Democrat Tom Steyer faded and candidates Chad Bianco, Katie Porter and Matt Mahan were left in the dust in what the California Democratic Party called its final tracking poll from the California VOTER Index.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who was still polling at single digits last week, was spared most of the vitriol, but didn’t hesitate to criticize each of the other candidates at every opportunity.
His favorite debate target was Democratic frontrunner Xavier Becerra.
Primary ballots are in the mail to nearly 23 million registered California voters and the most recent statewide poll shows that 27 percent of the electorate are still undecided.
The statewide debate was more rough-and-tumble than last Wednesday’s event in San Francisco, but again, no governor candidate broke away from the scrum, and the playing field just got muddier.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan – still polling in single digits – has approximately $8.9 million on hand to spend in the gubernatorial primary campaign's home stretch, more than double any other candidate.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan didn’t get the immediate boost his campaign had hoped for in Rep. Eric Swallwell’s withdrawal as a candidate and a member of Congress, but the mayor did qualify for the stage at a critical statewide debate April 22.
Supporters of Matt Mahan see a rare opportunity in Eric Swalwell’s demise, as one independent campaign committee supporting the San Jose mayor pulled in $12 million in new and previously committed contributions from wealthy donors since Friday.
The East Bay congressman who is leading all Democratic gubernatorial candidates in some polls is accused by at least two former staffers of multiple sexual assaults, further roiling the California governor primary battle.
President Donald Trump endorsed Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator, over Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff, reducing the likelihood of a 1-2 GOP outcome in California's June 2 gubernatorial primary.
