California governor’s race: Xavier Becerra sees boost after Eric Swalwell’s exit

LOS ANGELES () — It’s been 10 days since Eric Swalwell suspended his campaign for California governor.

“This race has gotten even more confusing and less clear,” said Dan Schnur, a political communications lecturer at USC and UC Berkeley.

We’re starting to see who Swalwell’s supporters are flocking to.

“There was a lot of speculation that Swalwell’s support originally would flow to the other frontrunners in the race: Tom Steyer and Katie Porter,” Schnur said. “But Steyer and Porter, for very different reasons, are flawed candidates.

“They’re also, by far, the two most progressive candidates in the race. And so it appeared that Democratic candidates might shop among the rest of the field, and they appear to be landing on Xavier Becerra. We’re seeing increased attendance at his events, increased social media traffic. Some bumps in the polling, and most notably, a number of endorsements from California state legislators.”

Fourteen Assembly Democrats have joined Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas in endorsing Becerra, who has raised more than $1 million in the last week.

Besides Becerra, recent polling also shows Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco in the top tier, along with Democrat Katie Porter. Porter has also brought in $1 million since Swalwell left the race.

Democrat Tom Steyer rounds out the top tier. He’s put in more than $115 million of his own money into his campaign.

“This race will come down to those who have earned it versus those who are trying to buy it,” Becerra said.

At an event in Fresno on Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom wouldn’t say who he’s supporting ahead of the June 2 primary.

“I’m supporting a Democrat in the runoff, and I look forward to the voters making that decision very shortly,” Newsom said. “There are a lot of outstanding candidates with extraordinary records.”

Schnur said it’s still anyone’s race.

“We have six weeks to go until the primary,” he said. “This Becerra boomlet has taken place over the last six days. While it’s certainly working to his benefit, nothing is decided at this point.

“It’s more likely than not that this race goes all the way down to the wire to see which Democrat makes it into the general election runoff.”

Big name California Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff had endorsed Swalwell. It’s unclear if they plan to endorse someone else before the primary, but the Democrats left in the race are all vying for their support.