SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The end of California’s chaotic primary season for governor and Los Angeles mayor was approaching as leading candidates rushed to deliver their closing arguments days before voting concludes on Tuesday.
Former U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra has called for “hot competence summer” in his bid for governor, promoting his decades of public service as evidence he has what it takes to lead the nation’s most populous state.
Republican Steve Hilton pledged an end to a “bloated, nanny-state bureaucracy” during remarks outside the state Capitol on Wednesday.
Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer told reporters this week in Berkeley, California, that he has made it his life’s work to advance progressive causes, a mission he’ll bring to Sacramento.
They are seeking to stand out in a field of roughly 60 names on a single gubernatorial ballot, regardless of party, under California’s top-two primary system. The two candidates who receive the most votes Tuesday will face off in the general election to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who can’t seek a third term.
The crowded race includes Democrats Becerra, Steyer, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, and Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose. Hilton, a former Fox News host backed by President Donald Trump, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco are the most prominent Republicans in the race.
As of Friday afternoon, 13% of voters had cast their ballots. That included 13% of Democrats and 18% of Republicans, according to a tracker by Democratic strategist Paul Mitchell. The breakdown is unusual because Democrats in recent years have tended to vote early while many Republicans wait until Election Day.
Some Democrats have been waiting to cast their ballots to see if a candidate breaks away from the pack in the final days, or because they are unimpressed with the crowded field.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass is vying for reelection against critics who question her leadership of the nation’s second-largest city, and had several stops planned Saturday to try and pull ahead of her competitors.
Those include Spencer Pratt, a registered Republican who gained a name on the reality TV show “The Hills,” and Nithya Raman, a progressive city councilmember. The race is officially nonpartisan.
Candidates for governor make their final pitch
The contenders have been traveling across the state that includes roughly 23 million registered voters as they seek an edge over rivals. Becerra, Hilton, Steyer and Bianco will all be in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend. Fresno and Los Angeles have also been popular campaign stops.
Becerra has been highlighting the more than 35 years he’s spent in state and federal office.
“This is not a place for on-the-job training,” he said on a podcast hosted by political commentator Ana Navarro. “You better know what you’re doing.”
He’ll hit a text-banking event with Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta in San Francisco and rally with the Service Employees International Union in San Jose.
Hilton has been selling himself as someone who would bring a fresh set of eyes to state government, reduce regulations, and bring down housing and energy costs. In a social media video posted Saturday night, Hilton warned Republican votes to unite behind him or risk a “doomsday scenario” of losing a spot in the general election. He urged Bianco to suspend his campaign in the race’s final days.
“If we don’t get together as a party, if we don’t unite, then we could have Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra in the general election and that is a disaster for California — it means no change,” Hilton said.
He’s pushed a message he has said is not ideological but commonsense, with a focus on cutting prices. Hilton held a town hall Silicon Valley on Saturday night. Hilton has been cautious not to emphasize Trump’s endorsement. If he advances to the November election, he will need to appeal to voters outside his party to win in the Democrat-dominated state that hasn’t had a Republican governor since 2011.
Steyer is a billionaire who, on X Saturday, said he’s the “only candidate who would support the billionaire tax in November.” The candidate has framed the race as a contest between three candidates: himself, Hilton and Becerra. Steyer has described Hilton as “a hard-right Republican who’s endorsed by Donald Trump.”
Steyer on Saturday focused several social media posts on Becerra, repeating an argument he recently told a crowd of supporters at a sports bar in Berkeley. Becerra, “to my surprise, is a corporate Democrat,” he said, referencing Becerra’s acceptance of campaign contributions from Chevron.
“And the third person’s me,” he said. “And I am running because Californians can’t afford to live here anymore.”
Steyer’s headed to a campaign rally Saturday in San Francisco to put a finer point on his message to voters.
Mahan, meanwhile, mingled with voters in Los Angeles, Porter motivated campaign volunteers in Orange County, and Bianco will laid out his vision at a church in San Jose. He didn’t immediately respond to Hilton’s social media plea for him to exit the race.
“Knock loud, be proud,” Porter urged her supporters as they set out to encourage voters to turn in their ballots.
Los Angeles’ mayoral candidates jostle to get the final words in
Bass is pursuing her second term after a tumultuous first, which included devastating wildfires and a rebuilding process that critics say is too slow.
The mayor has focused her reelection on the progress that has been made, such a decrease in street homelessness, which she leaned into on a livestream on Instagram Saturday before going after her opponent, Pratt.
“You have a failed reality TV star who wants to be famous,” she told two actresses on the livestream, before seemingly referencing President Donald Trump. “We know what it means if you put somebody who is a reality TV star in a seat of power.”
Pratt, who loss of his home in the wildfires became central to his campaign against Bass, is running a buzzy, social media driven campaign with populist messaging with promises to rid the city of disorder and dysfunction. On Saturday on X, Pratt threw out a few attacks at Raman, the city councilwoman, who both Pratt and Bass have, in different ways, tried to paint as too progressive.
Raman’s campaign is partly focused on affordability and infrastructure. Both Raman and Pratt have attacked Bass for her response to the wildfires, though their recent posts have been directed at each other.
In a video posted to Instagram Saturday, Raman cited a recent poll. “After millions of dollars of spending against us, we are still here and we are still competitive,” she said, before asking people to vote ahead of Tuesday.
A November runoff appears likely because there are more than a dozen names on the ballot.
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Associated Press journalist Terry Chea in Berkeley, California, contributed to this report.
