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This is how California Democrats will have to campaign in November

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California Democrats are about to face something they have mostly avoided for years: a real campaign focused on their record.

The June primary produced two explosive fall matchups: Steve Hilton against Xavier Becerra for governor, and Spencer Pratt against Karen Bass for mayor of Los Angeles.

Neither race is going to be polite.

And that’s a good thing.

For years, Democrats have run California, run its largest cities, controlled the Legislature, controlled the agencies and then acted as if the results were somehow beyond their control.

That dodge gets a lot harder now.

Hilton’s big win gives him five months to prosecute the Gavin Newsom record, with Becerra standing at the defense table.

Becerra is not a fresh start. He is the continuation candidate. Newsom without the celebrity gloss. The same ideology, the same governing class and the same excuses.

If anything, Becerra may be even more conventionally liberal than Newsom, who often seems more focused on becoming president than fixing California.

That leaves Becerra carrying the luggage.

And the luggage is heavy.

High-speed rail is still a fiscal sinkhole. Homelessness spending has exploded while encampments remain. California’s cost of living is crushing working families. Gas prices are brutal. Housing is unaffordable. Insurance is harder to get and more expensive to keep. Public safety remains a major concern. Fraud and waste in public........

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