California Democrats failedto agree on a candidate for governor at their party conference — and it’s no wonder why: There is no clear leader in the bunch.
Instead, there are at least half a dozen candidates with big egos and big enough war chests to split the vote among them.
Eric Swalwellled the pack — with a paltry 24%. He has framed himself as the most anti-Trump of the candidates, after serving as a House impeachment manager during the second failed effort to remove the president from office.
Not to be outdone in the Trump-hating department, former congresswomanKatie Portersimply held up a whiteboard reading, “F—k Trump.” She has the backing of former mentor Elizabeth Warren, and was the frontrunner until sheblew up at a CBS reporterlast October.
But that wasn’t enough to move Porter into double digits at the convention. She was in fifth place, behind former state controller Betty Yee at 17% and former attorney general Xavier Becerra at 14% — neither of whom are doing well in polls of the voting public.
BillionaireTom Steyercame in fourth place, with 13% — a familiar result for him. He only won 11% of the vote in the Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina in 2020, finishing third and dropping out of the race.
He has money to spend on advertising, though, and hashired Zohran Mamdani’s strategists, so don’t expect him to leave anytime soon.
Schools superintendentTony Thurmondfinished sixth, in single digits, as did former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Both lost to a candidate named “No Preference.”
But they each seem to believe they have a case to make. Thurmond is the only African-American candidate in a state that has never had a black governor. And Villaraigosa, who lost to Newsom in the 2018 primary, seems to believe he is the heir apparent.
San Jose mayor Matt Mahan was not on the ballot at the convention, having joined the race too late to qualify. He has Silicon Valley money lined up behind him, but his moderate message is struggling to gain traction with the party’s base.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
