Swawell leads, but no Democrat secures party endorsement

from Jeanne KuangCalMatters

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Billionaire gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer called on the crowd to tax people like him more, while one of his rivals, Congressman Eric Swalwell, said the California governor’s most important job should be to “keep Donald Trump and ICE off our streets and out of our lives.”

Eight of the nine Democrats vying for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s seat made their pitch at the California Democratic convention on Saturday, during a marathon weekend of meet-and-greets, win-wins and dinners as they wooed thousands of Democratic delegates in San Francisco.

No candidate at this weekend’s party convention was expected to win the party’s endorsement, which requires the support of 60 percent of the 3,500 delegates. Preliminary results released Saturday night showed Swalwell leading by 24 percent, with former state inspector Betty Yee and former state attorney general Xavier Becerra a surprising second and third.

The approval vote result, which reflects the views of the state’s most active Democrats, differs from their support in many polls of likely voters, which show Yee and Becerra receiving 2 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively. That could complicate a race in which Democrats are looking to consolidate support amid an unusually wide-open field.

The convention was a chance for gubernatorial candidates to introduce themselves to unions, activists and local delegates, whose ability to rally donors and door-knockers across California makes them desirable assets for any statewide campaign. All candidates appeared before the various interest groups.

Former Orange County Congresswoman Katie Porter, rushing from meeting to meeting in a neon pink blazer, delivered a reliable line several times for laughs: As a single mother of three teenagers, “running for governor is what I do to relax.” She came over the weekend with the endorsement of Massachusetts Rep. Elizabeth Warren, her mentor and fellow consumer law professor, and gained attention with a proposal to eliminate the state income tax for households making less than $100,000.

At the environmental group’s meeting, billionaire investor Tom Steyer made his way through a crowd of fellow climate activists seeking handshakes and selfies. Steyer, who has covered the airwaves with campaign ads using $30 million of his own money so far, has sought to approach the party’s left wing.

Appearing before the labor caucus, top Bay Area candidate Eric Swawell stole the show by introducing an officer who worked at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, drawing attention to Swawell’s work leading the congressional impeachment of President Donald Trump following that riot. A legion of young volunteers wearing the Swalwell logo were at every turn in the convention centre. A few hours later, Swawell, a frequent anti-Trump figure on cable news, wooed millennials who grew up on the Disney Channel with a party featuring the early 2000s pop duo Aly & AJ.

Many Democrats found it difficult to pick a frontrunner in such an unusually wide field just two weeks before the deadline to finalize candidates for the June primary. Several Democrats have proposed a single-payer health care system. All promised to make housing more affordable and fight Trump. Becerra, marking his resume to delegates, said he was the only candidate who would not need “on-the-job training,” but even that line was identical to the one used by Yee.

Democrats worry about too many candidates

The convention underscored anxiety and frustration across the party that two Republicans could advance beyond the June 2 primary to the November ballot. Polls for months have shown that the top two Republican candidates, former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, can defeat most Democrats in the race.

Former Oakland mayoral candidate Lauren Taylor summed it up at Swawell’s party: “We know we have to narrow the field, but nobody wants to call.”

San Francisco resident Cher Evans attended a nearly three-hour forum at the Commonwealth Club where all nine candidates were introduced in succession Friday, hoping to come up with her choice for governor to recommend to all her friends.

“I’m even a little more crushed than I was before,” said Evans, a self-described progressive who is volunteering at the convention. “That still doesn’t answer the question, how do we narrow down the candidates?”

Porter made the loudest push for Democrats to take seriously the possibility of being dropped from the race in November, raising the alarm in fundraising emails and to party delegates. But like her opponents, she didn’t call for any specific candidate to drop out, hinting only at campaigns that weren’t “viable.”

Yee, Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former state Assemblyman Ian Calderon and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan failed to secure even 5 percent support in the polls.

Before the delegates voted, Porter said if he fell in the polls, he would drop out. It is fifth with 9% delegates.

“I’m at the top of the polls right now, I’m in a good position to come out of the primary and beat the Republican nominee, but if that ever changes, of course I’m going to do what’s right for California,” she said.

Prominent party figures such as Newsom and outgoing former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have not weighed in. And some of the candidates are beloved figures, giving them hope for future endorsements from key Democratic-affiliated groups.

Party chairman Rusty Hicks has so far dismissed fears of a lockout, although some attendees quietly hoped he would intervene. On Friday, he dodged questions from reporters about whether or not he would do so, suggesting that unions, other liberal groups and the opportunity to raise money would put pressure on the candidates.

“I certainly believe I have a role to play,” he said. “I’m not the person solely responsible for this.”

The billionaire debate

Money has become a complicating factor.

Steyer, who amassed his wealth through a hedge fund and has no experience in elected office, has steadily risen to prominence largely thanks to extensive television ads paid for with his own endless campaign fund. He was fourth in the approval vote with 13% of delegates.

The fact that he has emerged as an unlikely progressive contender, backed by Congressman Ro Hanna and the powerful California Nurses Union, has angered his opponents at a time when the party is grappling with its approach to extreme wealth.

“I think it’s really important to demonstrate that you have both the will and the courage to tackle big issues … but also that you have the ability to relate to ordinary people,” Porter said.

No other gubernatorial candidate besides Thurmond is endorsing him a one-time tax on billionaires’ assets that the health union is proposing for the November ballot. Steyer has repeatedly said he’s willing to pay more in taxes as a billionaire and cast himself as a “billionaire who will go after other billionaires” unbowed by corporate interests because he doesn’t need their campaign donations.

Even some of the most left-wing Democratic electorates are considering it.

Astrid Zuniga, chairwoman of the party’s labor faction and president of the United Domestic Workers, said Steyer’s wealth was not a disqualifier because “there is good money and there is bad money.”

“It may sound and look ironic, but if he’s willing to pay that tax, then why the hell isn’t another billionaire willing?” Zuniga said.

Yee, who has struggled to raise funds, said the amount of money in the race was “a test for the party of whether grassroots campaigns will still be viable.”

She highlighted her experience with opponents, particularly with the state budget, as California faces a multiyear deficit that threatens progressive priorities like broad Medi-Cal coverage.

“We will not be pushed back by the billionaire boys’ club who want to run California,” she said. “I won’t stop there.”

Yee later said the delegate vote, which gave her 17%, confirmed her refusal to drop out of the race.

“Don’t underestimate the power of ordinary people,” her spokeswoman Marcy Brightwell wrote in a statement Saturday night. “And don’t underestimate Betty Yee.”

Steyer pointed to Mahan’s campaign, funded by millions of dollars in donations from wealthy tech executives, as the one to beat.

Mahan is a sometimes moderate critic of Newsom, who has drawn attention for reducing street homelessness in San Jose with a combination of small shelters and threats to arrest homeless residents who repeatedly refuse shelter placement. It’s unclear how much support he can build with little name recognition outside the Bay Area.

But only money can make him a viable contender. At a packed wine bar a few blocks from the convention center, where his campaign is throwing a party Friday night, he said in an interview that his goal is to “meet with as many Democrats as possible” and urge them to oppose “populism on the right and the left.”

Many of San Francisco’s growing moderate bloc attended, along with local tech officials and representatives of the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, which has endorsed Mahan for mayor but has yet to endorse a gubernatorial candidate.

A man shaking Mahan’s hand identified himself as a representative of online gambling platform FanDuel. Across the bar, an artificial intelligence company employee who said he sometimes votes Republican expressed excitement that Mahan was a “centrist” candidate.

Mahan dismissed criticism that his campaign would cater to tech interests.

“It would be a bit of a shock if the biggest employers in my town didn’t support me,” he said. “I’m running to expand opportunity and upward mobility for all Californians.”

Back at Sowell’s party, delegates mingled with Senator Adam Schiff, who endorsed Sowell, and actor Sean Penn, who gave Sowell’s campaign $15,000.

Christopher Torres, a 24-year-old delegate from San Dimas, said he was unsure about the gubernatorial candidates but decided to back Swawell after hearing him prioritize fighting Trump, spurred by fears of Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdowns and the erosion of Democratic norms.

“Eric is the only one who is vocally defending California and the people of California, regardless of their immigration status, against the wrath of the federal government against us as a blue state,” he said.

Maya Miller and Juliet Williams contributed reporting.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.