The University of Southern California canceled a debate in the state’s governor’s race less than 24 hours before it was supposed to take place Tuesday after facing backlash over including only white candidates.
Concerns about the selection criteria “have created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters,” the university said in a statement provided Tuesday. U.S.C. and KABC, the Los Angeles television station that was to broadcast the debate, could not reach an agreement on how to allow more candidates, the university said.
The debate had become a flashpoint in the sprawling race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is barred by term limits from running again. Eight Democrats and two Republicans have been the most prominent contenders in a large field running in the June 2 primary.
The debate was scheduled to include six candidates — two Republicans and three Democrats who were polling at the top, as well as another Democrat, Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose. Mr. Mahan’s polling has been weak, but he has raised millions of dollars from Silicon Valley executives since he entered the race in late January.
The inclusion of Mr. Mahan — who, like the other five participants, is white — led to blowback from the prominent candidates of color who were left out.
“We are a minority-majority state, and the idea that the four candidates of color are not going to be on the stage to bring those perspectives, to really speak to those communities, is really not doing right by the voters,” Betty Yee, a former state controller who is running for governor, said last week.
The four high-profile candidates not invited to the debate are experienced officials with longstanding relationships with California’s Democratic establishment, but they have consistently been polling in the single digits throughout the race.
They include Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.; Antonio Villaraigosa, a former Los Angeles mayor; Tony Thurmond, the California state schools chief; and Ms. Yee. Mr. Becerra and Mr. Villaraigosa are Latino, Mr. Thurmond is Black and Ms. Yee is Asian American.
The excluded candidates held a news conference on Friday calling on the six debate participants to withdraw, and they have expressed resentment for weeks that they have felt increasing pressure from the Democratic establishment to drop out of the race as leaders try to consolidate the field.
Like the four candidates excluded from the debate, Mr. Mahan is polling in the single digits, but he has support from elite Silicon Valley donors.
On Sunday, Mr. Mahan called on debate organizers to include all of the leading candidates, saying those who were excluded have “much to contribute to a vigorous debate about the future of California.”
Hours before the debate’s cancellation, Democratic state legislative leaders had written a letter on Monday demanding that the university expand the debate to include all 10 leading candidates.
The cancellation was first reported late Monday by The Los Angeles Times.
The formula to determine debate participants was created by Christian Grose, a political science professor. He said in an interview that the formula had combined polling and fund-raising data and considered the length of time that a candidate had been in the race. He said he had based it on research showing that fund-raising intensity, considered over time and in relation to other candidates, is a central predictor of viability in a primary election.
Mr. Grose, who teaches at U.S.C. but was not involved in organizing the debate, said he had crafted the formula “without knowing who would benefit and who would not,” and then gave the scores to the organizers to decide whom to include.
Dozens of professors from across the country, in a letter they posted on Monday, defended Mr. Grose’s formula and called on the university to reject “all efforts to apply political pressure on its faculty and its overall academic mission.”
California Democrats have grown concerned that they could be shut out of the general election despite having a substantial voter registration lead over Republicans in the state.
That’s because of how the state structures its primary election. Under California’s “top two” system, candidates of all parties appear on the same primary ballot, and the two who receive the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of party.
While it’s unlikely that Democrats would be shut out of the general election, polling shows that it is still possible. The large field of prominent Democrats has splintered support from Democratic voters, leaving two Republicans at the top of many recent polls. Democratic leaders hope that lower-polling candidates withdraw from the race and that their voters coalesce around front-runners who can reach the general election.
“All candidates must honestly assess their viable path to win, and I continue to call for them to do so,” Rusty Hicks, the chairman of the state Democratic Party, said on Tuesday as he released another poll showing two Republicans in the lead, with a large bloc of undecided voters.
“Simply put, it’s the best way to ensure that we elect a Democrat as our next governor.”
After the debate’s cancellation, Tom Steyer, one of the Democrats who was invited, said that he would host a forum on Tuesday evening with any of the candidates who wanted to attend. But hours later, his spokesman said the forum was off because all of the candidates of color declined to attend. Mr. Steyer is a billionaire who has poured $96 million into his campaign, far more than any other candidate has raised.
Steve Hilton, a Republican who was supposed to participate in the debate, called the cancellation a “ridiculous fiasco” and said that he was asking the Trump administration to stop federal funding for U.S.C. “pending a full investigation into this anti-free-speech shambles.”
Criticism of the debate and the subsequent cancellation have probably done more to draw attention to the sleepy race for governor than the event itself would have, said Addisu Demissie, a Democratic strategist who ran Mr. Newsom’s campaign in 2018 and is not working with any of the current candidates.
Though he did not think the debate’s cancellation would matter much to voters, he thought it could help the lagging candidates get help from donors or party insiders.
“In the short term, it draws attention to them, which might draw money to them, which might get them on the next debate stage, which might be the moment that they need to break out,” he said.
Laurel Rosenhall is a Sacramento-based reporter covering California politics and government for The Times.
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