Tonight’s CNN California gubernatorial debate gives the top seven candidates their best and perhaps last opportunity to win over undecided voters.
CNN called its 6pm event at East Los Angeles College “the biggest debate yet” and predicted that “we’re liable to start seeing some more desperation and an impetus for many candidates to mix it up.”
The candidates on stage tonight are likely to face questions on affordability, energy costs, housing, immigration and homelessness.
Ballots are in the mail to nearly 23 million registered voters and the most recent statewide poll shows that 27 percent of the electorate are still undecided, with less than a month left to campaign.
The nationally televised two-hour debate at CNN studios in Burbank will be moderated by two of the network’s leading next-generation anchors, Kaitlan Collins and Elex Michaelson, who will ask questions of Democrats Xavier Becerra, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer and Antonio Villaraigosa and Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco.
The top two vote-getters when primary ballots are counted June 2 will advance to the November general election, regardless of party affiliation.
Becerra leads in momentum
The most recent statewide poll, the first to measure opinions after the April 28 debate, was released Monday.
It showed Becerra with the most momentum in the wake of the departure of former Democrat candidate Eric Swalwell: Becerra’s support grew from 4% to 15% in one month in the California Voter Index Tracking Survey sponsored by the state Democratic Party. He now leads all of his party rivals and holds the number two polling position, behind Hilton, at 17%.
Mahan showed the next biggest growth in the tracking poll, doubling his 3% numbers to 6% in the numbers released Monday.
The other candidates – Hilton (17%), Bianco (14%), Steyer (10%), Porter (6%) and Villaraigosa (2%) – showed little or no gain from their totals in the Democrats’ April 5 tracking poll.
Becerra’s surge also showed in the other polls since Swalwell dropped out, topping all candidates in three of the four April statewide polls.
Becerra and Mahan also are leading their rivals in recent fundraising. The Becerra campaign reported that since the last April 23 reports to the California Secretary of State, it has raised $458,803, compared to the $422,191 reported by Mahan in the same period. The Porter campaign reported raising $141,250 since April 23.
Filings in the past two weeks also show continued support for Becerra from laborers’ unions and their independent committees: $210,000 in direct contributions, and nearly $2.2 million in PAC spending for the Becerra candidacy.
In addition to the direct contributions to the Mahan campaign, Mahan’s primary independent committee, California Back to the Basics, reported spending more than $16.5 million for the campaign of the San Jose mayor.
All expenses by all gubernatorial candidates are dwarfed by Steyer’s spending of his personal fortune on his campaign, which now exceeds $130 million.
CNN said invitations to participate in tonight’s debate were based on several criteria, including raising or contributing at least $1 million to their campaign and demonstrating at least 3% support in qualifying polls.
