Overview
- In an open letter Tuesday, party chair Rusty Hicks urged Democrats without a viable path to forgo filing by Friday for the June 2 primary and to be ready to suspend and endorse by April 15 if they show no progress.
- He argued consolidation is needed to avoid a top-two lockout that could depress turnout and threaten Democrats’ effort to retake the U.S. House under the new map.
- With nine Democrats dividing support and two Republicans consolidating the right, recent polling places Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco among the top contenders alongside Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell and Tom Steyer.
- The party failed to endorse at last week’s convention, unions have pushed for winnowing the field, and a new simulation on Tuesday estimated the lockout risk at about 15 percent.
- Equity concerns surfaced inside the party, with Xavier Becerra warning that calls to exit appear to target candidates of color.