Antonio Villaraigosa says he is going for undecided voters in crowded California governor's race

Less than 60 days from the June 2 primary, candidate for California governor Antonio Villaraigosa said he’s not worried about being in the single digits in support because he is focused on undecided voters.

Without a clear Democratic frontrunner, the candidates for the gubernatorial seat are slowly dropping out. Last week, former Congressman Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race amid sexual allegations and on Monday morning, former California State Controller Betty Yee announced she was suspending her campaign.  

In a conversation with CALÓ News, Villaraigosa said that, so far, most of the candidates for governor have been in the single digits and things keep changing rapidly. He recalled when he ran for L.A. mayor the first time in 2001 and lost only to win in 2005. This is his second bid for governor after losing the primaries in 2018 to Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

“So we're just continuing to talk to and hear from constituents,” he said.

Villaraigosa said he has been campaigning all over the state and the concerns from the residents are very similar: people can’t afford to live in the state, gas and utilities costs have gone up, rents have increased, and the overall high cost of living.

“They are looking for a proven problem solver, somebody that can guide us through this crisis we're facing,” he said. “What I also hear from people is obviously that Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy. He's targeting California with ICE raids, tariffs, and that they want someone who will take him up.”

An Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics poll, released on April 16, showed the top four candidates are Republican Steve Hilton with 17%, Republican Chad Bianco at 14%, Democrat Tom Steyer at 14% and Democrats Xavier Becerra and Katie Porter tight at 10%. 

The Emerson polls estimates about 24% of voters still undecided. 

However, a new poll released by Gudelunas Strategies shows Becerra and Steyer tied at 15% and with non-Republican voters, Becerra led the pack with 21% of the vote, followed by Steyer and former U.S. Rep Katie Porter at 19%.

While Becerra is gaining momentum in his campaign, a new campaign ad, funded by Villaraigosa, accused him of not being fit to be governor. 

The campaign states that under the Biden administration, Becerra, as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), was not able to manage the care and placement of about 85,000 detained migrant children, some whose location was unknown and others who were found to be victims of child labor and/or trafficking. 

Villaraigosa said he did not uncover this issue. It was an article previously published by the New York Times. 

“I've only shared it because people need to know,” Villaraigosa said. 

Undecided voters

Villaraigosa acknowledged the disinterest of voters and said it’s mainly among the Latino voters.

“I am concerned because that's one of the reasons why it's been difficult to break out for all of us. People aren't paying attention to the race,” he said. “About 30% of the electorate are undecided… and a big part of them are Latino.”

Villaraigosa said California needs a leader who knows the path and has proven it with facts. He said he has shown to be a proven problem solver and his record as mayor of Los Angeles shows it. 

“Because L.A. is the largest city in the state, larger than San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and San Diego combined, the second largest in the country. It's bigger than a lot of states,” Villaraigosa said. “So who better to solve those problems than somebody who was mayor of L.A. and was transformational, and everything I do every day, schools, crime, housing, the economy, the budget … I did it and completed it.”