since voters approved the state’s “ top two ” primary system more than a decade ago that there has been a governor’s race with no dominant candidate, luring a flood of Democrats into the contest.

That list includes current and former members of Congress — Katie Porter, Rep. Eric Swalwell and Xavier Becerra, who later served as the Biden administration’s top health official — former state controller Betty Yee, billionaire Tom Steyer; former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; state schools superintendent Tony Thurmond; and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. Calderon on Thursday endorsed Swalwell after dropping out.

The leading GOP candidates are Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton, both supporters of President Donald Trump.

Hicks, mirroring growing concerns within the party, argued that it was possible that a large Democratic field could carve up the party’s primary vote into small fractions and allow only two Republican candidates to advance to the November election. The all-GOP general election is possible under California’s unusual top-two primary system, which puts all candidates on one ballot and only the top two vote-getters advance to November, regardless of party registration.

Hicks warned that a Democratic vacancy at the top of the ticket in November could depress turnout at a time when the party is trying to regain control of the U.S. House to blunt Trump’s agenda in Washington.

Most candidates were unmoved. Thurmond, who is Black, said the party is “essentially telling every candidate of color ... to drop out.” Mahan said Thursday that there was plenty of time for candidates to make a mark, noting “people are just starting to tune in.”

Recent polling by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found the field had broken into two distinct groups, with Hilton, Porter, Bianco, Swalwell and Steyer in close competition, and the other candidates trailing behind them.

Swalwell and Porter echoed concerns about a party lockout on Thursday. But both stopped short of naming any candidates who should step aside.

“That’s a decision for individual candidates to make,” Swalwell told reporters after a candidate forum.

Porter said California can't afford to take a risk on having a governor who would empower Trump.

“There is a role for every candidate, always, in every race, to look at whether or not they have a path forward,” Porter told reporters Thursday. “I’m sure those are hard moments for them.”

Sam Rodriguez, a former political director for the state party, said a better option for Hicks would have been seeking support from party delegates for a resolution urging lower-tier candidates to stand down if they can’t show significant support in the polls.

That leverage might have made a difference. While Hicks made a solitary appeal as chair, party reforms in recent years have been pushing “to give the delegates more voice,” Rodriguez said.

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Nguyen reported from Sacramento.