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NICK'S PERSPECTIVE - California is more than a mythic state with megacities, snow-capped mountains, and sun-bleached valleys. It is more than the world’s fifth-largest economy. It is democracy’s living workshop which gives birth to national movements. It sets standards for the whole country to follow.
Over the last few years, it has become the main legal and political force challenging the Trump Administration, especially on issues like immigration, how the federal government treats the state, and concerns about unfair or punitive policies. Indeed, California has a clear right to do so, according to law, which allows individual states to experiment with novel social and economic policies without risking the entire nation.
But it is not certain that this California image will survive after the June Primary and November’s gubernatorial election. A perfect storm has been created due to the unusually polarized candidates and a "Top Two" primary system. California uses a nonpartisan primary where the top two vote-getters—regardless of party—advance to the general election.
The California gubernatorial primary on June 2, 2026, features 61 candidates, but only eight are receiving significant attention. Notably, Democrats Antonio Villaraigosa and Tony Thurmond were excluded from a recent debate due to low poll numbers.
What the outcome will be will come from the state’s registered voters, which are as follows: 45.27% Democratic Party; 25.22% Republican Party; 22.34% No Party Preference (NPP); a small single digit percent for Other Parties.
The state’s Democratic leadership is in panic. Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco are consistently in the top tier, benefiting from a more unified GOP electorate. But recently, Democrat Xavier Becerra is rising fast, boosted by the collapse of Eric Swalwell’s campaign after he was accused of sexual assault in news reports on April 10. He then resigned from Congress.
Becerra is now viewed as the most "governing-ready" candidate, earning broad support and being presented as a stabilizing force. His background has positive advantages and includes serving as Attorney General and as the 25th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Candidate Tom Steyer, billionaire former hedge‑fund manager turned climate activist is a highly ranking Democrat but has now come under fire because his former hedge fund invested nearly $90 million in CoreCivic, a private‑prison company that operates ICE detention facilities. He publicly called the investment a mistake. However, opponents point to the contradiction between his past investments and current stated positions, such as ending mass incarceration and reforming immigration enforcement.
Candidate Matt Mahan, the current Mayor of San José, has a political profile rooted in Silicon Valley business networks. The recent USC debate fiasco resulted when it became known that the participation criteria was written to specifically favor well-funded Mahan’s late‑entering, while some higher‑polling candidates of color did not. Silicon Valley billionaires and California elites support him.
Candidate Katie Porter, former member of Congress from Orange County, did not shine, as expected in the debate. She was easily drawn into a previous controversy regarding her treatment of staff. She responded by emphasizing that she had apologized for these issues years ago and shifted the discussion to focus on broader themes of accountability. But these exchanges overshadowed critical policy discussions.
So, in the hunt for votes is a boatload of potential captains who want to navigate California’s ship. But, really, what does this mean for California?
My experience tells me that over the next few weeks instead of sound bites being intense, and penetrating, aimed at voters worried about housing, homelessness, gas prices, insurance, and living costs, they will deviate from the core issues and become embroiled in a Republican-Democrat debate. The top Republican candidates will drive the downward direction with a relentless barrage of “the Democrats are at fault for everything.”
The apparent top Republican duo in the race will make things more erratic, one being the President’s choice articulating MAGA philosophy, and the other, a grassroots Sherrif being a boots-on-the ground Trump ally.
Steve Hilton, endorsed by Trump, mirrors much of the MAGA movement and has recently debuted campaign merchandise featuring Trump’s name. With him, California will reflect Trump’s governance methodology. He is a British American political commentator, former political advisor, and Fox News contributor, known for his advocacy of "positive populism." He has also said the governor’s race “has nothing to do with Trump,” an obvious deliberate distancing strategy for California voters.
Chad Bianco, snubbed by Trump who endorsed Hilton, has nevertheless been a vocal supporter of the President’s policies. He has publicly expressed willingness to assist the administration with mass deportations. Also, he has called environmental activists “terrorists” and disputed climate change’s role in wildfires, according to The Los Angeles Times. He is at the center of a legal controversy after seizing 650,000 ballots from last year’s special election as part of an alleged criminal investigation, prompting criticism from lawmakers and the Attorney General.
Further, when racism and diversity were discussed in the recent debate, candidates were asked about California Highway Patrol officers reportedly administering English proficiency tests for truck drivers, Bianco said that officers who do so have good reason. “Let’s stop with this whole racism thing and racial profiling and all of this is garbage,” he said. “We have to get over this. You either violated the law, or you didn’t.”
None of the candidates scored neither committed a serious gaffe. However, we did not hear real solutions to the housing shortage and its attendant homelessness, (other than the Pavlovian answer "expedite the permit process") water supplies, utility costs, and nothing about the moribund, scandal plagued, paradigm of waste, fraud and abuse Newsom`s pet project, the High-Speed Rail.
I hope in the next debates we will learn how the candidates plan to deal with the chronic budget deficits threatening programs far and wide, their leadership skills to assist rebuilds with federal assistance, their programs to keep our economy running in light of the fleeing of Hollywood, who is the candidate to lean on the legislature bent on keeping the status quo. Importantly, who is capable and independent to take control back from interests which govern for their own purposes first, not California first.
Trump is an issue, but not the issue, as we have tools to help close some of the holes he is creating and can find solutions for the others. What we lack more than anything is leadership so badly needed in Sacramento since Governor Newsom started to pursue his presidential ambitions.
Let us see what the next debate will yield on Tuesday, 5:30pm on April 28, at Pomona College, aired by CBS stations, with Villaraigosa and Thurmond added to the known sextet.
(Nick Patsaouras is an electrical engineer, civic leader, and a longtime public advocate. He ran for Mayor in 1993 with a focus on rebuilding L.A. through transportation after the 1992 civil unrest. He has served on major public boards, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Metro, and the Board of Zoning Appeals, helping guide infrastructure and planning policy in Los Angeles. He is the author of the book "The Making of Modern Los Angeles.")
