Who is leading in lt. gubernatorial race?

from Nadia LathanCalMatters

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Some elective positions are stops. The lieutenant governor of California is one of them.

Voting closes Tuesday and voters choose from an unusually competitive slate of candidates for the number 2 job in the statean office few aspire to, without one key disclaimer: it’s a stepping stone on their way to another job in politics.

The lieutenant governor has little power other than to step in when the governor leaves the state. But he has been used as a slingshot to the governor’s office before by Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Gov. Gray Davis, and seeking the post is often a signal that his incumbent has higher political ambitions.

State Treasurer Fiona Ma, Newsom administration official Josh Friday and former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs are the leading Democratic candidates in the first two primaries, which will send two candidates to the November general election. Friday, who runs volunteer programs for the state, has amassed the largest treasure — nearly $4 million — and is backed by the teachers unions and the governor.

Ma, a longtime politician with deep roots in San Francisco, has the backing of powerful labor unions and has raised about $2.8 million. But her bid for the state’s second-highest office has been overshadowed 2,021 allegations of sexual harassment which Tubbs supporters have latched on to. Ma called the allegation “frivolous,” but the state paid $350,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by one of its former employees.

Tubbs was among the first to announce his 2024 campaign. Once a progressive star, he rose to political stardom 10 years ago as a young big-city mayor who piloted guaranteed income program in Stockton. Driven out by a Republican newcomer, his political career seemed to fade and he went on to lead Mayors for Guaranteed Income, an advocacy organization. It’s his first crack at public office since then, and he’s got the backing of progressive Democrats and the powerful SEIU California union.

Longtime state legislator Gloria Romero is a leading Republican. Romero spent 12 years representing East Los Angeles in the state legislature as a Democrat. She switched parties in 2024.

Higher education in the foreground

The Democratic primary candidates are struggling to differentiate themselves on policy. Because the lieutenant governor sits on all three college governing boards, each says he will work to get universities to build more housing and lower tuition costs. This includes practical solutions from directing Federal Student Aid applicants to the CalFresh food assistance program, to more far-fetched ones, such as free tuition for in-demand programs like nursing.

The lieutenant governor also sits on the commission responsible for millions of acres of public land. Friday believes identifying more undeveloped land to build student housing will help lower tuition costs.

Ma wants California universities, which rely heavily on state funding, to find other sources of revenue through partnerships with private companies.

At a candidate debate in April in Los Angeles, Tubbs said he supported the tuition freeze, but did not specify how he would make up for the lost revenue.

Romero is pushing for more transparency about faculty, salaries and housing allowances, and would push for more student representation on the UC Board of Regents.

To distinguish themselves, Democrats have leaned on their diverse backgrounds. Friday made clean energy a major part of his campaign as the former executive director of a clean energy organization founded by billionaire gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer. Ma presented the job as another bulwark against the Trump administration. Tubbs, who serves as an unpaid economic adviser to Newsom, focuses on affordability and lowering tuition for low-income families.

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