CA governor's race gets weirder with debate cancellation
CalMatters • • nation
Key Points:
- A California gubernatorial debate at USC was canceled due to allegations of racial bias, as all invited candidates were white while several excluded Democrats were Latino, Black, or Asian.
- USC selected debaters based on polling and fundraising metrics, leading to criticism from Democratic leaders who called the process biased and "bad optics" for the party.
- Despite initial defense of the selection method, USC canceled the debate after failing to reach an agreement to expand the candidate list, aiming to avoid distractions from voter issues.
- Some invited candidates criticized the selection process but did not withdraw, while excluded candidates and others suggested undue influence from a wealthy donor, which was denied by USC and the donor.
- A party-sponsored poll showed two Republicans leading the primary despite California's Democratic lean, raising concerns that vote splitting among Democrats could allow a Republican win in November.
.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26height%3D630%26fit%3Dcrop%26enable%3Dupscale%26auto%3Dwebp?format=webp&w=120&h=80)
