California Dems launched pressure campaign against USC prior to debate cancellation

Top Democrats in the California state legislature have demanded that the University of Southern California (USC) either increase the number of candidates allowed to participate in the gubernatorial debate, which included five white candidates, or boycott the debate.

The “data-driven” candidate viability framework produced a list of Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, as well as Democrats Tom Steyer, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell – all white candidates. The same criteria, developed by a USC professor and championed by the university, ended up excluding Xavier Becerra, Antonio Villaraigosa, Betty Yee and Tony Thurman, all Democratic Party minority candidates, because of weaker polling and fundraising results, they said.

After learning who was in the applicant pool and who was not, excluded applicants expressed outrage over what they claimed was a racist applicant viability system created by USC that targeted people based on their race. One candidate, former Health and Human Services Secretary Becerra, even compared it to his father’s days talking about “the days when he encountered signs posted outside establishments saying ‘No Dogs, No Negroes and Mexicans.’

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Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill November 20, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Among those expressing outrage, in addition to the candidates themselves, were California State Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limon, California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, and a handful of other Democratic Party members in the state legislature, who called the decision-making framework “biased” in a letter they signed that also included concerns about one of the selected candidates’ donor ties to the university. They also called the candidates’ complaints, like Becerra’s, “valid.”

“If USC does not do the right thing, we call on California voters to boycott this debate. If the university does not give voters a fair chance to evaluate everyone running for governor, voters should find other ways to learn about the candidates,” says the letter, which includes letterhead with the logos of about a half-dozen Democratic Party caucuses in California. “We ask you, Chairman Kim, to exercise the leadership this moment calls for: expand the debate phase and trust California voters to make their own decision.”

Separately, in a statement released less than 24 hours before the scheduled debate, USC said that KABC, the Los Angeles television station broadcasting the debate, had not reached an agreement to allow more candidates and therefore decided to cancel the debate.

The University of Southern California has decided to cancel its planned debate after backlash over the formula used to select candidates to participate, with some suggesting it was racist. (Reuters)

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“If you’re running anything in California, the Legislature is very important to you and at the top of the letter are the lead signers of this letter, Robert Rivas, who is the Speaker of the Assembly, and Monique Limon, who is the head of the Senate, the State Senate and the State Assembly. And this came very late on Monday. They sent this letter to USC. So what happened? From what we understand – they were quite open about it – they got this letter from the legislature, they “Oh, shit, we better do something. It’s now a real threat. It’s not just the candidates who are complaining. It’s the legislature that, you know, regulates and affects everything that we do,” Hilton, one of the Republican Party front-runners in the California gubernatorial race, said of the situation.

“USC apparently went to ABC, the media partner that is going to broadcast the debate, and said, ‘We want to expand it and reinstate these people,’ and USC said, ‘No, I’m sorry. ABC said no.’ Then, at midnight Monday night, they released a statement saying, “Okay, so we’re going to cancel it.” »

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks to the press at the Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates press event in Huntington Beach, Wednesday, January 14, 2026 in Huntington Beach, California. Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates has announced his candidacy for California Attorney General. (Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

An article from Cal Matters, a local California publication covering state politics, says that, directly and indirectly, Porter, Steyer and Swalwell suggested that Mahan, a tech entrepreneur and former mayor of San Jose, was invited to the now-canceled debate despite poor performance data.

In the lawmakers’ letter requesting that the event allow more candidates or be canceled, addressed to USC President Beong-Soo Kim, an unnamed candidate with “notable ties to the USC donor community” was also cited as part of complaints about the debate. When Rivas staff was asked for clarification on who the letter was referring to, they ultimately confirmed it was Mahan.

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A party-sponsored poll conducted by Democratic State Chairman Rusty Hicks showed Mahan behind Becerra, but all other USC-selected candidates ahead of those who were unsuccessful. Two Republicans, Hilton and Bianco, are still in the lead with 16% and 14% respectively. Meanwhile, Porter, Swalwell and Steyer are tied at 10% and all other Democrats are still in the low single-digit range. Twenty-four percent remain undecided.

Neither Rivas nor Limon provided official comment to Fox News Digital on this story prior to publication.