Leading candidates to square off in TV debate at critical point in California governor's race

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Six leading candidates for California governor will meet in a televised debate Wednesday — all of them eager for a breakout moment in a chaotic race with no clear leader.

With mail ballots scheduled to go to voters early next month in advance of the June 2 primary election, candidates are running short on time to break into contention. Under California election rules, only the top two vote-getters advance to the November election, regardless of party. Democrats have been fretting for months that a crowded field could result in two Republicans making it to November, a result that would be a historic calamity for Democrats in a famously left-leaning state.

The debate will bring together the two leading Republicans — conservative commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — and four Democrats: former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter,billionaire Tom Steyer, former Biden administration health secretary Xavier Becerra and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

With candidates angling for an advantage in front of a television audience, it is possible the debate could devolve into 90 minutes of shouting matches, finger-pointing and verbal backstabs.

The campaign has just come through an unstable period, with U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell — one of the leading Democrats — leaving the race and Congress following sexual assault allegations that he denies. Another Democrat, former state controller Betty Yee, dropped out Monday after lagging in polls since entering the race in 2024 and then endorsed Steyer. Meanwhile, Becerra picked up the support of Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on Tuesday.

Becerra and Mahan were late additions to the debate lineup after Swalwell exited the race. Both candidates have been getting fresh attention — and endorsements — in the reordered contest.

Mahan, meanwhile, has been rolling out advertising to lift his campaign.

Democrats mostly agree on policy issues, including the need to bring down household costs and counter President Donald Trump's agenda. So they will be looking for ways to stand out on stage — either by stressing their own records or trying to sully those of competitors.

Porter, who became a social media celebrity by brandishing a whiteboard at congressional hearings while grilling CEOs, could become the state's first woman governor. Steyer, a hedge fund manager-turned-liberal activist who in 2020 ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign, is known for his involvement in climate issues. Becerra is the most experienced politician in the group, having served in the Biden administration and as a state attorney general, a congressman and a state legislator. Mahan has been arguing that he has made gains against homelessness and crime while leading Northern California's largest city.

Each of the candidates arrives on stage with vulnerabilities.

The hedge fund founder-turned-liberal activist Steyer has faced criticism for his company’s investments in fossil fuels and private prisons that today house people picked up in federal immigration raids. Porter has faced questions about her temperament after a snippet of a TV interview went viral showing her in an awkwardly tense back-and-forth with a reporter — at one point she threatened to walk out. Later a video surfaced of a 2021 interview showing her loudly berating a staffer.

Becerra could face questions about his failure to recognize that a former top staffer was plundering his dormant campaign accounts, or his leadership as health secretary during the pandemic, when the government had problems trying to clearly communicate with the public about COVID risks and countermeasures, while California instituted long lockdowns that have been faulted for disrupting education and the economy. Bianco started, then paused, a probe into election fraud allegations after pushback from the state attorney general, among others.

Look for California to be at the center of the stage, too.

Democrats have dominated government in the nation's most populous state for years. Republicans haven't won a statewide election in two decades, so Hilton and Bianco will be pounding familiar campaign themes, including faulting Sacramento's one-sided politics for the state's troubles. Those themes also include pointing out that billions in spending have done little to slow the long-running homeless crisis; the state has some of the nation's highest taxes, utility bills and gas prices; heavy government regulation is driving away jobs; and soaring home prices are out of reach for many families.

The race remains wide open.

Polling in late March and early April by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found a cluster of candidates in close competition: Democrats Steyer and Porter, Republicans Hilton and Bianco, and Swalwell. Other candidates were trailing. The polling was conducted before Swalwell withdrew.

Nexstar Media Group is hosting the debate and will air it on its local channels, as well as NewsNation, and stream online via The Hill.