Overview
- State party chair Rusty Hicks, in a Tuesday letter, asked lower-polling Democrats not to file by the March 6 deadline and to be ready to suspend and endorse by April 15 if they cannot show progress.
- Recent PPIC and Emerson polling shows a tightly clustered field with Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco ranking alongside Democrats Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell and Tom Steyer, keeping a two‑GOP top-two outcome plausible though described as relatively low-probability.
- Several Democrats signaled they will stay in or filed anyway, including Betty Yee, Xavier Becerra, Katie Porter and Eric Swalwell, while Tony Thurmond criticized the plea as disproportionately pressuring candidates of color.
- Antonio Villaraigosa publicly urged Becerra to withdraw, citing a simulator that put the two‑Republican scenario at 27.6% if Becerra stays versus 8% if he exits; Becerra rejected the call and filed his paperwork.
- The party declined to endorse at its February convention, and Hicks tied consolidation to turnout and U.S. House pickup efforts under newly approved maps, warning that a November ballot without a Democratic gubernatorial nominee could depress Democratic participation.