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.

Polls released earlier this week showed some separation of three candidates – Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton – from the others, and the trio were on the receiving end of most of the barbs at the May 14 debate. 

The debate comes at a pivotal moment in the top-two primary campaign – as mail ballots are returned and new polls show the number of undecided voters are dwindling with less than three weeks until the official June 2 Election Day.

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.

The first major poll since last Wednesday’s Inside California Politics governor’s debate released today showed the April 22 debate had little impact on the public’s assessment of the top candidates.

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.

Scorecards for the two Republican and four Democratic candidates each showed a few strikes, some hits, but no home runs.

The Emerson College poll released last week, based on April 14-15 interviews, showed the biggest boost for Xavier Becerra, in contrast to the Mahan-sponsored poll released this week, based on April 8-12 interviews.

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.

Democrat Tom Steyer, a billionaire running for California governor, and his wife, Kat Taylor, reported a total annual income of $39 million, topping the list.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan confirms reports he is considering joining the California governor's race. The June primary is just over four months away.

The federal grand jury indictment accuses Williamson and four other co-conspirators of illegally spending $225,000, falsely claiming more than $1.7 million in fraudulent business expenses on her taxes, buying a $15,000 Chanel bag, chartering a jet and a spending nearly $170,000 birthday trip to Mexico.

Calls friendship with Christopher Schumb “a fatal conflict that cannot be ignored” and impediment to fair trial.

A look at top contenders to be California's top cop—and chief enforcer of consumer protection, internet privacy and criminal investigations.