{"id":206951,"date":"2026-03-06T07:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T07:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206951\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T07:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T07:04:11","slug":"top-california-democrat-flops-with-call-for-candidates-to-exit-governors-race-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206951\/","title":{"rendered":"Top California Democrat Flops With Call for Candidates to Exit Governor’s Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 A late-hour attempt by California<\/a>\u2019s top Democratic official to thin out the party\u2019s crowded field for governor emphatically flopped, leaving the contest virtually unchanged and Democrats vexed over the possibility of a Republican upset in November.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s most solidly Democratic states.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t say, \u2018You want me to drop out? OK,\u2019 \u201d said Carrick, noting that candidates have been campaigning and raising money for months, if not longer. <\/p>\n

Even for candidates who have barely registered in polling, in a muddled field they \u201cdon\u2019t see themselves so far from being competitive,\u201d Carrick added.<\/p>\n

This election marks the first time since voters approved the state\u2019s \u201c top two<\/a> \u201d primary system more than a decade ago that there has been a governor\u2019s race with no dominant candidate, luring a flood of Democrats into the contest.<\/p>\n

That list includes current and former members of Congress \u2014 Katie Porter, Rep. Eric Swalwell and Xavier Becerra, who later served as the Biden administration\u2019s top health official \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Hicks, mirroring growing concerns within the party, argued<\/a> that it was possible that a large Democratic field could carve up the party\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s agenda in Washington.<\/p>\n

Most candidates were unmoved. Thurmond, who is Black, said the party is \u201cessentially telling every candidate of color … to drop out.\u201d Mahan said Thursday that there was plenty of time for candidates to make a mark, noting \u201cpeople are just starting to tune in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThat\u2019s a decision for individual candidates to make,\u201d Swalwell told reporters after a candidate forum.<\/p>\n

Porter said California can’t afford to take a risk on having a governor who would empower Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a role for every candidate, always, in every race, to look at whether or not they have a path forward,\u201d Porter told reporters Thursday. \u201cI\u2019m sure those are hard moments for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019t show significant support in the polls.<\/p>\n

That leverage might have made a difference. While Hicks made a solitary appeal as chair, party reforms in recent years have been pushing \u201cto give the delegates more voice,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

Nguyen reported from Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The\u00a0Associated Press<\/a>. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n

Photos You Should See \u2013 Feb. 2026<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 A late-hour attempt by California\u2019s top Democratic official to thin out the party\u2019s crowded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5167,7,9,8,95492,95491,95490,989,6136,13,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-206951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-associated-press","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-california-headlines","11":"tag-california-news","12":"tag-collections-political","13":"tag-collections-top-news","14":"tag-collections-us","15":"tag-elections","16":"tag-political-news","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}