Democratic legislative leaders on Monday called on voters to boycott USC\u2019s upcoming gubernatorial debate if the university does not invite candidates who were excluded from participating.<\/p>\n
The unsparing letter adds another layer of controversy to Tuesday\u2019s forum, which as a result of the university\u2019s selection criteria would not include any of the leading candidates of color. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are writing to demand you open the March 24 gubernatorial debate to all leading candidates,\u201d said the letter sent Monday evening to USC President Beong-Soo Kim by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), Senate President Pro Tem Monique Lim\u00f3n (D-Goleta) and the leaders of the legislative Latino, Black, Asian and Pacific Islander, Native American, LGBTQ, Jewish and women\u2019s caucuses. \u201cThe outcry over this debate is deafening and includes legal demands from the excluded candidates\u2019 attorneys, public calls by elected leaders across the state, concerns from the included candidates\u2019 own campaigns, and growing alarm from California voters. Instead of responding to these valid concerns by expanding the debate, USC has doubled down.\u201d<\/p>\n
USC officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Tuesday\u2019s debate is scheduled less than two months before ballots begin arriving in voters\u2019 mailboxes.<\/p>\n
The university has been embroiled in controversy over the criteria it used to select the candidates it invited to participate in Tuesday\u2019s debate, which is co-sponsored by KABC-TV Los Angeles and Univision. <\/p>\n
Specifically, critics have pointed out the methodology allowed San Jos\u00e9 Mayor Matt Mahan \u2014 a white candidate who recently entered the race and is polling poorly \u2014 to vault above former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state Controller Betty Yee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe university\u2019s selection process \u2014 built on a formula never before used for a debate of this scale, has delivered a result that is biased,\u201d the letter says. \u201cWhen a methodology produces this outcome \u2014 one that elevates a candidate with notable ties to USC\u2019s donor community and the co-director of the Dornsife Center for the Political Future \u2014 the burden falls on USC to explain itself, not on everyone else to accept it. If USC does not do the right thing, we call on California voters to boycott this debate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Murphy, a co-director of the USC center hosting the debate, has been voluntarily advising an independent expenditure committee backing Mahan. The veteran GOP strategist previously said he had nothing to do with organizing the debate and that he has asked for unpaid leave at the university through the June 2 primary if he takes a paid role in the campaign.<\/p>\n