California Democrats are uniting against Trump, with differing views on the state’s future

SAN FRANCISCO – While united against a common political enemy in the White House, the California Democratic Party remains divided over how to deal with the state’s unaffordability crisis and who is best suited to lead the country in this tumultuous era of President Trump.

That fracture manifested itself during the party’s annual convention in California’s liberal heartland, San Francisco, where a slate of Democrats ran for Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed very different views on the government.

Former Orange County congresswoman Katie Porter and wealthy financier Tom Steyer were among the leading left-leaning candidates, with Porter vowing to legislate free childcare and tuition-free college and Steyer supporting a proposed new tax on billionaires. Both candidates also support universal health care.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a new candidate to enter the race, is looking toward the middle ground, chastising Sacramento leaders for allowing the state budget to balloon without tangible improvements in housing affordability, homelessness and public schools.

Representative Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin), an outspoken critic and frequent target of the Trump administration, came out of the meeting with a big boost after receiving the majority of approval votes from the California Democratic Party, with 24% of delegates supporting him.

“The next governor has two jobs: one, to keep Donald Trump and ICE off our streets and out of our lives, and two, to lower your costs on health care, on housing, on utilities,” Swalwell said. “The people of California need a fighter and a protector, and in the last 10 years, I’ve pissed off the worst president ever.”

Still, none of the top Democratic gubernatorial contenders have received the 60 percent vote needed to clinch a victory, showing how close the race is with months to go before June begins.

Betty Yee, former state administrator and party vice chair, came in second in the approval vote with 17%; former US Health and Human Services Sec. Xavier Becerra had 14%; and Steyer had 13%. The remaining candidates had a single-digit level of support among the more than 2,300 delegates who cast affirmative votes.

Despite worries and infighting over the governor’s race, many in the party agreed that the most effective way to fight Trump is to regain control of the House in the midterm elections in November.

“We’re going to win the House. There’s no question we’re going to win the House,” said former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) at a Young Dems event Friday evening. “We will defend the election, we will win the election, and we will tell people the difference we will make.”

Thousands of delegates, party supporters and guests attended the California Democratic Party’s weekend convention at the Moscone Center on South Market. This meeting included insults to Pelosi as she is holding her last term.

Party leaders rallied behind one of the Democrats running to replace Pelosi, Scott Wiener, a liberal state senator who claims to be the first openly gay man to represent San Francisco in Congress.

The summit comes as party members and leaders continue to do some soul-searching after Trump’s re-election. California remains a hotbed of opposition to the president, but its next governor will also have to deal with a rising cost of living problem in a state where utility costs continue to rise and the median single-family home price is more than double what it is nationally.

Under increasing pressure, the governorship aspirants continued to attack the party’s rally. Candidates insulted each other – though rarely by name – for being too rich, for watching important things or voting in the past. in support of ICE and the border wall funding.

Although he is favored more by the often left-leaning delegates than by the average California Democratic voter, Mahan has quickly turned the race around. raising millions from technology industry leaders and target moderate voters with a message of returning the state to “basics.”

“We are at risk of losing the trust of the people of California if we are not accountable for bringing better results in public education, housing, public safety,” said Mahan. “We’re not getting the results we need for the dollars we’re spending.”

Mahan has raised more than $7.3 million since entering the race in late January, according to the Campaign for Major Donations Disclosure. Many of the contributors are tied to the tech industry, such as Y Combinator, Doordash, Amazon and Thumbtack. Billionaire Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso has also contributed heavily to Mahan’s campaign.

Tech entrepreneur Dennis Bress, of Newport Beach, wears a pin supporting Planned Parenthood and a Yes to Proposition 50 shirt at the California Democratic Party convention at the Moscone Center on Friday in San Francisco.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Other candidates have expressed concern about the infusion of money, particularly Steyer, who has already dropped more than $37 million in his fundraising campaign and casts himself as a “billionaire to take on billionaires.”

“Here’s the thing about big donors: If you take their money, you have to answer their calls,” Steyer said during his opening remarks.

Delegates and party leaders said California’s next governor will have to continue to lead an anti-Trump state while dealing with issues at home.

“I think people want a fighter,” said Rep. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who represents Porter’s former congressional district and endorsed him in the governor’s race. “They want someone who will stand up to Donald Trump but also fight to help ordinary people who feel like they get so much money in today’s America.”

Several of these students indicated that they could do both.

During his speech, Porter held up a whiteboard — his signature piece when entertaining CEOs and Trump administration officials while serving in Congress — with “F— Trump” written on it.

“I will stand up to Trump and his friends like I did in Congress,” he said. “But this gubernatorial election is about more than defeating Trump.”

Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, called on Democrats to “send a democratic message by rejecting billionaires and corporate candidates for support.” He also presented a long list of “real affordability measures” including free childcare, free public university tuition, and single-payer health care, though he did not specify how he would pay for them.

The fight against Trump is “low,” said Gregory Hutchins, 29, a labor researcher from Riverside. “We need to go higher than lower – what can you do for the people of California? We all realize this is a beautiful and wonderful state, but it’s very difficult to afford to live here.”

Even some delegates – usually members of the more politically oriented party – have not made up their minds about the leadership race. About 9% chose not to support someone at the meeting.

“You’re looking for that perfect candidate. You’re looking for that person, yes, that person,” said Sean Frame, a school staff organizer from Sacramento who is running for state Senate. “And I don’t feel like there’s anyone I’m going to run for that’s worth all that.”

For all the focus on affordability, there has been growing frustration from loyal Democratic allies over the lack of tangible results in a state where the median home price is more than $823,000. The president of SEIU California, David Huerta, said that workers “have long been putting our energy into elected leadership”.

“I think we need to be the ones who set the agenda and hold them accountable to that agenda,” Huerta said. “And they need to lead from the side of working people.”

It’s an ongoing battle with Democrats at the state and local levels to get fair pay, said Mary Grace Barrios, who left her insurance career to care for her disabled older daughter.

Barrios makes $19 an hour as an in-home caregiver for clients in Los Angeles County. When Newsom signed legislation to raise wages for most health care workers to $25 an hour by 2030, home care workers like Barrios were not included.

“It is very important that we are given the respect and salary we need to live because we cannot live with that money,” he added, adding that it sounds like “an endless attack by people from our group who supported us, who forget us.”

“As citizens, you get what you vote for, right? So we have to do it. We have to make a change.”