Can’t win? Drop out: California Democrats plead with governor hopefuls as party fears Republican surge

Can’t win? Drop out: California Democrats plead with governor hopefuls as party fears Republican surge Party worries crowded field to replace Gavin Newsom – and quirk of primary system – could open door for Republicans in November I t’s been three decades since Democrats last had a wide open competition for the California governorship, one of the most visible and most powerful positions in the US. Instead of relishing in the competition of a crowded field, though, party leaders worry that the race to succeed Gavin Newsom could blow up in their faces. On Tuesday, the state’s Democratic party chair, Rusty Hicks, wrote in an extraordinary open letter to the candidates: “If you do not have a viable path to make it to the general election, do not file to place your name on the ballot for the primary election.” With no clear frontrunner and less than three months to go before the 2 June primary, Democrats worry that their nine candidates vying for the state’s top job could become a circular firing squad and, under an idiosyncratic state primary system that rewards the top two vote-getters regardless of party, allow two Republicans to advance to November’s general election. Such a scenario would be hard to swallow at the best of times, since California is a Democratic bastion and the richest, most populous state in the country. But with Donald Trump in the White House and Democrats laser-focused on trying to retake control of Congress from Trump’s Republican allies, losing California would be little short of a catastrophe. “So much is at stake in our nation and so many are counting on the leadership of California Democrats to stand up and speak out at this historic moment,” Hicks wrote in his open letter. “We all have a duty to act in a responsible manner.” Hicks and analysts in both parties consider the likelihood of two Republican contenders in November to be small, since Democrats enjoy a vast advantage in party registration, but anxiety over the prospect has been simme...