The field of prominent Democrats running to be the next governor of California just shrank once more, one week after the unceremonious exit of former Congressman Eric Swalwell amid sexual assault allegations.
Former state Controller Betty Yee, who has consistently polled in the single digits and well behind several other candidates, announced Monday that she is ending her campaign.
As the New York Times notes, Yee, who at age 68 has spent decades in the trenches of California politics, tried a last-ditch effort last week to cast herself as "Boring Betty" in comparison with the scandal that blew up around former frontrunner Swalwell. But she had failed to gain traction with voters or raise money despite announcing her candidacy nearly two years ago.
Pressure has been mounting from Democratic Party leaders for the lowest-polling candidates in the crowded race to bow out gracefully as the June 2 primary nears. Rusty Hicks, chairman of the California Democratic Party, declared in early March that he would be spending party funds on weekly polling through the month of April to further put pressure on those who stand little chance of coming out in the top two in the primary — particularly in light of consistently strong polling numbers for the two main Republican candidates Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco.
As of last week, following the abrupt departure of Swalwell from the race, new polling found Tom Steyer and former Congresswoman Katie Porter gaining some percentage points, along with former health secretary and Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
Sacramento-based political data expert Paul Mitchell now says that based on his modeling, a scenario in which the two Republicans are the two highest vote-getters in June is increasingly unlikely. And now a much more likely outcome will be a Democrat-vs-Republican ballot in November in which the Democrat will be a shoe-in. But who that Democrat is remains a question — as billionaire Tom Steyer spends much of his personal wealth on a TV, radio, and online ad blitz.
As the Associated Press reported today, Steyer has spent or committed $115 million so far in the race, which is about five times more than his nearest rival — thus if you've watched any live TV in recent weeks, you've almost certainly caught one of his ads.
Still remaining in the governor's race and still polling in single digits are San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, and former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Top image: Betty Yee attends the LA Equality Awards hosted by Equality California at J.W. Marriot at L.A. Live on September 29, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
