The California governor's race is as muddled as can be, with Democrats starting to panic.
"It's kind of a good news, bad news thing," former Sen. Barbara Boxer, who backs former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, told Politico.
"The good news is people want to serve, and they're very motivated by the issues, they think they can solve problems," Boxer added. "The bad news is there's too many" seeking the office.
There are eight notable Democrats in the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited, with none having broken out of the pack.
"Every one of these Democrats is itching and clawing to get to that sweet 20% that would guarantee them a place in the runoff," Paul Mitchell, a pollster in the state, told Politico.
The race is also spotlighted by who decided not to run: former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla both passed on runs, along with Attorney General Rob Bonta and billionaire Rick Caruso, who previously ran for mayor of Los Angeles.
The lack of a clear frontrunner led to many other candidates getting in.
"With no clear overwhelmingly powerful candidate who could clear the field, there's a whole bunch of slightly-under-top-tier candidates who look in the mirror and say, why not me? I have as much of a chance as these other people," consultant Parke Skelton said to Politico.
The frontrunners are former Rep. Katie Porter, who dealt with a slew of negative stories about her personality earlier this year, Rep. Eric Swalwell, and former presidential candidate Tom Steyer.
But none have managed to establish themselves like Newsom or former Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown and GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
California consultants told Politico they believe years of Democrat control has led to internal power jockeying and a fractured media ecosystem, and a lack of institutional powerbrokers has led to a group of candidates thinking they are one viral moment from catapulting to the top.
"Everyone's sort of an entrepreneur in their own political ambitions," Boxer said to Politico.
"You don't really have a machine where people say, 'Well, this one endorsed me, so everyone else get out,'" Boxer said.
California has a jungle primary, where the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of the primary.
"Someone with some money is going to have to try and turn this into a two-person race," Skelton said.
"There's no one who's going to really excite some kind of coherent Democratic base," he added.
The race has also fallen under the radar as Californians are consumed with a proposition to redistrict the state to boost more Democratic representation in Congress as Newsom's battles with Trump take center stage.
"You would've had a lot more focus last year, but there was a series of circumstances that shifted attention," Newsom said to reporters.
"Trump is 24 hours a day sort of redirecting attention, nationalizing our focus on politics, then you had the issues around Prop 50, which I think also took a lot of energy, and you had the questions around whether Kamala's going to get in, whether Padilla's going to get in," Newsom added.
Some California Democrats are concerned so many Democrats in the race could lead to two Republicans winning the jungle primary and advancing to the general election.
California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks released an open letter imploring lesser candidates to drop out for the good of the party, but only one Democrat dropped out.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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