Becerra's comeback shakes up California governor election

Xavier Becerra's unexpected surge reshapes California governor race

Xavier Becerra says he is the best candidate in the California governor's race because of his extensive experience as a government executive, including as California attorney general and as Health and Human Services secretary under the Biden administration.

Becerra's rivals and critics have also pointed to his leadership record, but to highlight what they say are glaring failures that should disqualify him from serving as governor.

After winning his first race for Congress in 1992, 34-year-old Xavier Becerra credited a wave of community supporters in Los Angeles, many Latino, for backing his upstart campaign, saying he hoped his win was proof that grassroots politics was more valuable than 'heavy dollars.'

More than 30 years later, Becerra, 68, is again an upstart candidate - this time for California governor. Again he is facing monied competition - including from chief Democratic rival Tom Steyer, a self-funded billionaire - and relying on Latino and other grassroots support.

'You are the people power that it takes,' he told a crowd of supporters at a recent 'Fighting for the California Dream' town hall in Los Angeles. 'California wasn't built by billionaires. It was built by your families. It was built by our families.'

That Becerra is still fighting in the race - and drawing new people to his events - reflects a remarkable and hard-to-explain turnaround for a campaign that appeared all but dead less than a month ago, then bounded back into contention after Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped from the race and resigned from Congress amid sexual assault allegations.

Before Swalwell's collapse, Becerra's biggest splash in the race came in March, when USC excluded him and other low-performing candidates from a planned debate. The criteria left every candidate of color out, and after Becerra and others complained, the forum was canceled.

A California Democratic Party tracking poll, released in early April before the Swalwell scandal broke, showed Becerra near the bottom of the field with 4% support among likely voters. In a party poll taken after it broke, Becerra's support jumped to 13% - the biggest increase of any candidate.