California Gubernatorial Race

The University of Southern California abruptly canceled a planned gubernatorial debate it was co‑hosting with Los Angeles TV station KABC after criticism that its selection criteria produced an all‑White slate of six candidates and excluded all candidates of color. The debate, scheduled for Tuesday night, was to feature Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton and Democrats Tom Steyer, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former Rep. Katie Porter and Rep. Eric Swalwell, but former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra protested in a letter that he had been bumped for Mahan under what he called a "patently arbitrary" formula that amounted to "election rigging" and discrimination. USC said in a statement that "concerns about the selection criteria" had become a "significant distraction" and that it canceled the forum after failing to reach agreement with KABC on expanding the candidate list, while also publicly defending political scientist Christian Grose’s "data‑driven" viability formula. Several Democratic candidates urged boycotts, and Becerra celebrated the cancellation on X as a win for "fairness" and against a setup that he noted had disqualified all candidates of color while including at least one White candidate who had "NEVER polled higher" than some excluded contenders. The dispute highlights how debate‑access rules at major institutions can effectively shape who voters see in a crowded statewide race, and how racial representation and polling cutoffs are becoming flashpoints in primary‑season gatekeeping.