![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3c98ea63d6cc51b137ac50e3aa0e0aed5f-XavierBecerra-surge.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
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\n The new mover and shaker in the California governor\u2019s race.
\n Photo: Yalonda M. James\/San Francisco Chronicle\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
Like nature itself, politics abhors a vacuum. So the hole in the California Democratic gubernatorial field caused by front-runner Eric Swalwell<\/a>\u2019s sudden, scandal-driven withdrawal from the race (and resignation from Congress) created a whole new dynamic. And now, there\u2019s growing evidence that Xavier Becerra<\/a>, the former Health and Human Services secretary and California attorney general, is exploiting this situation to leap into contention in the state\u2019s nonpartisan top-two primary. Until very recently, Becerra was mired in the low to mid-single digits in the polls, one of several Democratic candidates who were the object of pleas from party leaders<\/a> to drop out of the race to avoid the disaster of a Republican \u201clockout\u201d in the general election (the top-two candidates, regardless of party, win ballot lines in November).<\/p>\n Becerra has a long r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of service in Sacramento and Washington, but he was running a poorly received gubernatorial effort punctuated by a scandal<\/a> wherein two high-level political operatives were charged with embezzlement of Becerra campaign funds, apparently taking the candidate by surprise. Pundits, Democratic activists, and voters appear to have given Becerra a second look after the Swalwell self-immolation, with a batch of recent (if not exactly gold-standard) polls showing him moving up into double digits, as the New York Times California reporter Laurel Rosenhall explains<\/a>:<\/p>\n Mr. Becerra, whose polling numbers had languished for months, has jumped into the top tier of Democratic candidates since Mr. Swalwell\u2019s campaign imploded amid accusations of sexual assault. Four polls in the last week have shown Mr. Becerra as receiving at least 10 percent support, at least twice what he previously had, putting him in contention in a sprawling field of candidates. \u2026<\/p>\n Mr. Becerra hired a new social media strategist last week, Tonya Lamont, Mr. Newsom\u2019s former digital communications director, and his online presence has since boomed. \u2026 A campaign event for Mr. Becerra in Los Angeles on Saturday drew a large crowd.\u00a0<\/p>\n The buzz for Becerra seems to be coming from two sources: center-left voters previously backing Swalwell and Latino voters underwhelmed by his principal Democratic rivals Tom Steyer and Katie Porter. Alert observers are on the watch for signs that Becerra could also be getting veiled backing from party leaders like lame-duck incumbent governor Gavin Newsom<\/a> and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi<\/a>, but at this stage, it seems to be a voter and activist-driven phenomenon.<\/p>\n The big question now is whether the Becerra surge helps or hinders the efforts of Democratic wire pullers to consolidate their party\u2019s vote, preventing Republicans Chad Bianco<\/a> and Steve Hilton<\/a> from finishing first and second. After Swalwell\u2019s exit, it seemed like Democrats\u2019 best bet was Steyer, with his bottomless reserves of money, or Porter, with her progressive-activist street cred, winning enough of the undecided vote to move into a solid lead. But so far, that hasn\u2019t happened. One of the most recent polls, conducted by Evitarus for the state\u2019s Democratic Party<\/a>, showed Becerra moving into a tie with Steyer at 13 percent of the vote, ahead of Porter with 10 percent. All of them trailed Hilton with 16 percent and Bianco with 14 percent. The poll also showed the undecided vote shrinking steadily. So the lockout specter is alive and well.<\/p>\n Two other candidates in the race are in the news as well: Former state controller Betty Yee dropped out as party leaders hoped she would, but San Jose mayor Matt Mahan<\/a> (only in mid-single digits in all the polls) began a Silicon Valley\u2013funded ad blitz<\/a> designed to create a challenge to the right of Becerra. It\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess how all these dynamics will interact. It\u2019s possible the Becerra surge will continue, ensuring he makes the general election and ending the GOP lockout threat (one recent poll, from Independent Voter News<\/a>, shows Becerra solidly in first place with 23 percent of the vote). If Mahan makes a move, though, this could alarm progressives (who mostly loathe the San Jose mayor<\/a>) into consolidating their own support behind either Steyer or Porter. Steyer, for that matter, could drown the entire field in a vast wave of spending from his hedge-fund fortune; he\u2019s already getting some labor backing<\/a> that was previously in Swalwell\u2019s column.<\/p>\n All these possibilities are enlivening a contest widely thought to be sleepy and uninspiring before the allegations against Swalwell burst into the news. Preelection maneuvering will soon end: Mail ballots will go out to every registered voter in California during the first week in May, and actual voting will begin immediately. There\u2019s just enough time for some big shift in the race, including a Republican or a Democratic lockout, or any of several Democrats facing Hilton (who won Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement). If just one Democrat can finish in the top two, they\u2019ll almost certainly win the governorship, given the state\u2019s deep-blue complexion and the likelihood of a strong November for Democrats. But at the moment, the next occupant of the most powerful governorship in the country remains impossible to predict.<\/p>\n