Another Democrat has dropped out of the race for California governor, this time with no hint of drama.
Betty Yee, the former state controller, announced on Monday that she was suspending her campaign to lead the nation’s most populous state.
Following the implosion of Eric Swalwell’s campaign 10 days ago amid accusations of sexual assault, Ms. Yee pitched herself as a scandal-free choice. She called herself “Boring Betty” in social media posts that highlighted her deep experience in California state government, including two terms as the state’s chief fiscal officer.
But Ms. Yee has lagged at the bottom of most polls since she entered the race in 2024 and has struggled to raise money. Her message had not broken through in a state with several expensive media markets.
Ms. Yee, 68, has longstanding ties to the California Democratic Party and saw a glimmer of hope when she came in second place in the party’s endorsement vote in February.
But she never broke through in public polls, and she was among several candidates who faced pressure from the state party leader to withdraw so that Democrats could consolidate behind someone with a better shot at winning.
In California’s nonpartisan primary, all candidates run on the same ballot, and the two who get the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of their party. With an enormous gubernatorial field that included eight prominent Democrats and two well-known Republicans, polls suggested that two Republicans could actually take the top two spots because the minority party had far fewer candidates to split its votes.
Such a scenario would block Democrats from the general election and hand the governor’s office of the nation’s largest blue state to a Republican.
To prevent that scenario, Rusty Hicks, chairman of the California Democratic Party, has been encouraging Democrats to drop out if their campaigns were not viable. The departure of Mr. Swalwell and Ms. Yee leaves six prominent Democrats in the race, and could reduce the probability of Republicans sweeping the June 2 primary.
But the race remains fluid and unpredictable. Tom Steyer, a billionaire former hedge fund manager, received an endorsement on Monday from Our Revolution, the group that Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, founded to elect progressive leaders and fight what it calls “the billionaire class.”
Katie Porter, a former Democratic congresswoman from Orange County, was endorsed Monday by Representative Robert Garcia, a California Democrat and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She already had support from Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts.
Xavier Becerra, the former attorney general of California who was President Joseph R. Biden’s health secretary, has enjoyed a surge of momentum since Mr. Swalwell dropped out of the race. Mr. Becerra, who was once among the candidates under pressure to withdraw, saw his poll numbers jump last week and had an unexpectedly large turnout at a campaign event Saturday in Los Angeles.
Committees backing Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, Calif., have received millions of dollars in support from Silicon Valley executives this month. Supporters believe that Mr. Mahan, a moderate Democrat, has an opportunity to win over former backers of Mr. Swalwell and other voters who are undecided, though he has faced criticism that he is too aligned with billionaires in the state.
Republicans have two prominent candidates in the race, and at least one of them is expected to have enough support to reach the general election. Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, received the endorsement of President Trump this month, while Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County has competed well enough in polls to regularly participate in gubernatorial debates.
Laurel Rosenhall is a Sacramento-based reporter covering California politics and government for The Times.
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