A California gubernatorial debate was canceled on Tuesday after mounting criticism that every candidate invited to participate was White, while four established candidates of color were left off the stage.
The race is to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is term-limited and widely thought to be laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential bid.
The debate, hosted by the University of Southern California and KABC-TV, had been set to feature Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Democrats Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell and Matt Mahan.
But former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former state Controller Betty Yee, and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond did not meet the criteria to participate.
The exclusion of the four candidates of color was made more striking by the inclusion of Mr. Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, who jumped into the race in January — months after the others had been campaigning — and quickly raised more than $7 million, largely from the tech sector. Longer-tenured candidates with deeper political backgrounds were left out while Mr. Mahan, who had been in the race for weeks, made the cut.
The excluded candidates demanded a boycott, saying it made no sense to deny them stage time in a state where Hispanics are the largest demographic group. USC had defended the selection formula — developed by a public policy professor and based on polling and fundraising data — and denied bias allegations.
But the university ultimately reversed course, saying it and KABC could not agree on a solution to air the debate.
“Concerns about the selection criteria for tomorrow’s gubernatorial debate have created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters,” USC said in a statement. “As a result, USC has made the difficult decision to cancel tomorrow’s debate.”
Mr. Villaraigosa called the cancellation the right call, if belated. “The formula they used penalized candidates for entering the race early while rewarding a late entrant with documented ties to USC’s donor network,” he said. “That approach couldn’t survive public examination.”
Mr. Becerra was more blunt. “We fought. We won!” he said. “We stood up against an unfair candidate debate setup that prematurely chose winners and losers.”
The next debate is scheduled for April 22 and will be hosted by Nexstar Media Group. The California primary is June 2. The top two vote-getters in the primary, regardless of party, will advance to the November general election.
• This article is based on wire reports.
