Our Recommendation: Vote for One of the Three Top-Polling Democrats for California Governor
SLOCDP Editorial
We’re following the California Democratic Party’s lead on the California governor’s race this year: narrow your choices to one of the three top-polling Dem candidates on or before the June 2 primary election.
Mail ballots start going out around May 4. If history teaches us anything, it's that things can change quickly in the weeks and days before an election. So we recommend paying attention to credible polls.
Abiding California Democratic Party (CADEM) rules, the SLO County Democratic Party (like all other county parties) has not and cannot make an endorsement of any candidate for governor not endorsed by CADEM, which hasn't endorsed anyone.
But we can make a recommendation on how to get a Democrat placed among the top two “jungle primary” finalists based on CADEM’s survey data.
The state party commissioned a poll from March 12-17 of some 2,000 likely voters in California’s June 2 primary. Pollsters surveyed voters of all parties by phone, text and email. The survey showed the current top three Democrats in the race were, as of two weeks ago:
Tom Steyer, 10%,
Eric Swalwell, 10%
Katie Porter, 10%
The closest bottom-tier candidates came in at 3%. As the CADEM survey results show, the trendlines are pretty clear, in that the bottom-tier candidates face extreme difficulties breaking into the top tier.
Other polls show slightly different results, but they’re consistent in differentiating the top three Democrats from the rest of the pack. Again, we encourage you to keep track of credible polls such as PPIC, Berkeley IGS, and other non-candidate-sponsored polls as the June 2 election draws closer, and mail ballots begin going out around May 4.
Jungle Primary
You may already know what our “jungle primary” is and how it works. If not, it's pretty straightforward:
The top two vote-getters to emerge from California’s June 2 primary election, regardless of party, move on to face each other in the November general election.
Given the approximately 20% voter registration edge Democrats hold over Republicans in California, chances are good we’ll elect a Dem governor, so long as one Dem candidate – or even two – place in the top two on June 2.
Like you, the SLOCDP is concerned about the small but not insignificant chance that two far-right Republicans could place in the top two slots. This is due to eight Democrats vying for that seat, potentially diluting the Dem vote so much that both maga candidates slip into the top two slots with a small minority of the overall vote.
By following the recommendation of the California Democratic Party to vote for one of the three top-polling Democrats come election time, we can significantly reduce that risk.
Town Halls
The SLOCDP hosted a Town Hall on April 3 in SLO to hear from candidate Katie Porter. We made it clear to the Porter campaign that CADEM bylaws require such town halls be open to other candidates, and the Porter campaign agreed.
While the town hall in SLO was open to other candidates, none requested to participate. The SLOCDP did not invite the Porter campaign to do a town hall, but we did respond to its request to host one in the interest of informing local Democrats about this vitally important contest.
We’ll do the same for the other two top-tier candidates if they ask. In fact, the SLOCDP would be delighted to sponsor them with equal enthusiasm.
After all, how often do major governor candidates come through SLO County wanting to do events like this? Not very.
In sum, hosting such town halls does not indicate the SLOCDP’s support, recommendation, approval or endorsement of any candidate for governor not endorsed by CADEM. It does indicate our support of democracy, voter engagement and voter turnout.