XPost: alt.politics.elections, alt.politics.republicans, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.society.liberalism   
   From: noreply@mixmin.net   
      
   California Democrats are panicking as a crowded and uninspiring field of   
   gubernatorial candidates is raising the real possibility two Republicans   
   could advance out of the June primary.   
      
   The prospect of candidates waiting too long to drop out and creating   
   “zombie campaigns” that lead to a Republican governor for the first time   
   since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011 has created a   
   “sh—show,” one Democratic state legislator told The Post.   
      
   “I’ve never seen a big race like this before,” the legislator said.   
   “And   
   I am worried that we’re going to have two really whacko Republicans.”   
      
   As hundreds gathered this weekend for the California Democratic Party   
   convention in San Francisco, another state legislator took aim at the   
   rudderless leadership of the Democratic Party under chair Rusty Hicks,   
   who has said he has no intention of leaning on candidates to bow out.   
   Only the top two candidates — regardless of party affiliation — will   
   emerge out of what’s called a jungle primary to run in the general   
   election in November.   
      
   “You would think the party chair would be actively doing something to   
   prevent a catastrophe,”  a second state legislator told The Post.   
      
   “But I’m not hearing anything,”   
      
   The latest polling shows two Republicans — former Fox News host Steve   
   Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — leading the crowded   
   field with 17%  and 14% support, respectively.   
      
   Meanwhile, support for the top Democratic candidates is split fairly   
   evenly between Rep. Eric Swalwell (14%), former Congresswoman Katie   
   Porter (12%) and progressive billionaire Tom Steyer (9%).   
      
   The flailing group of Dem candidates desperately seeking to gain   
   traction also includes San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former Los Angeles   
   mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Superintendent of of Public   
   Instruction Tony Thurmond, former Secretary of Health Xavier Becerra and   
   former state controller Betty Yee.   
      
   Despite the rising anxiety among Democratic leaders, Hicks — a former   
   Southern California labor boss who has served as Democrats’ state party   
   chair since 2019 — said he believes the field will “naturally winnow   
   itself.”   
      
   He added, “California Democrats will do what’s required to ensure we   
   have a strong candidate coming out of the primary.”   
      
   A political consultant working on one of the Democratic campaigns for   
   governor wasn’t so sure.   
      
   “There are only two people who can lean on people to get out of the   
      
   However, Pelosi only briefly touched on electing a Democrat in a “very   
   important” governor’s race during her convention speech.   
      
   Villaraigosa, who was garnering just 3% support in a poll by Emerson   
   College, told The Post that he has no intention of bowing out of the   
   race as he attended a party Friday night at Tropisueño, a Mexican   
   restaurant and bar in the South of Market area.   
      
   “At the end of the day, everybody has a right to run,” Villaraigosa   
   said. “The notion that two Republicans can win [the primary] is   
   poppycock.”   
      
   Asked if he seriously thinks he can win, Villaraigosa deadpanned:   
   “Without question.”   
      
   Matt Dorsey, a San Francisco supervisor who is supporting Mahan’s   
   candidacy for governor, wasn’t quite so sure.   
      
   “I’m worried about two Republicans polling really well and Democrats —   
   we’re not coalescing around anybody,” Dorsey said.   
      
   “I’m glad I’m not the political consultant for anybody in this race,   
   because it’s gonna be a wild ride.”   
      
   https://nypost.com/2026/02/21/us-news/california-democratic-party-convent   
   ion-in-san-francisco/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)