California’s unthinkable 2026: A two-Republican race? Don’t bet your kidney | Opinion
The California Democratic Party’s state convention kicked off Friday in San Francisco, and the hot topic on everyone’s mind is the party’s expected non-endorsement of any candidate in the governor’s race to replace Gavin Newsom.
Party Chair Rusty Hicks was peppered with questions during a press conference Friday afternoon about whether he thought delegates were disappointed in the wide open field, which currently includes San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, billionaire investor Tom Steyer and Bay Area Congressman Eric Swalwell, among many others.
Candidates need 60% of delegates to gain an endorsement at the convention.
There is also a small, but improbable, chance that in such a crowded field of Democrats, none will gain a required majority during the primary to move on to the general election. And with two Republican candidates currently leading early polls, California voters could wind up sending those “top two” to the general election — leaving Democrats kicking the dirt.
Perish the thought, Hicks insisted.
“I think the field will naturally winnow itself…as we move closer to the primary,” Hicks said. “I’m certainly not opening up the playbook today, but we’re ready to do what’s required to make sure we have a strong Democrat in the field come November.”
Hicks said the party and delegates alike have a “collective commitment” to ensuring that a Republican is not elected governor of California. But that doesn’t mean the party is planning on getting involved — at least not this weekend.
“Politicians do what politicians do, they run for office,” Hicks said. “Telling them to step aside is easy in theory and hard in practice.”
Each of the candidates will get to lay out their case tomorrow when they get four minutes to make a speech in front of the thousands of delegates from across the state assembled this weekend at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. In order to get an endorsement, they would need more than 3,500 of those delegates to swing their way.
Gov. Newsom himself won’t attend the convention, a party spokesperson confirmed. It’s yet another sign that the outgoing governor is becoming less interested and less involved in state politics, even though his office website said there are no confirmed public, out-of-state travel plans for him this weekend.
That’s too bad; the party is riding high on the passage of Proposition 50 last November, and a Newsom appearance would give the weekend another boost. (It might also serve to remind Newsom who exactly put him in high office in the first place.)
But the delegates I spoke with — hundreds already milling about the convention halls, candidate booths and early caucus meetings before the big speeches start tomorrow — said they’re not worried at all about the party’s likely lack of endorsement for governor.
As one pointed out, it actually happened just eight years ago in 2016, when none of the four Democrats running for governor got enough delegates to win an endorsement, and former State Controller John Chiang publicly declared victory for blocking Newsom’s path to an endorsement.
Others were totally sure it wouldn’t matter at all.
“I’ll bet my kidney a Democrat’s going to win in November,” said San Jose delegate Pierluigi Oliverio.
“And,” said Oliverio’s friend and fellow delegate, Michael Colbruno, “I’ll bet his other kidney.”
