California weather: gorgeous. Its governor’s race: a bat from hell.
With Eric Swalwell dropping out over serious sexual assault allegations, there are seven well-known Democrats remaining, two Republicans, and fifty other people with no shots. Here’s where the race stands.
Let’s start with three different polling averages.
The first one, 270 to Win, has Steve Hilton, Fox News host and Trump’s pick in first place, followed by Tom Steyer in second, Chad Bianco in third, then Katie Porter, and everyone else fails to crack five.
If you look at Real Clear Politics, same deal. You’ve got Steve Hilton in first, Tom Steyer now in second, clearly the beneficiary of Swalwell dropping out, Chad Bianco in third, Katie Porter in fourth. And again, everyone else fails to crack five.
And finally Race to the White House, basically the exact same story. Hilton and first Steyer and second, Bianco and Porter fighting for third everyone else in a very distant fourth.
Now, you would think that Steve Hilton, because he’s Trump’s pick, would get the California Republican Party endorsement, but he has not. The party met recently, and they gave him 44% approval, while Chad Bianco, former Oath Keeper and Reno 911 understudy, got 49%. And you need 60% for the party to make an endorsement.
Now, the primary is seven weeks away, and a lot of people are asking because California has a supermajority in the state Senate and the state Assembly, what could a Republican governor actually do if they can’t veto bills?
Well, a lot — appoint judges; issue executive orders; pardon crimes; declare a state of emergency and redirect funds (possibly to Republican priorities); appoint a temporary Republican senator if there’s a US Senate vacancy from the state of California; send National Guard troops to protests or welcome their deployment from the Trump administration; and even cooperate with Ice under 287G agreements.
This is not your average governor’s race. California is the fourth largest economy in the world. It has a GDP of over $4 trillion, only trailing the United States, China, and Germany. It also has a $350 billion annual budget, which is on par with countries like Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. And it has about as many people as the country of Canada. Stay tuned for more updates from Ben Sheehan and The Contrarian.
Ben Sheehan is a political commentator and digital creator. He specializes in civics education, which is showcased in his latest book, What Does the Constitution Actually Say?: A Non-Boring Guide to How Our Democracy Is Supposed to Work. Check out his Substack, Politics Made Easy.
