LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� California spiraled toward a primary election Tuesday with its two marquee races defined by uncertainty and with a pair of outsider candidates looking to crack open the state鈥檚 durable Democratic hierarchy.
In the governor’s race, former Fox News TV host and British political adviser Steve Hilton is urging Republicans to unite behind him as he fights for one of two spots in the November election alongside two Democrats, billionaire climate activist and former state attorney general .
In the Los Angeles race for mayor, reality TV personality is hoping to turn his insurgent campaign into a surprise upset of Democratic . The two are tightly clustered with Nithya Raman, a progressive city council member running to Bass’ political left.
鈥淲e can’t give up on LA,鈥� Pratt told applauding supporters at a block party Sunday. 鈥淲e’ve got to fight.鈥�
Democrats once feared that the party鈥檚 large field of gubernatorial candidates could open a path for two Republicans to advance to November. But now, in the campaign鈥檚 closing days, Hilton is warning the opposite could happen 鈥� what he called a 鈥渄oomsday scenario鈥� in which only Democrats advance.
Hilton is pleading with his chief Republican rival, county Sheriff Chad Bianco, to pull out of the contest, fearing an all-Democratic ticket would dampen GOP turnout across the state and reorder races for Congress and the Legislature.
Becerra and Steyer locking out a Republican from the November ballot would be 鈥渁 disaster for California, it means no change. It鈥檚 a disaster for everyone who鈥檚 running as a Republican up and down the ballot,鈥� Hilton said on the social platform X.
Mail voting began in early May, but just 15% of voters had returned their ballots as of Sunday. That’s left the candidates seeing room for a last-minute shake-up in the race’s closing days.
A vulnerable mayor looks for second term in LA
In heavily Democratic Los Angeles, Bass’ She points to a drop in homelessness, though encampments and rows of rusting RVs remain a common sight in many neighborhoods. Meanwhile, she’s still trying to overcome lingering fallout from the , the most destructive in Los Angeles history. Bass was in Ghana as part of a presidential delegation when the flames ignited. Pratt lost his home in the blaze and has made the fire and the city’s recovery a foundation of his campaign.
At Pratt’s block party, Vivian Escalante, a historian who lives in the heavily Hispanic Boyle Heights neighborhood adjacent to downtown, said the quality of life 鈥� dirtier streets, more homeless encampments and a lack of pride in the neighborhood she’s called home all her life.
鈥淚t’s gotten completely worse,鈥� Escalante said, with a Pratt cap perched on her head. The Democratic Party, she said, has 鈥渃ompletely abandoned us.鈥�
The LA race is officially nonpartisan, but Bass is a Democrat, as is Raman, who made a last-minute decision to challenge her one-time ally and is among the top group of contenders.
alongside his wife, Heidi Montag, on 鈥淭he Hills,鈥� is a registered Republican who has received a nod of approval 鈥� if not an outright formal endorsement 鈥� from President Donald Trump. He has sought to distance himself from national politics, saying his concerns are strictly within city limits.
A University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times, found Bass tightly clustered with Raman and Pratt, with other candidates trailing. The poll of 1,351 likely voters conducted between May 19 and May 24 gave no candidate a statistically significant edge.
The city is at a difficult juncture.
Hollywood jobs have been decamping for years for cheaper filming locations. A downtown renaissance was crushed by extended pandemic closures and many office buildings remain desperate for tenants. The city has long struggled to provide basic services, whether paving buckled streets and fixing sidewalks or keeping streetlights on.
A crowded governor’s race with no clear leader
The governor’s race has been the most wide open in a generation. More than 50 names are on the ballot.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is banned by law from seeking a third term. Other candidates seeking to replace him include former Democratic U.S. Rep. , the mayor of San Jose, and Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff.
Rebecca Katz, a strategist with Steyer鈥檚 campaign, said Sunday that they are 鈥渇eeling pretty good鈥� but emphasized how close the race was with a sporting reference, 鈥淚t鈥檚 three candidates for two spots, every possession counts.鈥�
Steyer, a former hedge fund manager turned liberal activist, hoping to advance to the November contest. Hilton, a former Fox News host who has been , has promised to bring down costs in a state with some of the nation’s highest gas prices, utility costs and taxes. Becerra has been stressing his experience in arguing he’s best prepared to lead the nation’s second most populous state, having served as the Biden administration’s health secretary, a former U.S. House member and state attorney general.
Broadly, Republicans in the race are promising drastic change after years of Democratic governance 鈥� Democrats haven’t lost a statewide race in two decades and Republicans last elected a Los Angeles mayor in 1997. Democrats, though in charge for years, are promising to bring down costs and continue to fend off the Trump administration in its numerous conflicts with Democratic California.
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Associated Press writer Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
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