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California Candidates to Appear in First Major Debate After Swalwell
Candidates in California’s volatile race for governor will meet Wednesday night for the first televised debate since Eric Swalwell dropped out, each looking to seize momentum in the tight contest.
The debate, being held at the television studio of KRON4 in San Francisco, will include four Democrats and two Republicans who are tightly bunched in recent polls, with many voters still undecided less than six weeks before the June 2 primary.
Mr. Swalwell, a Democrat, had just begun to emerge as a Democratic front-runner when his campaign swiftly collapsed after he was accused of sexual assault in news reports on April 10.
Candidates have taken relatively few risks so far in debates around the state, but every candidate is now eyeing a chance to jump to the front of the pack.
“Even though we have seen some movement in the last couple of weeks, it continues to be a fairly crowded, fractured field,” said Sara Sadhwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College. “So candidates need to be able to grab attention in a debate like this.”
The debate comes as Xavier Becerra, a Democrat and former California attorney general, has enjoyed a surge of support in polls since Mr. Swalwell dropped out of the race.
Mr. Becerra and Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, did not originally meet the threshold to participate in Wednesday’s debate when Mr. Swalwell was running. But they both qualified after receiving enough support in a follow-up poll that debate organizers commissioned once Mr. Swalwell had dropped out.
The other Democrats scheduled to participate are Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, and Katie Porter, a former congresswoman, each of whom have been polling near the top of the Democratic field for several weeks. The Republicans in the debate are Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host who has been endorsed by President Trump, and Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County.
All candidates run on the same ballot in California’s nonpartisan primary, with the two who receive the most votes advancing to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. The large number of Democratic candidates has created fear among state party leaders that their voters could splinter, potentially allowing two Republicans to sweep the primary in this heavily Democratic state.
The odds of that happening have decreased since Mr. Swalwell dropped out and another Democrat, Betty Yee, withdrew on Monday. But Rusty Hicks, the chairman of the California Democratic Party, still believes there are too many Democrats in the race and has urged those lagging in polls to end their campaigns. (The actual ballot will include 61 candidates for governor, most of whom are completely unknown to voters.)
The messy race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cannot run for re-election because of term limits, has played out as the most unpredictable contest California has seen in a generation. It has attracted a sprawling field but no one with the star power of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or the political might of Mr. Newsom or former Gov. Jerry Brown.
Much of California’s Democratic establishment is still figuring out whom to back in the turbulent race.
Mr. Newsom has not endorsed anyone, saying he trusts voters to elect someone “who reflects the values and direction Californians believe in.” Representative Nancy Pelosi, the influential former House speaker from San Francisco, and Senator Alex Padilla also have not announced their favorites. Senator Adam Schiff endorsed Mr. Swalwell earlier this year but quickly withdrew his support after the accusations against him were published.
On Tuesday, Ms. Yee endorsed Mr. Steyer, praising his work to fight climate change and engage young voters. Mr. Steyer has swamped his competitors with a raft of advertising by pouring $134 million from his personal fortune into his campaign.
Also on Tuesday, Mr. Becerra, whose campaign had appeared to be flailing until Mr. Swalwell dropped out, received the endorsement of Robert Rivas, the Democratic speaker of the California State Assembly. Mr. Rivas said he had encouraged Mr. Becerra to run for governor because he was impressed by his work as California’s attorney general during President Trump’s first term.
“He understands both the policy and the politics,” Mr. Rivas said in an interview. “And he has a track record, in my opinion, of delivering results under pressure.”
The 90-minute debate on Wednesday begins at 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast and streamed by KRON and other California stations.
Argentina forward Julián Alvarez (C) celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the World Cup quarterfinal match against Switzerland in Kansas City on Saturday. Argentina has advanced to the semifinals and will play England on Wednesday.
Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images
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Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This was not the first time Argentina had come to the brink in this FIFA World Cup.
First, the defending champions needed extra time to escape Cape Verde, the Cinderella story of this tournament. Then, they needed a miraculous comeback to overcome a 0-2 deficit to Egypt in the Round of 16.
In Saturday’s quarterfinal in Kansas City, the Albiceleste stood on the edge once again, trapped in a 1-1 tie for much of the second half and extra time against a feisty Switzerland team that would not lie down — even once they were playing down a man and a loss seemed inevitable.
In the end, after 30 minutes of extra time, Argentina prevailed 3-1 to earn a spot in the World Cup semifinals. They will face England (which also needed extra time Saturday to defeat Norway) on Wednesday in Atlanta.
Of the 69,045 people who packed into the stands of Arrowhead Stadium on a hot and humid Missouri night, thousands wore the jersey of the sport’s singular star: Lionel Messi, the 39-year-old forward for Argentina.
But it was forward Julián Alvarez who saved the day for his team and his country, sending a right-footed rocket to the far upper corner of the goal in the 112th minute. Then, in the 121st minute, a cherry on top from Lautaro Martínez, who sealed the game with another strike.
Messi contributed only an early-game assist. He had scored a goal in a record nine straight World Cup games — this is his first game in 10 matches in which he did not.
Switzerland’s midfielder Remo Freuler (L) and Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister fight for the ball during the World Cup quarterfinal in Kansas City on Saturday.
Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images
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Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images
Alvarez’s goal capped an increasingly desperate effort by Argentina to keep the game from going to penalty kicks. It had taken an early 1-0 lead in the 10th minute, when midfielder Alexis Mac Allister headed a Messi corner kick into the net. (That was Messi’s 10th career World Cup assist, all of them to different players.)
Yet Argentina could not add to that lead in the first half, or the second. Instead, a clinical and determined Swiss side found enough gaps in Argentina’s defense to repeatedly threaten before, finally, forward Dan Ndoye slipped a shot under the leg of Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel to tie the match 1-1.
But soon after Switzerland’s equalizer came the game’s pivotal development: Swiss forward Breel Embolo was sent off after a video review showed he had faked a fall.
It was Embolo’s second yellow card of the game — the first had come late in the first half when he was late to challenge Argentinian midfielder Leandro Paredes — meaning it would be treated as a red card, and Switzerland would have to play the remainder of the game down a man.
The shocked and crying Embolo had to be led off the field, his face crumpled and head in hands, by teammates and into the locker room.
Instantly, the decision sparked debate among analysts and fans. Were both calls fair, and the outcome an acceptable consequence? Or was dooming Switzerland to a shorthanded quarterfinal a punishment that did not match the crime of a single theatrical fall to the ground, something that happens a dozen times a game?
But no debate will keep Argentina from another World Cup semifinal. And for Messi, that means two more chances — the semifinal against England, then either the final or the third-place playoff — to pad his lead in the record for career World Cup goals scored, at 21.
The US congressman Ro Khanna says armed Israeli settlers detained him during a visit to the Israel-occupied West Bank recently, describing the experience as a first-hand view of the realities faced by Palestinians living under occupation.
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday from a Palestinian village, the progressive US House Democrat from California said his detention happened the previous day while his delegation visited an area of the southern West Bank that has experienced repeated attacks by Israeli settlers.
Khanna recounted how settlers carrying US-made M4 rifles surrounded the group’s van.
“We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed – they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it,” Khanna said.
Referring to the Israel Defense Forces, which is funded in part by US military aid, Khanna continued: “And these hoodlums … detain us. They block off the road. And then they call the IDF and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans.”
Khanna also told Reuters, “I saw the arrogance in the eyes of those settlers, 21- and 22-year-olds with guns, laughing that they had detained us, the arrogance of those young IDF soldiers that my tax dollars are funding – having no respect for the fact that they were detaining Americans, no respect that there was an American congressperson in that bus, and laughing when our translator told them that there are Americans there and the American embassy is concerned.”
Khanna aide Cameron Kasky wrote on X that he was there when the congressman’s group was detained, saying: “The IDF showed up to back up the settlers, not the US congressman.”
Khanna added that the encounter illustrated “the arrogance of power – of a power that has had no accountability, total impunity – and it’s created a toxic culture of oppression”.
The New York Times first reported Khanna’s account on Saturday morning. He told the outlet: “I felt powerless in that situation, which is not an easy thing, as I have a lot of privilege in life.
“Imagine how people feel every day, Palestinians under the occupation, if they could make an American congressperson feel powerless for 90 minutes.”
Khanna said he and his group were ultimately able to continue traveling after contacting the US embassy and Israeli police.
The Israeli military said troops and police responded after receiving a report that settlers were obstructing vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta, according to Reuters.
Khirbet Zanuta is a Palestinian hamlet whose residents were forced to leave in the wake of violent settler raids after the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023.
Asked by Reuters whether he intends to run for president, Khanna replied: “I’m strongly considering it. And I’m more resolved to consider it after this trip.”
More than 700,000 Israelis reside in settlements across the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem. The United Nations considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, and Israel has faced repeated criticism over violence and other actions by settlers in the territory.
Since Israel took control of the West Bank in 1967, restrictions imposed there have prevented the territory from developing a self-sustaining economy. Those restrictions intensified significantly after the deadly 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Nearly 300,000 Palestinians have lost employment in the West Bank and Israel.
A June report issued by a UN independent international commission of inquiry concluded that “Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank”.
According to data from human rights organisation Yesh Din, no Israeli has been indicted for the killing of a Palestinian since October 2023.
Khanna has been one of the most outspoken critics in the US Congress of the war in Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank, often clashing with his own party’s establishment. In May, he released a video criticizing the Democratic National Committee’s incomplete postmortem report on the defeat that the party suffered at the hands of Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
The postmortem did not mention Gaza. In his video, Khanna said: “As someone who campaigned in Michigan and Wisconsin, let me tell you – one of the reasons we lost is our blank check to Israel and [prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu while they committed genocide in Gaza.
“We must speak and confront hard truths if this party is to win” the 2028 presidential election, he added.
Reuters contributed reporting
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