Politics
Attacks on ICE up 1,000%? Trump administration claim not backed up by court records
The federal prosecutor faced the jury, brandishing the item he said had been “used as a sword” to assault a federal officer during a July protest in downtown Los Angeles.
The object that Assistant U.S. Atty. Patrick Kibbe said was wielded as a weapon: An umbrella that an investigator needed a special scale to weigh because it was less than one pound.
For months, Trump administration officials have cited violence against federal law enforcement officers carrying out the president’s deportation campaign as justification for aggressive tactics, including threats to deploy the National Guard and U.S. Marines. The Department of Homeland Security has touted a staggering figure, claiming a 1,000% increase in assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
But a Times analysis of court records related to assaults on federal law enforcement in Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Ore., Chicago and Washington, D.C., shows the majority of the alleged attacks resulted in no injury to an agent. In roughly 42% of the cases The Times reviewed, federal law enforcement officers were either shoved, spat on or flailed at, or had water bottles thrown at them, according to court affidavits.
During the umbrella assault trial in October, prosecutors provided no evidence of any injuries. In L.A. and across the country, defendants accused of assaulting federal officers have won acquittals or had charges dropped. More than a third of the cases The Times analyzed ended in dismissals or acquittals, in some instances because the defendants were deported. No cases have ended in a conviction at trial.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, responded to questions from The Times about the assault numbers with a statement that said “our officers are facing terrorist attacks, being shot at, having cars being used as weapons against them, bomb threats, assaults, doxxing.”
McLaughlin highlighted a case in which she said an ICE officer needed 13 stitches and suffered burns after he was beaten with a metal coffee cup by an undocumented immigrant in Houston last month. In another that she flagged, an alleged gang member in Nebraska brutally beat an ICE agent in June, leaving them hospitalized with serious head injuries.
Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, responded to questions from The Times with a statement that said “our officers are facing terrorist attacks, being shot at, having cars being used as weapons against them, bomb threats, assaults, doxxing.”
(Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)
President Trump invoked the 1,000% increase figure in a memo directing federal law enforcement groups to investigate “domestic terrorism,” and federal officials have cited the number repeatedly to justify aggressive tactics against protesters and the need for agents to wear masks to avoid being identified.
Homeland Security officials ignored multiple requests to release a complete list of alleged assaults. In late November, the agency announced a 1,153% increase in assaults on ICE agents from Jan. 21 to Nov. 21, with 238 reported assaults this year compared to 19 in the same time frame in 2024.
The five jurisdictions The Times analyzed were the federal districts where the Trump administration has conducted large-scale law enforcement and immigration operations or threatened to deploy the military because of the supposed danger faced by federal agents. In those areas, 163 cases of assault of a federal officer had been filed between Jan. 21 and Nov. 21. That’s up from 129 in the same areas and time frame in 2024, an increase of 26%. An NPR analysis came up with a similar figure earlier this year.
The 2024 data is also inflated by the filing of assault charges by prosecutors in Washington against rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has pardoned all of those defendants.
The Times analysis captured assaults against all types of federal officers. ICE or Border Patrol agents were described as victims in about 60% of those cases.
David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said the government is relying on the shocking percentages, without proper context, to advance a narrative.
“They are justifying why they need to use extreme force against the people they’re arresting and the public as they interact with individuals on the street,” he said. “I think that’s the primary purpose, to say: ‘We’re under attack. We’re being assaulted daily and therefore we need to be able to use extreme force including military support.’”
In just over half of the cases scrutinized by The Times, court records show the officer who was allegedly assaulted suffered no physical injury. In roughly 30% of the cases, officers sustained minor injuries such as bruising following a punch, kick or bite.
Twenty-six incidents resulted in a serious injury or required an agent to seek medical attention. A Portland ICE agent was smashed in the head with a rock, federal agents suffered dislocated or fractured fingers in Los Angeles and some agents said they were attacked with their own batons or stun guns while trying to detain people.
Protesters at an anti-ICE demonstration at Los Angeles City Hall on June 15.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
The Times’ analysis does not capture serious incidents in other jurisdictions, or attacks where no charges were filed. Assailants have opened fire twice this year on ICE facilities in Texas, though the people struck by bullets were immigrant detainees and a local police officer.
The only documented incident in which a federal law enforcement officer was shot during an immigration enforcement action this year happened in Los Angeles in October — when a bullet from an ICE agent’s gun ricocheted into a deputy marshal’s hand during a vehicle stop.
One National Guard member was killed and another was seriously wounded in a shooting in Washington last week. Both were part of Trump’s anti-crime deployment. Officials have said the gunman is from Afghanistan and was admitted to the U.S. in 2021 as part of a Biden administration program to help people fleeing the Taliban, and his asylum application was approved under Trump.
An undocumented immigrant from Mexico was also arrested after allegedly shooting at Border Patrol agents in Chicago on Nov. 8, according to the Department of Homeland Security. A local Fox News affiliate identified the suspect as Hector Gomez, but a criminal complaint makes no mention of shooting at agents. DHS did not respond to inquiries from the Fox affiliate.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) is among those questioning the administration’s claims. During a Nov. 19 subcommittee hearing titled “ICE Under Fire: The Radical Left’s Crusade Against Immigration Enforcement,” Padilla asked why there were no government witnesses “providing facts and data behind the numbers that the Department of Homeland Security so often cites to claim an increase in assaults on its officers and agents.”
“Today’s hearing is not a serious attempt to protect law enforcement,” Padilla said. “It’s designed to fuel the propaganda machine and encourage even more brutal immigration enforcement operations.”
The purported weapons used in some of the cases have only fueled skepticism: A District of Columbia man was charged for throwing a Subway sandwich. In Portland, a woman was charged with assault via tambourine. In L.A., federal agents have claimed assaults involving a hat, a work bag, a flag — and the umbrella.
On June 7 — in the early days of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in California — Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino stood in Paramount, sounding like he was preparing his officers for battle.
Bovino, addressing agents decked out in tactical gear as protesters gathered nearby, told the agents to “arrest as many people that touch you as you want to, those are the general orders all the way to the top.”
“Everybody f— gets it if they touch you,” Bovino said. “This is our f— city.”
The National Guard was deployed the next day, with Trump publicly claiming Los Angeles was under siege.
The clip of Bovino was played during the trial of Brayan Ramos-Brito, who was accused of pushing a Border Patrol agent that day in Paramount. Video evidence shows an agent shove Ramos-Brito, but does not clearly capture him shoving the agent back.
Bovino testified that merely touching an agent “could be assault depending on the situation. Spitting on someone could be assault.”
After about an hour of deliberations — and despite Bovino testifying that he witnessed Ramos-Brito push an agent — the jury came back with a not guilty verdict.
In Los Angeles, court records show federal prosecutors have charged 71 people with assault on a federal officer this year, with 21 of those cases ending in dismissals or acquittals. Only nine such cases were filed in 2024.
Bill Essayli, who is functioning as L.A.’s top federal prosecutor, said he would not “read too much” into dismissal figures.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
During an October news conference, Bill Essayli, who is functioning as L.A.’s top federal prosecutor, said he would not “read too much” into the dismissal figures.
“When we charge a complaint we’re on the clock, so if the agents need more time to collect evidence sometimes we will dismiss a case without prejudice which allows us to bring it back at our choosing,” he said.
A former ICE official, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation, said that in prior years the U.S. attorney’s office “didn’t prosecute hardly anybody” for assault — unless the interaction turned violent.
“We’d get guys who would spit on us and all kinds of other stuff and it was like, ‘Hey, it’s part of the job,’” the official said.
Law enforcement experts noted that an increase in assaults is to be expected, since interactions by immigration agents with the public have increased dramatically in Trump’s second term.
John Sandweg, who headed ICE under President Obama, said he believes new tactics are helping drive the increase. Under previous administrations, ICE focused on targeted operations.
“When you shift those tactics and have agents out there in broad daylight, in Home Depot parking lots, when you have these cities on edge … it’s just going to increase the number of incidents where some sort of an assault happens,” he said.
In a number of cases examined by The Times, defendants were arrested and charged with assault after Border Patrol or ICE agents initiated physical contact.
Andrea Velez, a 4-foot 11-inch U.S. citizen, was accused of standing in the path of an ICE officer in downtown L.A. with her arms extended, striking his head and chest when they collided in June. Her defense attorney previously said masked men ran at Velez and one shoved her to the ground. Velez, fearing she was being abducted, held up her work bag to shield herself.
Velez’s lawyer requested body-worn camera video and witness statements cited in the complaint. Soon after, prosecutors dropped the case.
In Chicago, four assault cases were filed against protesters who ignored a dispersal order outside an immigration detention facility and flailed in response to being shoved or struck by Border Patrol agents. One of the defendants was a 70-year-old military veteran. All charges have been dropped, records show.
Courtesy of attorney Kacey McBroom
In another L.A. case, a man was accused of assault for smacking an agent with a hat. Video footage from the scene in August showed the man, Jonathon Redondo-Rosales, swung after he was struck by a government vehicle, as officers were moving to tackle him to the ground.
In October, Marimar Martinez was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent who alleged she was following him in a car and interfering with a Chicago operation. Martinez allegedly collided with a CBP vehicle, causing minor damage, according to photos included in a criminal complaint.
But in a sudden turnabout a month later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the indictment against Martinez. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Illinois said in a statement that prosecutors are “constantly evaluating new facts and information relating to cases and investigations.”
Martinez’s attorney, Damon Cheronis, thanked prosecutors for doing the right thing after reviewing what he called Border Patrol’s hyperbolic claims against Martinez.
“The criminal complaint made a lot of allegations that our client rammed them. There were all these reports that our client had an assault weapon or was a domestic terrorist,” he said. “None of that was true.”
Homeland Security officials have also claimed a 1,300% increase in vehicle attacks against ICE agents; the 28 alleged attacks this year since Jan. 20 marked a jump from two in 2024.
Protesters rally in front of City Hall in downtown L.A. for immigrant rights, to stop mass deportations and decrying what they see as threats to democracy.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Of the 26 alleged vehicle attacks captured by The Times analysis, five resulted in serious injuries. A member of a Homeland Security task force was hospitalized with a “possible sternum fracture” after being hit by a car in November in National City, just outside of San Diego, according to DHS.
A handful of other L.A. cases resulted in officers seeking medical evaluation. One ICE agent needed medical attention after they were hit with a skateboard while trying to make an arrest in downtown L.A. in September, records show.
The month before, Oscar Magana Reyes, who was allegedly trying to flee an immigration arrest in San Bernardino, stole an ICE agent’s Taser and briefly incapacitated them with a shock to the groin. Reyes was indicted in October and is awaiting trial.
Although more incidents are being reported, available data still shows local law enforcement officers are far more likely to be attacked in the line of duty than immigration agents. L.A. County sheriff’s deputies faced roughly 600 assaults from January to October of this year, more than double the number of alleged on-duty assaults ICE agents suffered nationwide from Jan. 21 to Nov. 21, according to sheriff’s department records.
Charis Kubrin, a professor of law, criminology and sociology at UC Irvine, said the administration’s trumpeting of a more than 1,000% increase is misleading when the jump is coming from a baseline of almost zero assaults against agents.
“This is what we call in sociology a moral panic,” she said. “A moral panic is created when statistics and other things are used to kind of create or socially construct a problem that is bigger than it is.”
Alexandria Augustine sits for a portrait at her home in West Hollywood. Augustine recently won her court case after being arrested while protesting ICE outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center for allegedly assaulting a federal officer.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The trial of Alexandria Augustine, the 25-year-old woman accused of assaulting a federal officer with her umbrella, played out over the course of several days in October.
Augustine told The Times she was offered different plea deals in the course of a few months, but decided to take her chances before a jury.
“The entire purpose of a lot of this is to keep people off the streets and hold them up in the courts,” she said. “They don’t expect us to fight back because they have way more resources and power than we do.”
During the trial, Kibbe, the prosecutor, held up the metal skeleton of the umbrella and told jurors that Augustine had hit a Federal Protective Service inspector with it in the arm and chest.
Deputy federal public defender Aden Kahssai said Augustine opened the umbrella to protect fellow protesters. It was the federal officer, she said, who grabbed the umbrella, yanking the fabric off.
“What happened here was not an assault,” Kahssai told jurors.
When Inspector Alexandro Gutierrez took the stand, he testified that he had grabbed the umbrella because it obstructed his view. He testified that Augustine then told him “if you f—ing want it, here,” and then threw it at him in an overhand motion.
“These things could potentially cause serious harm,” he told jurors. He testified that he wasn’t wearing a face shield and the metal ribs of the umbrella could have poked him in the eye.
Among those who turned out for Augustine’s trial was Margaret Ortiz, an Army combat veteran who had been charged with assault after the fabric of a black flag she was holding hit a federal officer in the chin, nose and eyes. The case against her was later dismissed.
“I kind of wanted it to go to trial,” Ortiz said outside the courtroom. “It was going to be stupid, just like this.”
During closing arguments, Supervising Deputy Federal Public Defender Rebecca Abel said Augustine had thrown the umbrella up and it dropped down and connected with Gutierrez. The umbrella, she said, “couldn’t hurt a fly, let alone a 260-pound man” in a Kevlar vest.
“It barely touched him. He was not injured,” Abel said. “This case began with a protest … it should never have ended here, in a federal courtroom.”
Within hours, the jury came back with its verdict: Not guilty.
Times researcher Cary Schneider and Data and Graphics reporter Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee contributed to this report.
Politics
Commentary: Bass clears first hurdle, but if Pratt holds off Raman, the mayoral race could be a holy war
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass made what sounded like a victory speech Tuesday night.
Councilmember Nithya Raman made what sounded almost like a concession speech.
And former reality TV star Spencer Pratt relayed a message from the heavens.
“Well, obviously God wanted five more months of me exposing all the failures of our mayor, so it’s gonna be a fun ride,” Pratt said. “I hope she’s ready.”
Assuming Pratt holds on to one of the two spots in the Nov. 3 general election as the final votes are tallied in the next few days, the smart money will be on Bass, for reasons I’ll get into in a moment.
But the supreme being and patron of all pontiffs has to be considered a wild card. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that an incumbent mayor in the City of Angels would be running against a challenger whose campaign manager is God Almighty.
So here we go. We could be in for one of the more remarkable electoral adventures in city history, with a complete novice and MAGA conservative going up against a liberal career politician in a deep-blue city and state full of people who are tired of hearing excuses from Democrats. (If Raman ends up ousting Pratt, my apologies for jumping to conclusions. But it’s not my fault. The devil made me do it.)
If you intend to follow closely, as of course you should, maybe you can help me count the number of times Pratt plays the faith card. I went to St. Peter Martyr School and attended the church by the same name, and I don’t recall ever hearing a nun or a priest drop God’s name as often as Pratt does.
In fact, I just watched a clip of Pratt talking to Fox News TV host and Donald Trump disciple Kayleigh McEnany, and over the course of 1 minute and 52 seconds, he mentioned God or Jesus 10 times.
“Thankfully, I married an angel who was very connected with Jesus and has brought me to the light,” Pratt said of his wife and former reality TV co-star Heidi Montag. “It’s been very empowering to just pray and just be on his path and just say, ‘God, if you want me to save these animals, save these humans and protect my city, just keep putting me in the place where I can do that.’”
Is he running for mayor or cardinal?
Look, I totally respect your average true believer. But I’m not entirely comfortable with a mayor who might be sitting around City Hall waiting for signs and smoke signals rather than knowing what to do on his own.
God has a lot on his plate. He might be busy multiplying fishes and loaves so people don’t go hungry thanks to the president’s tariffs and warmongering. Is he going to rush to answer a prayer for guidance about underfunded parks or broken sidewalks in Los Angeles?
How did we get here, you ask?
Well, Pratt is an AI creation, in a way. A composite of sorts. You combine the forces of social media, political rebellion, second-rate celebrity obsession and the Peter Principle, and here’s a little Trump puppet walking around L.A. like he’s the chosen one.
Add to that the very real essence of his appeal to some voters:
Los Angeles has problems. Big problems that don’t get fixed quickly enough or at all, and Pratt represents the angry voter who wants to know why City Hall can’t do better and where all the money went. He’s absolutely right when he says we shouldn’t have people living on the streets, using drugs on the streets and dying on the streets.
But if Pratt is in the general election rather than Raman, we’re in for a national media circus rather than a summit on solutions. Raman is well-versed on matters of relevance and could have pushed back against Bass in substantive, detailed ways. On the other hand, as Pratt has fairly argued, Raman headed City Council’s homelessness committee, so isn’t she partly to blame for the failures she tried to pin on Bass?
As for Pratt’s policy chops, he has not responded to my offers of a get-together. Absent that, and given his careful avoidance of local reporters who know their stuff, I read his platform on his campaign website and I can tell you that while he touches on many of the right issues — public safety, fiscal integrity, homelessness — attention to detail and depth of knowledge are not God-given strengths.
Maybe Pratt can actually deliver on his promise of a “treatment-led recovery model that addresses mental illness and addiction as the primary drivers of chronic homelessness.” But that would require an act of God (which I suppose is possible given their relationship), because those matters are primarily under the direction of the county, not the city.
This is the main problem here. Bass was beatable, and could have been pushed by a serious challenger to do better.
In the last election, Rick Caruso gave her a scare. That was partly because he had some depth on the issues, he was a successful businessman and philanthropist, he had served on the police commission and the water and power board, he had built relationships across the city and, along with his family, he had poured time and millions of dollars into underserved communities.
In this election, it looks as though Bass could get lucky and face off against a guy who lost his house in the Palisades fire, saw a few homeless encampments through his car window, and decided he wanted to be mayor. Some might have questioned his hubris, but only before learning that he was on a mission from God.
If you’re keeping count, that’s nine mentions of God so far in this column.
One more for the tie, with an eye toward five more months of campaign fodder.
Thank you, God.
steve.lopez@latimes.com
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., suddenly found himself on the defensive at a budget hearing on Wednesday when, amid levying accusations of the Trump administration’s “corrupt” dealings, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent fired back by bringing Wyden’s son’s investments into the exchange.
“We would like to hear what Adam Wyden and Jeffrey Epstein talked about,” Bessent said, referring to unearthed emails drawing a connection between the senator’s son and the disgraced financier.
“Did your son and Jeffrey Epstein talk about pole dancing as he begged him for money?”
The moment continues the political fallout for the many names associated with Epstein that — despite not amounting to proof of wrongdoing — continue to prompt embarrassment and scandal at even the smallest mention.
TOP FIERY MOMENTS AS DEMOCRATS CLASH WITH TREASURY SECRETARY BESSENT IN CHAOTIC HILL HEARINGS
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, left, pictured along Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore, right. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Epstein, a former financier, died while in prison on charges of sex trafficking minors in 2019, leaving behind questions of whether he facilitated illegal sexual encounters for his vast network of rich and powerful figures.
Amid public demands for transparency on the matter, the Department of Justice released troves of documents on Epstein late last year, unveiling a slew of new names with all manner of ties to the infamous figure ranging from purely innocuous to alarming.
Among them, emails surfaced indicating that Adam Wyden, Ron Wyden’s son, went to Epstein, hoping to gain his support for a business venture.
UNEARTHED EMAILS REVEAL DEM SENATOR’S SON WANTED EPSTEIN TO JOIN HIS FUND: ‘ENJOYED OUR CONVERSATION’
Sen. Ron Wyden leaves a Senate Democratic meeting at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 3, 2025, as the federal government shuts down after Congress and the White House failed to reach a funding deal. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“Jeffrey, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and hope my passion and dedication for my business came through in the meeting. I live and breathe this business and take my returns, integrity and reputation quite seriously,” the younger Wyden said in an email in April 2016.
“I intensely appreciate like-minded individuals and would very much look forward to having you join us at the fund.”
The emails came after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008.
It’s unclear what the business venture discussed by Adam Wyden and Epstein may have been or what, specifically, had been discussed in their conversations.
Even so, Bessent reminded viewers that the younger Wyden had a history of investing in off-color markets at Wednesday’s hearing.
DEMOCRATS ARE HAMMERING REPUBLICANS ON EPSTEIN, BUT ONE SENATOR BRUSHED OFF THE ISSUE YEARS AGO
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addresses a press conference in Rosenbad after trade talks between the U.S. and China concluded in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 29, 2025. (Magnus Lejhall/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Your son’s largest investment position was Rick’s Cabaret,” Bessent said, referring to a series of strip clubs.
Wyden, who has widely panned the Trump administration and its many officials for their own connections to Epstein, didn’t respond to Bessent’s jabs.
As election officials continued tallying ballots Wednesday, Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra continued to lead in the unsettled race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, with billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer hoping for a surge in late-arriving votes to push him into one of the top-two spots to advance to the November general election.
Hilton, a British immigrant and former Fox News commentator, told reporters outside the state Capitol in Sacramento Wednesday morning that he was “very encouraged” by the latest results, though he stopped short of declaring victory.
“It does look as if change is coming to California, and that is good news for everyone, every small business, every working family, everyone who wants to see our state set back on track,” he said.
Becerra and Steyer did not hold public events as of Wednesday afternoon.
Election data analyst Paul Mitchell said it would be nearly mathematically impossible for Steyer to close the gap.
“As we start to get more data, the runway is going to get shorter and shorter,” he said.
He said Steyer, to finish in the top two in the primary, would have to get about 30% of the remaining uncounted votes while Becerra would need to be limited to 15%. The self-funded billionaire has “a very high hill to overcome, and the challenge gets steeper and steeper as we get more data from the counties,” Mitchell said.
Once mired near the bottom of a crowded pack of Democrats in opinion polls, Becerra, a former Biden administration cabinet member, rocketed ahead of his rival candidates after former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race in April amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. The scandal triggered an upswing of voter interest in California’s once sluggish governor’s race and in Becerra, who seized the moment.
“Here in Hollywood’s hometown, we love a good underdog story,” Becerra told cheering supporters at his election night party at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in downtown Los Angeles.
Becerra spoke about his Mexican immigrant parents and becoming the first in his family to attend college. Though a longtime California politician, Becerra said that his campaign for governor was outspent and that he faced calls to drop out of the race.
“The underdog stayed in the fight,” he said. “Like my parents, I never gave up. … Never stopped believing in the beacon-light goodness of California and thankfully, neither did you.”
Steyer, who spent more than $216 million of his wealth on the race, has not conceded defeat.
His campaign manager, Heather Hargreaves, wrote in a letter to supporters Wednesday that “we’re going to give democracy time to work. County election officials are still counting ballots and don’t expect to know how many people voted in total until” Thursday, when officials are required to report the estimated number ballots left to process.
The billionaire former hedge fund owner campaigned against the corporate and special interests that have a powerful presence in Sacramento and often spend heavily in elections, including this year against Steyer.
Billionaires “do everything they can to hoard their wealth and avoid paying taxes, and we see corporations continue to rig the system for themselves — raising your prices to juice their profits. Screw that,” Steyer said at his election watch party at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco.
Other candidates in the race included Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Democrats including former Rep. Katie Porter, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
Villaraigosa, Mahan and Porter conceded the race Tuesday night.
California’s 2026 race for governor started slow but ended with a flourish, including the demise of a scandal-ridden Democratic favorite, the anointing of a Republican by Trump and Becerra’s unexpected rise from the depths of the candidate field.
Unlike gubernatorial elections in the last quarter of a century, this year’s race lacked a clear crowd-pleasing front-runner able to win over voters, such as movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jerry Brown, a sage of the California electorate and scion of a storied political family. But it unfolded at a time when the state’s residents are overwhelmed by high housing costs, steep gas prices and overall unaffordability that threatens the “California dream” that once drew millions of people to the state.
“Normal people are not living and breathing politics on a daily basis,” said Tim Rosales, a strategist who ran Republican John Cox’s unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial campaign. In today’s information-saturated environment, Rosales said, the race and its roster of “extremely milquetoast candidates” didn’t break through until the Swalwell scandal grabbed voters’ attention.
The 2026 gubernatorial primary has been one of the most unpredictable and expensive in decades and a race that was shaped early on by a number of heavyweight Democrats staying on the sidelines.
Though supporters urged them to run, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Alex Padilla and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta passed on the race. It was in a state of limbo for months last year as Harris, one of the state’s most high-profile politicians, weighed whether to jump in.
“I don’t ever recall a playing field that looks like this one. Usually there’s a clear front-runner,” said veteran Democratic strategist Darry Sragow. “It’s easy to say that it reflects a lack of talent [but] that’s absolutely not true. Almost any of the candidates running could make a good governor.”
Still, candidates struggled for months to break through to voters.
In February, polls showed the crowded field of Democrats splitting liberal voters and opening a statistical possibility that the party would be boxed out of November under California’s open, top-two primary, which places all candidates on the same ballot. Only the first- and second-place finishers in the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation.
Just when Swalwell appeared on the cusp of becoming the Democratic front-runner the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN published allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer and acted inappropriately with other women. Swalwell suspended his campaign.
It was Becerra who benefited the most. In less than two months, he vaulted from polling in the low single digits to the top of the field of candidates, according to surveys conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies that were co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.
“Becerra caught lightning in a bottle,” Rosales said. “It could have easily gone to any of the other candidates,” but many had baggage. Videos of Porter losing her temper hurt her image, the source of Steyer’s wealth and his unbridled campaign spending weighed on voters’ minds, and Villaraigosa and Mahan were “more centrist than what most Democrats wanted, and so Xavier Becerra was really the safe choice,” Rosales said.
Before Democratic voters began to narrow down their choices, Trump endorsed Hilton in early April. It helped the former Fox News host break away from Bianco, his main GOP rival.
In the days before the primary election, the race solidified into a three-way contest involving Becerra, Steyer and Hilton.
Steyer stepped up his fight in the remaining days, seeking to squeeze into one of the top two spots by battering Becerra in ads and at campaign rallies as a politician propped up by corporate special interests.
“We cannot afford to have a governor who’s been bought off by Big Oil. Period,” he said at a Sunday rally in Los Angeles.
Corporations, along with labor unions and interest groups including the California Assn. of Realtors, had spent more than $18.7 million to boost Becerra, according to the election spending tracker California Target Book. Many of the same groups also gave money to a committee intended to attack Steyer.
As the election neared, Becerra sharpened his attacks against Steyer, calling the billionaire a “liar” and accusing him of trying to buy the election.
“We are not going to let a billionaire or Trump’s handpicked candidate take over this state,” he said during a Sunday rally in Long Beach.
If Becerra faces off with Hilton in November he’ll have a distinct advantage. Democratic voters outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1 in left-leaning California.
Winning the general election would make the 68-year-old Becerra the first elected Latino governor of California. At roughly 40% of the state’s population, Latinos are California’s largest ethnic group but have not been represented in the governor’s mansion since 1875, when then-Lt. Gov. Romualdo Pacheco was elevated to fill a 10-month vacancy.
Times staff writers Iris Kwok, Susanne Rust, Andrew Khouri and Christopher Goffard contributed to this report.
-
Health3 minutes agoNew cancer vaccine delivers stunning result against one of the deadliest skin cancers
-
Sports6 minutes agoFan disrupts NBA Finals Game 1 while trying to take selfie with Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama
-
Business18 minutes agoHow Google’s 32-million mosquito project could change California’s battle against dengue
-
Entertainment20 minutes agoAfter ‘Barbie’ success, Mattel looks to He-Man for another box-office lift
-
Lifestyle26 minutes agoWith Highway 1 open, Big Sur braces for its busiest summer in years
-
Politics33 minutes ago
Commentary: Bass clears first hurdle, but if Pratt holds off Raman, the mayoral race could be a holy war
-
Sports41 minutes agoThe Ball brothers’ head coach at Chino Hills, Steve Baik, is the new coach at Calabasas
-
World51 minutes ago
Social media operation linked to Iran manipulated public through fake Irish and Scottish profiles
