California holds an open primary race, so party nominations are irrelevant in this race, which is why Democrats tend to dominate.
Not this time, however, as the previous favorite, former Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), has been exposed as a hothead.
Her campaign has since imploded, putting a Republican candidate atop the polling in what is suddenly becoming a wide-open race.
Everyone assumed that former Vice President Kamala Harris was going to enter this race and crush everyone.
She was leading polling without having announced, and it seemed like this would be the best way for Harris to revive her struggling career.
When Harris dropped out of contention, Porter moved into the favorite slot, holding a fairly healthy lead.
That all changed when videos started to pop up of Porter losing her mind on a staffer, and rumors emerged of having dumped a hot bowl of food on her husband’s head.
At first, Porter had a meltdown with a journalist on MSNBC who dared to ask her how she was planning on attracting Donald Trump supporters, as she would need them in order to win the election.
Porter went nuclear, stood up, and threatened to leave the interview.
Then the floodgates opened, and all kinds of stories started to show up on social media about Porter and her temper.
In addition to the story about her husband, a video showed up of Porter losing it on a staffer for walking into her shot when she was trying to film a video to post on her social media accounts. What made it even more entertaining was the fact that the staffer was trying to stop Porter from making a fool of herself by putting the wrong information out, but Porter was only focused on her shot being ruined.
Throughout all of this, Porter started to slide in polling, but now she has actually fallen behind Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is now the favorite in the race. Bianco picked up three points, now holding 13%, while Porter lost six points, falling to 11%.
Hot on Porter’s heels is former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, followed by another Republican, Steve Hilton, then a slew of Democrats, all of whom are 5% or less.
I am not getting excited just yet, because Hilton and Bianco collectively only have 21%, and they are the only two Republicans in the race, but things are not that much better for Democrats.
There are still 44% of voters undecided, so this race is very winnable for the GOP, but like in New York, it is going to take considerable time and money to make it happen. If I were running the RNC, I would be calling Hilton and Bianco in to consolidate, then start deluging the state with surrogates. Let the Dems throw mud at each other, but if the GOP shows a united front, Republicans could steal that mansion.
