California voters can register to vote as \u201cNo Party Preference.\u201d But in the 2026 race for governor, Democrats seem to have registered as \u201cNo Candidate Preference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom did not cultivate a successor. And for months, there was no favorite among the many Democrats vying to replace him.<\/p>\n
Even now, it\u2019s not clear who the Democrats\u2019 frontrunner is. It could be Xaivier Becerra, whom the consultants and the media plucked from the bottom of the pile. It could be Tom Steyer, who has spent \u2014 or perhaps wasted \u2014 $200 million to buy attention.<\/p>\n
Most of the candidates were notable only for their flaws.<\/p>\n
Candidate Xavier Becerra attends a debate in the race for governor of California. REUTERS<\/p>\n
Katie Porter: Too angry.<\/p>\n
Eric Swalwell: Too creepy.<\/p>\n
Matt Mahan: Too tardy.<\/p>\n
None showed any charisma, or introduced any new ideas.<\/p>\n
Worse, all of them support policies that voters hate \u2014 even in deep-blue California.<\/p>\n
To a one, the Democrat candidates want to keep allowing biological males to compete in high school girls\u2019 sports. And they want to keep funding the failed high-speed rail project.<\/p>\n
Tom Steyer speaks during a California gubernatorial debate hosted by CBS Bay Area and the San Francisco Examiner. Godofredo A. V\u00e1squez\/Pool AP via AP<\/p>\n
No wonder Democrats are less than enthusiastic about voting in California\u2019s primaries. The early data showed they were very slow to return their mail-in ballots \u2014 while Republicans, who are supposed to be in retreat, were voting at a rapid clip.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n
Two things.<\/p>\n
One has to do with Newsom.<\/p>\n
In 2018, with Jerry Brown \u2014 a California institution \u2014 retiring, Newsom was the heir apparent. But he faced a strong primary challenge from former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (who is running again).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Villaraigosa\u2019s campaign wasn\u2019t about policies. It was an effort by the Southern California wing of the Democratic Party to assert itself.<\/p>\n
Gavin Newsom walks through the halls of the US Capitol in Washington, DC on May 20, 2026. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Angelenos were tired of being used as voting fodder by the San Francisco political elite. And Latino voters were sick of being taken for granted.<\/p>\n
Villaraigosa came up short. Newsom strolled to victory past self-funding Republican businessman John Cox. But he was a weak incumbent from the beginning of his term.<\/p>\n
The worst-kept secret in Sacramento was that despite his superficial charm, no one really liked working with him.<\/p>\n
Newsom seemed incapable of getting anything done. He operated in half-measures.<\/p>\n
He canceled the high-speed rail \u2014 sort of, then kept it going in the Central Valley. He canceled one of Jerry Brown\u2019s twin Delta water tunnels \u2014 then never built either of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The one thing he was adamant about was COVID restrictions \u2014 no school, no worship, no restaurants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he dined with his lobbyist friends at the French Laundry.<\/p>\n
For that, Newsom drew a recall challenge. And he deserved it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he survived by doing the one thing he does best: making Donald Trump, and Republicans, the enemy.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the second great force shaping this election: Trump, or rather, \u201cTrump Derangement Syndrome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donald Trump approaches reporters to speak, flanked by First Lady Melania Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom, upon arrival arrival at Los Angeles International Airport on January 24, 2025, to visit the region devastated by the Palisades and Eaton fires. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The race to replace Newsom has largely been a contest among Democrats to see who hates Trump the most.<\/p>\n
They think their party base likes that \u2014 and maybe it does \u2014 but the rage Olympics have erased any distinction among them.<\/p>\n
The clamor against Trump has also suppressed any discussion of real solutions to California\u2019s many problems.<\/p>\n
All the good ideas have come from the Republicans \u2014 especially Steve Hilton. His proposal to end state taxes for incomes under $100,000 per year was so compelling that Katie Porter simply copied it.<\/p>\n
This ought to be a change election. And for Republicans, it is. They want to change California\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n
For Democrats, it\u2019s also a change election. They want to change Trump.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s not on the ballot.<\/p>\n
Not one of the Democrats has offered a vision of California other than the status quo.<\/p>\n
No wonder their own voters are bored.<\/p>\n
Joel Pollak is the Opinion editor of the California Post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California voters can register to vote as \u201cNo Party Preference.\u201d But in the 2026 race for governor, Democrats…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,46666,9,8,1525,1751,536,457,975,25299,3707],"class_list":["post-340837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-governor-election-2026","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-democratic-party","tag-democrats","tag-donald-trump","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-opinion","tag-tom-steyer","tag-xavier-becerra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340837","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=340837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}