After months of anxiety, California’s Democratic leaders are now bracing for their gubernatorial majority, potentially allowing two MAGA Republicans to advance to the general election.
Someone got me the smallest violin in the world.
The latest upheaval created by a party that has held office in the state Legislature and the governor’s mansion for the past 15 years, yet has done nothing to improve the lives of its members while blaming President Trump for everything.
What does it say about them that no candidate of the Democratic Alliance color is considered the favorite for the position of Gov. Gavin Newsom, when whites are only one-third of the population of California? That a group that purports to champion the poor working against Trump’s oligarchic regime doesn’t tell a billionaire like Tom Steyer — who spent $341 million of his own money on an unsuccessful 2020 campaign — to bow out and throw his support and moolah behind someone else, just because he’s voting in the top five?
California voters have made the state’s Republican Party as eligible as the Angels in baseball — but under a Democratic administration, life continues to be difficult for too many. The saddest thing is how the state’s Democratic Party has done nothing to help Latinos become household names who can win.
Three Latinos have distinguished degrees — former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond – they are running for governor, but they are as likely to advance to the general election as Alfred E. Neuman.
Latinos are the majority of California’s population and the base of the Democratic Party. But there is a good chance that after November, no Latino will hold statewide elected office for the first time since 2014.
Yes, Alex Padilla is our senior US senator. But enough California Latino voters are disillusioned with the Democratic platform for Trump to make big gains among them in 2024, and Latino GOP legislative candidates are storming Sacramento like never before.
So I apologize for my schadenfreude when I heard earlier this week that California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks wanted minority voters out of the governor’s race, saying in an open letter that their continued presence would endanger democracy.
The candidates are definitely picky – except for Hicks. We all should. He could have made his move long ago, as the top Democratic leader in the state. Instead, waiting until just before the candidate’s filing deadline is more novice than a Little League game.
Worse, his movements are coming back el dedazothe process of governing under Mexico’s Partido Revolucionario Institucional, which translates as “fingertip,” because that was not a democratic way.
“El dedazo It’s not right for California,” Becerra told me, referring not to Hicks but to other Democrats who have suggested he and others withdraw. “And I suspect very few voters in California think it’s a diverse choice. [for governor] it’s not a good thing.”
Candidate Xavier Becerra chats in the hallway during the California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco last month.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Since this column Publication, not only has no Democratic candidate resigned, but most are officially filing papers to jump in the middle. Thurmond even posted a video on social media explaining that Hicks’ request is racist because almost all of the potential destroyers are people of color, while the top three Democratic hopefuls – Rep. Eric Swalwell, Steyer and Prep. Katie Porter – white.
“To me, this action does not represent the Democratic Party of 2026,” Thurmond said. “Shouldn’t we be a party that accepts democracy?”
Hicks’ move and the scandalous results remind me of Will Rogers’ famous words that Democrats are members of a non-organized political party – even if I understand why Hicks and other Dems are so alarmed.
No Democrat stands out in the field, which is why party leaders and activists are trying in vain to recruit big names like Padilla and former Vice President Kamala Harris. The runners are good enough. But politically, they are carbon copies. As a group, they are as inspiring as printing paper.
The ensuing free-for-all allowed Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco to move into the top two of three spots in the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll with Porter, Swalwell and Steyer close behind.
No other candidate received more than 5% of the vote, but collectively, some added up to 30%. Factor in 10% of undecided voters, and that’s an important factor for potential voters. If only two Democrats drop out, that will likely stop both Hilton and Bianco from advancing.
The Republican governor of California in the Trump era can be shy, intimidating and own politics without precedent. It could make a major political earthquake in California where conservatives attack misinformation, such as Prop. 13, Prop. 187 and remembering Gray Davis, seemed as innocent as a bouncy house.
But telling candidates to kill their campaigns to make it easier for the supposedly better-off is the kind of worst choice Democratic leaders have forced on parties for far too long.
They need to be woken up. Getting them to sweat about the gubernatorial primary is a start. That’s why I’m glad Hicks’ petition isn’t going anywhere. If people want to scatter their votes, it’s not just their choice – it’s a democracy.
When I asked Becerra whether he or his fellow Dems should accept responsibility if a Republican becomes California’s next governor, he dismissed the question.
“That’s more than a guess – it’s not going to happen,” he said, predicting that undecided voters would “show up” soon to resolve the issue. He also joked that “there are too many.” dedazos in the air.”
Villaraigosa’s response was more critical: “It would be a collective responsibility that as a party, we failed to convince the voters.”
Watch out, Rusty – here come your Dems!
