‘People are not passive’: Newsom and top California Democrats move behind the scenes in governor’s race

May 8, 2026, 7:00 AM ET / CNN

By Edward-Isaac Dovere

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference on January 16, 2026 in San Francisco, California.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Sacramento, California—

California Democratic leaders have shifted their strategy to prevent their party from being locked out of the governor’s race: Instead of thinking about consolidating the field, they have turned to behind-the-scenes operations and political spending aimed at tamping down Republicans and building up Democratic turnout.

That is letting officials like term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi avoid picking from a field of off-and-on political allies while also saving them from embarrassment if their pick doesn’t win.

“People are not passive in terms of watching it happen,” Newsom told CNN on Wednesday in an interview in Sacramento. “There have obviously been many conversations about this for many months, and people have been watching closely with daily tracking polls, and there’s sort of an organized construct around seeing where things go, and to the extent necessary, taking certain actions to encourage that that’s not the outcome.”

California’s “top two” system sends the two highest vote-getters from the June 2 primary election into November regardless of their party affiliation. The splintered field has long given Democrats fear that the two Republicans could advance in the race, which is still recalibrating after the exit of Eric Swalwell after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, allegations he has denied.

But with ballots arriving in Californians’ mailboxes this week, Democrats are now confident based on public and private polling that while Republican candidate Steve Hilton is likely to come in first, both billionaire investor Tom Steyer and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra are well-positioned to come in ahead of Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, the other major Republican in the field.

Candidates, including Steve Hilton, Tom Steyer, and Xavier Becerra arrive for the start of CNN’s California Gubernatorial Debate on Tuesday, May 5, in Monterey Park, California. Grace Widyatmadja/CNN

Grace Widyatmadja/CNN

According to three people familiar with the efforts, top Democrats are talking to major donors about funding Greater Golden State, an independent expenditure campaign that the Democratic Governors Association helped set up and is backing. One person called the group an “insurance policy.”

California campaign finance records on Thursday afternoon listed the group as also being called: “Hilton for Governor 2026, sponsored by organizations opposing Republican candidates for governor.”

The group has received $1 million from businessman Bill Bloomfield, who did not respond when CNN emailed him for comment, and $250,000 from the California Service Employees International Union, one of the biggest labor organizations in the state, which earlier in the week jointly endorsed Steyer and Becerra as both “ready to stand by us.”

“This is once again the party establishment that has controlled CA for the last 16 years that is trying to put its thumb on the scale,” said Hilton’s communications director Hector Barajas.

Barajas added that he suspects that rather than going after Hilton or Bianco, the money might end up being spent against one Democrat or another to try to make a clear favorite.

“The party is not trying to force a specific candidate outcome,” California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks told CNN. “We’re trying to ensure we have a strong Democrat into the general election.”

Pelosi, who weeks ago expressed confidence that a top-two lockout would not happen, remains sure of that, and has no current plans to endorse, a spokesperson told CNN.

A spokesperson for Sen. Adam Schiff, who had previously endorsed Swalwell, referred to an early statement saying he is worried about a lockout and committed to preventing one, but did not comment on any update plans. A spokesperson for Sen. Alex Padilla, who had seriously looked at running for governor himself with Newsom’s encouragement, did not respond when asked about his endorsement plans.

Newsom has privately been working through his thoughts about the field but told CNN he does not currently plan to endorse a candidate, though the option remains part of “the cross-spectrum of considerations.”

“I have a lot of friends in this race. And I don’t say that lightly: people I’ve quite literally known for decades – I’ve been in politics a long time. I’ve never had a particular desire to lean in,” he said.

Newsom explained his endorsement of Josh Fryday in the lieutenant governor’s race two weeks ago was different because he “works right here,” referring to Fryday’s service in his cabinet as the director of the Peace Corps-style Governor’s Office of Service and Community Engagement.

Josh Frydy speaks at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, on February 21.

Jeff Chiu/AP

Overall, Newsom said he hasn’t watched any of the governor’s debates, including the one hosted by CNN on Tuesday. But his staff told him about when each of the hopefuls was asked to use one word Tuesday to describe his performance as governor, though the only answer they’d told him about was from Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Los Angeles mayor and his rival in the 2018 governor’s race, who said “performative.”

“Whatever. Everyone needs to do what they need to do,” Newsom responded.

Both Hilton and Bianco rated Newsom a failure. Former Rep. Katie Porter called him “bold,” Steyer called him “progressive,” and Becerra called him “game-changing.”

As for the word that San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan chose – “incomplete” – Newsom called that a “fair point.”

“It is a work in progress governing. There is no having ‘made it.’ Success is not a place or definition, it’s a direction,” Newsom said, “and so that’s a word I think all of us should be associated with.”

Candidates pick one word to describe Newsom’s performance