LOS ANGELES — Six leading candidates for California governor will meet in a televised debate Wednesday — all of them eager for a breakout moment in a chaotic race with no clear leader.
With mail ballots scheduled to go to voters early next month in advance of the June 2 primary election, candidates are running short on time to break into contention. Under California election rules, only the top two vote-getters advance to the November election, regardless of party. Democrats have been fretting for months that a crowded field could result in two Republicans making it to November, a result that would be a historic calamity for Democrats in a famously left-leaning state.