Becerra, Steyer battle for momentum at California governor’s debate

Top candidates for governor in California are battling to break through with less than a week before voters are set to receive ballots, as Democrats strive to capitalize on former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) dramatic exit from the crowded field. 

Former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D), who surged in the polls and racked up endorsements after Swalwell left the race, was center stage in a feisty debate with seven other rivals on Tuesday, including Trump-backed Republican Steve Hilton and billionaire Tom Steyer, the top Democrat in recent polls. But despite the night’s high-energy squabbling, no contender scored a massive breakout moment as the June 2 primary inches closer.

The stakes are high for Democrats to coalesce around a front-runner after Swalwell dropped his bid amid sexual misconduct allegations earlier this month. While more than a half-dozen serious Democratic contenders split their party’s support, polling continues to show Hilton leading the Golden State’s crowded nonpartisan primary, from which the top two vote-getters will advance, regardless of party. 

“Ballots go out next week. The election is barely a month away. Even if you happen to have a breakout moment in a debate like this, it doesn’t, it doesn’t push you up the ranks sufficiently to be competitive,” said Democratic strategist Garry South, a veteran of multiple California gubernatorial campaigns, of the scrum of candidates stuck in single digits in recent polls. 

“It’s going to be either Steyer or Becerra in the runoff,” South forecast. 

Becerra, who himself had been in the lower tier of polls in recent months, found a lane after Swalwell dropped his gubernatorial bid over sexual misconduct allegations, which the now-resigned congressman denies.

In polling from Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics, Becerra surged 7 points before another debate that took place last week, tying with former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) while trailing Steyer and the two top Republicans. 

Now, it’s Becerra and Steyer jostling for momentum in Swalwell’s wake. 

Steyer was the leading Democrat in a CBS News/YouGov poll released ahead of the debate on Monday, at 15 percent support........

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