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California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra speaks at an event while campaigning on May 26, 2026, in San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n
Benjamin Fanjoy<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Two of the top Democrats running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom traded legal threats over the weekend, days before polls close in an unusually unpredictable primary.<\/p>\n
Democrat Xavier Becerra\u2019s lawyer threatened to sue rival Tom Steyer in a letter Saturday if the campaign didn\u2019t cease airing a \u201cfalse and defamatory\u201d ad that links Becerra<\/a>, a former state attorney general who served in former President Joe Biden\u2019s cabinet, to a corruption case that\u2019s ensnared his former chief of staff and advisor.<\/p>\n On Sunday, an attorney for Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist, responded with a letter of his own and said the threatened lawsuit would \u201cmake our day\u201d and refused to take down the ad.<\/p>\n Several recent polls<\/a> show Becerra at the top of the field, with Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton not far behind. Only two candidates will advance from the June 2 primary to compete in the November general election.<\/p>\n The ad in question centers on a scheme<\/a> involving Dana Williamson, Becerra\u2019s former advisor, and Sean McCluskie, Becerra\u2019s former chief of staff. The pair pleaded guilty to charges that included siphoning $225,000 from Becerra\u2019s dormant campaign account to pad McCluskie\u2019s salary.<\/p>\n \u201cBecerra could be indicted next,\u201d the voiceover in the ad said, warning that such a move would hand the governor\u2019s mansion to Republican Steve Hilton.<\/p>\n Federal prosecutors have said Becerra was a victim in the case, a point reiterated by his attorney, Nicholas Sanders, in their letter Saturday. Sanders pointed to a statement by a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this month that \u201cno candidate running for governor has been implicated in any charging document.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn other words, even Trump\u2019s Department of Justice knows better than to spread the lie that Secretary Becerra committed a crime,\u201d Sanders said in the letter. He demanded the ads be taken down by noon on Sunday and warned that if Steyer\u2019s campaign failed to do so, he would \u201cprepare a lawsuit to stop the lies.\u201d<\/p>\n Steyer\u2019s counsel, Ryan Hughes, said in a letter Sunday that he would welcome the opportunity to depose Williamson, McCluskie and Becerra to learn exactly what Becerra knew about the scheme.<\/p>\n \u201cWe very much welcome further public deliberation over Mr. Becerra\u2019s involvement in the criminal convictions of two of his closest aides, and the degree to which he is at risk of facing federal indictment,\u201d Hughes wrote.<\/p>\n Becerra\u2019s spokesperson, Jonathan Underland, said in a statement Sunday that \u201cvoters have a word for what [Steyer\u2019s] doing: it\u2019s lying.\u201d<\/p>\n Both men have been barnstorming the state ahead of Tuesday\u2019s primary. There\u2019s a slim but not impossible chance their tit-for-tat will spill into the general election; an Emerson poll released Saturday<\/a> showed Becerra and Steyer as the top two candidates, a scenario in which Republicans would be locked out of the race entirely.<\/p>\n This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 2:58 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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