Who am I endorsing for California Governor...
The answer probably won't surprise you at all, tbh.
I wanna start by saying no one is paying me for this post. Iāve commented on a few posts from Xavier Becerraās team, in regards to the Indivisible California mess, and Iāve been invited to an event from Tom Steyerās team that explicitly says attending is not an endorsement, though I donāt think Iām attending anyway. Thatās the extent of my connection with any of the top Dem candidate campaigns.
This endorsement is solely based on my own opinion, and no one is paying me for it.
First of all, Iām sure your asking why? Why would I endorse now, after EVERYTHING Iāve said? There are still 3 weeks till the election and I said Iād wait till two weeks.
The polls are incredibly inconclusive. One of them will have Becerra at 18 and Steyer at 12, the next will have Steyer at 15 and Becerra at 8. What Iām gathering is they are the top two Dems and relatively even, if we coalesces around both of them, we should be fine.
And I donāt see Steyer supporters switching to Becerra or Becerra supporters switching to Steyer. At this point, itās about world view, and people are pretty locked in.
So, the endorsementā¦.
Actually no, I want you to read this whole post, so Iām gonna start with who Iām NOT endorsing:
Tony Thurmond is one of my faves. I really enjoyed meeting him at a Dem club picnic last year. I tried to interview him, but they made me jump through hoops and in the end never gave me the interview. He canāt win.
Heās a no.
I live in LA, I vaguely remember when Antonio Villaraigosa was mayor, but I DO remember being thrilled when he wasnāt anymore. Heās the oldest candidate at 73, and he has no chance of winning either.
Heās a no.
Matt Mahan is paid for by Peter Thiel and Rick Caruso. Heās taking credit for the work previous mayors have done in San Jose and acting like he has enough experience to be governor of the 4th largest GDP in the world when he hasnāt even finished a single term as mayor.
Heās a no.
I do like some of the things Katie Porter has said. I really appreciated what she said about social media during the CBS debate. She seems to be the only candidate that thinks the value of social media for a teen changes person to person.
I also really liked how she carried herself during that debate. It was a shit show, and it was in large part due to the moderators. The fact that she said that everyone else was acting like they were her teens at the dinner table made sense.
But, she did the same thing last night at the CNN debate. And it strikes me as someone who has a one size fits all reaction to frustrating situations. I donāt want her to treat Utah Governor Spencer Cox the same way she treats Donald Trump.
Governor Cox is a Republican, but heās pragmatic in a way Trump really really isnāt and heās willing to talk with Democrats, no matter how progressive their ideas are. He shouldnāt be talked to like a kindergartner whereas, sometimes, maybe Trump should.
Thatās not the only reason Iām not supporting Porter, there are many others, including that she doesnāt have a chance, but thatās the one Iām thinking about after yesterday.
Porter is a no.
I was in a candidate meeting with several other progressive content creators and Tom Steyer and Matt Mahan a few weeks ago set up by a creator network Iām part of. Youāve seen exactly what I heard from Mahan, because, heās very much, what you see is what you get.
Steyerās different, and that concerns me. During and after this meeting, I was SO impressed with him. He really does know his stuff and had an answer for everything. But not in a āIām better than youā way, in a āIāve spent a long time navigating around this issue myselfā way.
He was pragmatic and nuanced and really seemed to understand where his powers as governor would stop.
One of my favorite examples was what he said about healthcare. He said he supports the single payer framework, and that around the world, it costs half of what Californians pay for healthcare.
BUT, he said, moving to a single payer system requires support and accommodation from the federal government, so this canāt even begin to happen for at least 3 years.
Bet you didnāt see that coming, especially after last nightās debate.
Cause when I hear him talk to everyday Californians who donāt have the privilege of a small Q&A, thatās not what heās saying at all. AND both he and Porter are accusing Becerra of not supporting single payer when he refuses to give a yes or no answer cause itās more complicated than that.
But Steyer thinks itās more complicated too, he just wonāt say it publicly.
And thatās where he lost me.
Well, that and being chummy with the Republican candidates after the April 22 Nexstar debate, before the cameras cut. I mean, hugging Chad Bianco? Really?
Let me be clear. I donāt think Steyer is MAGA. I do think he believes healthcare is a human right and immigrants, both documented and undocumented are important to the fabric of California and heās been sponsoring California environmental propositions since 2010. He walks his talk, but he can keep doing that without being in the governors mansion.
Heās a no.
I am endorsing Xavier Becerra.
Becerra is pragmatic. He has years of experience at all levels of government from California State Assembly to State AG to US Health and Human Services Secretary. His work speaks for itself.
We know he will go toe to toe with Trump cause he did it before when he was AG. We know he will create a plan to bring healthcare costs down, because he did it before as HHS Sec.
He was the chair of the House Democratic Caucus in Congress and the highest ranking Latino member at the time. He was a member of the Progressive Caucus and voted as such. He was one of only 67 members of congress to oppose the Defense of Marriage Act in the 90s and when he was being considered for HHS secretary, Indiana Senator Mike Braun called him āRing leader of the far leftās resistance movement.ā
Thatās good enough for me.
So I hope youāll join me in supporting Xavier Becerra. And if not, please vote for Steyer so we donāt split the vote, cause HOLY SHIT the Republican candidates are an abomination, and regardless of which Democrat you want to vote for, I hope we can all agree on that.




Love your comparison, which highlights how each and every candidate is qualified and without actually showing how they fall short, you showed how Becerra is better.. I donāt live in CA, but if I did, I would be sold on this.
That said I wish both Republican candidates lose the jungle primary somehow not just one!!!!