‘I Can’t Believe This Is the Field' — California Dems Reel Over Mediocre Governor Candidates
The California governor's race is facing criticism for its lackluster Democratic candidates. Polls show former Biden Secretary Xavier Becerra leading narrowly, but many view him as a weak contender. The overall sentiment among Democrats is one of disarray and disappointment with the current field of candidates.
- ▪The California governor's race has been described as an 'unholy mess' by New York Magazine.
- ▪Xavier Becerra is currently leading in polls but is perceived as a mediocre candidate.
- ▪Tom Steyer has spent $193 million of his own money on his campaign, yet still trails behind Becerra.
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| Original publisher | PJ Media |
| Canonical URL | https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2026/05/20/california-democrats-are-asking-is-this-the-best-we-can-come-up-with-in-the-race-for-governor-n4953058 |
| Publication time | Wed, 20 May 2026 10:39:00 -0400 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-20T14:45:02.609Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-20T14:52:48.114Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
‘I Can’t Believe This Is the Field' — California Dems Reel Over Mediocre Governor Candidates Rick Moran | 10:39 AM on May 20, 2026 AP Photo/Susan Walsh New York Magazine calls the California governor's race "an unholy mess." National political columnist Rueben Navarette says the race is "cursed," explaining, "there is a weird vibe surrounding the contest" that features such a weak, colorless field of Democrats. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display("div-gpt-300x250_3"); //googletag.pubads().refresh([gptAdSlot["div-gpt-300x250_3"]]) }); "The California curse starts with candidates who give new meaning to the term “mediocre," writes Navarette.The most recent Democratic poll, commissioned by the state Democratic Party and conducted by the firm Evitarus, shows…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at PJ Media.