With the primary election bearing down in less than three weeks, California's gubernatorial and mayoral contests have erupted into a bare-knuckles fight. Candidates are unleashing last-minute attacks on the debate stage, through social media, and in carefully timed statements designed to exploit any opening.
The governor's race has become a sprawling free-for-all after Democratic frontrunner Eric Swalwell's campaign collapsed under sexual assault allegations, which he denies. Xavier Becerra, the former US secretary of health and human services, now leads in polling, trailed by Trump-backed conservative media figure Steve Hilton and billionaire Tom Steyer. Also in the mix are Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, former US Representative Katie Porter, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
In Los Angeles, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass holds a polling lead, but she faces an unexpectedly tough challenge from Spencer Pratt, the former MTV reality-television personality who has surged in recent weeks. Pratt, who lost his home in the Palisades fire, has pitched himself as a populist outsider raging against Bass's governance.
Pratt has weaponized his Hills-era bad-boy image, painting Los Angeles as lawless and broken while attacking Bass's record on homelessness and wildfire recovery. In one X post, he accused her of paying operatives to keep addicts addicted so nonprofit groups could profit, offering no evidence. In another video, he stood before a charred trailer on his burned property and claimed it as his residence, insinuating that Bass and rival Nithya Raman lived lavishly while he suffered.
That framing unraveled when TMZ reported Pratt had actually been staying at a five-star hotel in Bel Air. When confronted, Pratt gave contradictory answers, denying he lived at the hotel, in the trailer, or in Santa Barbara, while also stating the burned property was where he lived. He later attributed his hotel stays to security concerns.
In the governor's race, Porter took aim at Becerra over legal complications affecting a top aide. Dana Williamson, a former Becerra adviser, pleaded guilty to corruption and fraud charges after authorities said she helped divert $225,000 from an inactive campaign account. Porter suggested without evidence that Becerra himself could face legal trouble, warning Democrats against nominating someone whose legal exposure remained uncertain.
Becerra denied any wrongdoing, but the allegations gained traction. Tom Steyer weaponized the moment, saying Democrats could not afford to discover on election day they had nominated someone facing criminal charges. Steyer also pounced when Becerra became defensive during a local news interview, asking a KTLA reporter if it was a gotcha piece. Bianco followed up on X, suggesting Becerra was hiding something after years of favorable media treatment.
Steyer himself has drawn relentless fire for his billionaire status while campaigning as a champion of working people. His largely self-funded operation has spent roughly $132 million, and he frames himself as a class traitor working against his own interests. His rivals dismiss the framing entirely. Porter attacked him as a billionaire enriched by polluters and private prisons now using his wealth to dominate the airwaves. Becerra posted a video showing an idyllic green landscape with a message inviting voters to end Steyer's advertising blitz.
Hilton stumbled into controversy when he claimed to have purchased a street taco from Del Taco, the fast-food chain. Both Bianco and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa responded with videos showing themselves eating authentic soft tortillas from actual taquerias, the real thing. Bianco added a pointed jab at Hilton's British origins, saying he was eating tacos to mark Hilton's fifth anniversary as a US citizen.
Author James Rodriguez: "California campaigns have abandoned subtlety entirely, and the messier they get, the clearer the desperation becomes."
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