Becerra blasts USC and ABC for excluding candidates of color from gubernatorial debate

Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, one of the top Democrats running for governor of California, condemned USC and its ABC affiliate in Los Angeles on Friday for hosting a debate that he claimed intentionally excluded all candidates of color.

Becerra said he and the other candidates were unfairly excluded from the televised debate; He said the decision “smells like election rigging” in a hotly contested race less than three months before the June primary.

“My father would tell me about the days when he came across signs posted outside businesses that read, ‘No Dogs, Negroes, or Mexicans Allowed,’” Becerra said in a public letter to USC President Beong-Soo Kim. “USC’s actions may not seem that transparent. But you have chosen to selectively filter voters’ views of the field of gubernatorial candidates in what all observers describe as a wide-open race.”

The university said in a statement that it had authorized a political expert to create the formula that would determine who would be included in the debate.

“At the request of the Center for the Political Future, Dr. Christian Grose, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, independently created the methodology that determines eligibility for discussion,” according to a statement from the center. “No one from USC administration had any role in the development, review or approval of these criteria.”

The center later said in a statement Friday that it was reiterating the criteria that determine which candidates will be invited to the debate and that nothing had changed since the forum was first planned.

The participation criteria for gubernatorial candidates included public opinion polls and campaign fund raising. Six candidates have been asked to participate in the March 24 debate, co-sponsored by ABC7 Los Angeles and Univision.

However, there was conflicting information about USC’s stated criteria. The methodology says the fundraising totals considered are based on semi-annual campaign reports filed with the California Secretary of State’s office. But the document then says the fundraising figures also include large donations, which campaigns must report immediately.

That’s a critical difference because San José Mayor Matt Mahan didn’t enter the race until late January and until now wasn’t required to file semiannual fundraising returns with the state. But he has received a significant amount of donations since entering the race.

Mahan agreed with Becerra, saying he should participate in public forums on who should run the state.

“The former Secretary is absolutely right, he should be included in the discussion,” Mahan said in a statement. “His long history of service in California has earned him a place in every debate stage of this campaign for Governor.”

USC officials said they explained how they selected the candidates to participate in the race.

“We are reissuing the criteria to make clear that it includes current fundraising totals, including semi-annual and final reports, which have always been part of the formula,” the Center for a Political Future said in a statement. “We are not changing the criteria. As of today, we have updated it and the ranking includes the same top 6 candidates.”

Grose said that the candidate selection was made based on survey and fundraising figures, and that the provision regarding six-month fundraising reports was incorrect.

“It was just a matter of expression. It’s not a matter of methodology,” he said.

Six candidates are scheduled to participate in the debate: Republicans’ Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton; and Democrats Northern California Rep. Eric Swalwell, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer and Mahan.

The uproar emerged after black Democratic candidates accused state party leaders of trying to knock them out of the race in favor of white candidates who have more support in opinion polls.

In addition to Becerra, other prominent Democratic candidates left out of the debate include former state Controller Betty Yee, state Supt. Public Education’s Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also condemned the candidate selection formula.

“Californians deserve a fair process, and voters deserve to hear all qualified voices,” Villaraigosa, who taught public policy at USC for three years after leaving office, said in a statement. “But this biased and bigoted action by USC to manipulate data to exclude every qualified Black, Latino, and API candidate in favor of a less qualified white candidate is shameful.”

Becerra said USC went to great lengths to justify excluded candidates, but the bias was clear.

“You cannot escape the disgusting result: you disqualified all black candidates from participating while inviting a white candidate who NEVER received more votes than some black candidates, including me,” he said.

Becerra was clearly referring to Mahan, who recently joined the race and has received millions of dollars in backing from Silicon Valley leaders. Becerra noted that one of the debate sponsors, veteran GOP strategist Mike Murphy, co-director of the USC Center for the Political Future, helped lead an independent spending committee that backed Mahan.

Murphy said he recused himself from anything involved in the controversy and volunteered for the outside group supporting Mahan. He said he has requested unpaid leave from the university until the June 2 primary election if he becomes a paid consultant to the independent expenditures committee.

“I have been transparent that I am personally a Mahan supporter,” Murphy said. “I had nothing to do with the controversy.”