{"id":345018,"date":"2026-06-03T17:03:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T17:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/345018\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T17:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T17:03:07","slug":"takeaways-from-the-california-gubernatorial-primary-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/345018\/","title":{"rendered":"Takeaways from the California gubernatorial primary election"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After all the buildup<\/a>, fear and uncertainty<\/a>, the most wide-open and unpredictable<\/a> California gubernatorial primary in decades appears to have ended in the most consistent and predictable of ways.<\/p>\n

California has never elected a female governor<\/a>. That won\u2019t change in November.<\/p>\n

Voters have never much cared for rich people trying to buy the state\u2019s highest elected office. They still don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The California electorate has typically favored experience over youth, and favored bland and boring over razzle and dazzle<\/a>. It continues to do so.<\/p>\n

And for all the speculation about one political party or the other being shut out<\/a> in Tuesday\u2019s primary, the November runoff may very well turn out to be a thoroughly conventional Democrat vs. Republican matchup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are five takeaways from a gubernatorial contest that was sedentary and sleepy until, suddenly, it wasn\u2019t<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Flashback!<\/p>\n

Three months ago, Xavier Becerra seemed so irrelevant he \u2014 along with a clutch of other weak-polling candidates \u2014 was conspicuously excluded from a scheduled debate at USC<\/a>. Today, the Democrat has seemingly punched his ticket to November.<\/p>\n

The obvious parallel is with another massive underdog, Gray Davis, who also came from far behind to win the last time a gubernatorial primary held this level of uncertainty and suspense. That was back in 1998<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Like Davis, Becerra has a political persona<\/a> that could be marketed as a sleep aid. No one will ever mistake either of them for, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/a>. But Becerra\u2019s even-keeled demeanor seemed the perfect prescription following the overnight implosion of Eric Swalwell\u2019s scandal-scarred campaign<\/a> while presenting a welcome contrast with the endless Sturm und Drang emanating from Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Despite California\u2019s star-struck reputation (perpetuated mainly by outsiders), the state has elected far more governors like Davis and Becerra than Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan. In fact, other than Schwarzenegger, who prevailed in an unprecedented recall campaign, every candidate following Reagan has successfully run for statewide office at least once before being chosen governor.<\/p>\n

Becerra was elected attorney general before heading to Washington to join the Biden administration; his candidacy offered worn-out voters a safe harbor amid the Trumpian tempest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cha-ching!<\/p>\n

There are things money can\u2019t buy which, Tom $teyer \u2014 er, Steyer \u2014 is just the latest to discover.<\/p>\n

The hedge fund billionaire turned Democratic activist sank more than $215 million \u2014 a record <\/a>\u2014 into his gubernatorial bid, after spending nearly $350 million in a failed 2020 try for president<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With roughly 60% of the vote counted, he was running an unimpressive third and hoping a lopsided surge of still-to-be-counted ballots will push him into the top two.<\/p>\n

Half a billion dollars, which makes for a pretty pricey, \u201cMeh.\u201d<\/p>\n

California has a long record<\/a> of rejecting money-bag candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate \u2014 a pattern stretching back more than half a century. Given that hostile history, Steyer would enter the runoff as a distinct underdog, notwithstanding the many added millions he is poised to spend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese filthy rich people who don\u2019t have to deal with the kind of financial struggles that people have in connection with their daliy lives just don\u2019t feel relatable,\u201d said Garry South, who ran Davis\u2019 successful 1998 campaign<\/a> against the free-spending Steyer of his day, former airline executive Al Checchi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Given the relentlessly negative campaign Steyer has waged, besieged voters could count on many more ugly months of brutality on the airwaves, on computer screens and in their mailboxes.<\/p>\n

The only happy ones would be TV station managers and political consultants cashing Steyer\u2019s super-sized checks. <\/p>\n

A self-fulfilling prophecy<\/p>\n

It was never likely. But the mere prospect of Democrats being shut out of the November runoff was enough to guarantee such a scenario would not happen in this reliably blue state<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With a large pack of Democrats running <\/a>and just two serious Republican contenders, Democratic partisans feared their fractured vote would let the GOP nab both spots in Tuesday\u2019s top-two primary. <\/p>\n

Much of the freak-out was fed by polls supposedly showing Republicans Steve Hilton<\/a> and Chad Bianco<\/a> atop the field. But no candidate ever had much more than a paltry 20% support; for all the heavy breathing, the race was always pretty much a multi-candidate tie.<\/p>\n

Fearing the worst, however, voters who normally couldn\u2019t tell a \u201cjungle primary\u201d from a jungle gym began thinking a lot like gimlet-eyed political strategists<\/a>. Democrats, in particular, held onto their ballots much longer than usual, waiting to see which candidate appeared strongest at the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision matrix on this was not just the political insiders, but all the normies who heard there might be two Republicans,\u201d said Paul Mitchell, a Sacramento political data expert who developed a popular online tool handicapping various election scenarios. \u201cThey\u2019re talking to friends and families. It was kind of crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, the race among Democrats became less a contest than a self-fulfilling prophecy. Becerra was seen as the candidate with the best chance<\/a> of advancing to November, so many voters flocked his way \u2014 ensuring he would advance to November.<\/p>\n

Now he waits to see whether his opponent will be Hilton or Steyer.<\/p>\n

Sacramento still a boy\u2019s club<\/p>\n

More than 30 states have elected female governors. A few have done so multiple times. But come January, California \u2014 which perceives itself as oh-so-cutting edge on oh-so-many things \u2014 will install the 41st in the state\u2019s unbroken line of male governors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Things might have been different had Kamala Harris jumped into the contest<\/a>. The former vice president, U.S senator and California attorney general<\/a> would have been a prohibitive favorite to end that gendered streak. When she opted not to run, there were still a handful of female contenders. But Toni Atkins<\/a> and Betty Yee<\/a> eventually fell by the wayside, leaving just Katie Porter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The former Orange County congresswoman and whiteboard wizard<\/a> was making her second try for statewide office after a failed 2024 bid for U.S. Senate<\/a>. Given her wide name recognition and national fundraising base, Porter started as one of the front-runners for governor<\/a>. But a needlessly combustible TV interview<\/a> and a leaked video <\/a>that showed her profanely snapping at one of her aides played into persistent questions about Porter\u2019s temper and temperament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfair? Perhaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s expectations that are put on a woman\u201d that are different from those male candidates face, said Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at USC. Toughness in a man can be seen as abrasive or off-putting in a women. Acting with authority can come across \u2014 at least to some observers \u2014 as overbearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cA woman\u2019s version of a leader still has to be at least somewhat feminine,\u201d Romero said. \u201cThat\u2019s what our society expects. So you have to be tough, but do it with a smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly, there\u2019s a double standard<\/a>. There\u2019s also apparently a different standard for the office of governor. California, after all, became the first state in history<\/a> to send two women to serve at the same time in the U.S. Senate and is home to the first female House speaker, San Francisco\u2019s Nancy Pelosi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But in Sacramento, within the governor\u2019s suite, California\u2019s highest glass ceiling remains firmly intact.<\/p>\n

Youth won\u2019t be served<\/p>\n

Last fall, over a plate of enchiladas<\/a> in downtown San Jos\u00e9, Mayor Matt Mahan emphatically ruled out a run for governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a wonderful marriage,\u201d Mahan said at the time. \u201cI have two wonderful kids. I loved working in the private sector. I\u2019ve got a lot of great friends … I genuinely want to make our city better, and I love the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

He should have stuck to those words.<\/p>\n

Instead, Mahan and his wealthy Silicon Valley backers<\/a> talked themselves into a rushed and premature campaign that was never remotely competitive. Investors might have thought they were getting in on the ground floor of the next Amazon. Instead, Mahan\u2019s candidacy was more like Pets.com, a famous e-commerce flop <\/a>that came to embody the heedless froth of the dot.com bubble.<\/p>\n

But it would be equally premature to write Mahan off.<\/p>\n

Decades ago, another youthful big-city mayor ran an ill-considered campaign for governor, finishing a distant fourth and failing to muster even double-digit support. That, however, didn\u2019t hurt Pete Wilson\u2019s political career. Four years later, he was elected to the U.S. Senate<\/a> en route to two terms as California governor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At 43, Mahan has plenty of highway ahead and a good deal of political potential. His time may yet come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After all the buildup, fear and uncertainty, the most wide-open and unpredictable California gubernatorial primary in decades appears…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,13540,1751,943,13867,8844,11538,11053,346,225,38107,6888,1522,1557,3707],"class_list":["post-345018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-candidate","tag-democrats","tag-governor","tag-gray-davis","tag-last-time","tag-mahan","tag-november","tag-office","tag-state","tag-steyer","tag-u-s-senate","tag-voter","tag-woman","tag-xavier-becerra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345018","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=345018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}