2026年5月8日 美国东部时间早上7:00 / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：爱德华-艾萨克·多夫雷
加州州长加文·纽瑟姆于2026年1月16日在旧金山举行的新闻发布会上发言。
贾斯汀·沙利文/盖蒂图片社
加利福尼亚州萨克拉门托——
加州民主党领导人已调整策略，以防本党被排除在州长竞选之外：他们不再考虑整合候选人阵营，转而开展幕后运作和政治投入，旨在压制共和党、提升民主党选民投票率。
这一策略让任期将满的州长加文·纽瑟姆、前众议院议长南希·佩洛西等人无需在一众若即若离的政治盟友中做出选择，也避免了若支持的候选人落选所带来的尴尬。
“民众并非被动旁观这场竞选，”纽瑟姆周三在萨克拉门托接受CNN采访时表示，“显然，相关讨论已经持续了数月，人们一直在通过每日跟踪民调密切关注局势，目前已经形成了一套有序的框架，用于观察事态发展，并在必要时采取特定行动，确保不会出现我们不愿看到的结果。”
加州的“前两名出线”制度规定，6月2日初选得票最高的两名候选人将进入11月的大选，无论其党派归属。长期以来，候选人阵营分散一直让民主党人担忧两名共和党候选人可能双双晋级。此前，埃里克·斯沃韦尔因多名女性指控其性行为不端而退选，目前竞选格局仍在调整之中，斯沃韦尔已否认相关指控。
但随着本周加州选民开始收到邮寄选票，民主党人根据公开和内部民调信心大增：尽管共和党候选人史蒂夫·希尔顿有望以第一名的身份晋级，但亿万富翁投资者汤姆·斯泰尔和前卫生与公众服务部长泽维尔·贝塞拉都有望领先该阵营的另一位主要候选人、河滨县警长查德·比亚科。
包括史蒂夫·希尔顿、汤姆·斯泰尔和泽维尔·贝塞拉在内的候选人于5月5日周二抵达蒙特雷公园，参加CNN主办的加州州长辩论。格蕾丝·维迪亚特马贾/CNN
格蕾丝·维迪亚特马贾/CNN
据三名知情人士透露，民主党高层正在与主要捐赠者接洽，为“大金州”独立支出竞选活动筹集资金。该组织由民主党州长协会协助成立并提供支持。一名知情人士将该组织称为“保险政策”。
周四下午公布的加州竞选财务记录显示，该组织还有另一个名称：“希尔顿2026年州长竞选”，由反对共和党州长候选人的组织赞助。
该组织已收到商人比尔·布卢姆菲尔德的100万美元捐款，CNN发送邮件向其置评未获回复；以及加州服务雇员国际工会的25万美元捐款。该工会是加州最大的劳工组织之一，本周早些时候联合 endorsed斯泰尔和贝塞拉，称两人“都已准备好坚定支持我们”。
“这又是过去16年来掌控加州的政党建制派试图干预选举，”希尔顿的通讯主管赫克托·巴哈加斯表示。
巴哈加斯补充道，他怀疑这笔资金最终可能不会用于攻击希尔顿或比亚科，而是用来针对某位民主党候选人，以明确一位热门人选。
“民主党并非试图强行指定某位候选人胜出，”加州民主党主席拉斯蒂·希克斯告诉CNN，“我们的目标是确保有一位强大的民主党人进入大选。”
佩洛西的发言人向CNN透露，佩洛西几周前就曾表示相信不会出现两强均为共和党人的情况，目前依然持这一观点，且暂无任何背书计划。
此前曾背书斯沃韦尔的参议员亚当·希夫的发言人援引其早前声明称，他对两党被排除在外的情况感到担忧，并致力于阻止这一局面，但未就最新计划置评。曾在纽瑟姆鼓励下认真考虑参选州长的参议员亚历克斯·帕迪利亚的发言人在被问及背书计划时未予回应。
纽瑟姆私下里一直在权衡对候选人阵营的看法，但他告诉CNN，目前暂无背书某位候选人的计划，不过背书仍属于“综合考量范围之内”。
“我在这场竞选中有很多朋友。我绝非随口一说：这些人我已经认识了几十年——我从政已经很久了。我向来没有特别想要插手的意愿，”他说。
纽瑟姆解释称，他两周前背书副州长候选人乔希·弗莱迪的情况有所不同，因为弗莱迪“就在这里工作”，指的是弗莱迪曾在他的内阁中担任和平队风格的州长服务与社区参与办公室主任。
乔希·弗莱迪于2月21日在旧金山举行的2026年加州民主党州代表大会上发言。
杰夫·邱/美联社
总体而言，纽瑟姆表示他并未观看任何一场州长辩论，包括周二由CNN主办的这场。但他的幕僚向他转述了每位候选人被要求用一个词形容他作为州长的表现时的回答，不过他们只提到了前洛杉矶市长安东尼奥·维拉莱戈萨的答案——后者在2018年州长竞选中曾是他的对手——用了“表演型”一词。
“无所谓。每个人都该做自己该做的事，”纽瑟姆回应道。
希尔顿和比亚科都认为纽瑟姆是个失败者。前众议员凯蒂·波特称他“大胆”，斯泰尔称他“进步”，贝塞拉称他“改变游戏规则”。
至于圣何塞市长马特·马汉选择的词——“未竟”——纽瑟姆称这是“公允的评价”。
“治理是一项进行中的事业，没有‘大功告成’一说。成功不是一个地点或定义，而是一个方向，”纽瑟姆说，“因此我认为，我们所有人都该用这个词来形容自己。”
候选人用一个词评价纽瑟姆的执政表现
‘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