California governor debate abruptly canceled amid controversy over who was invit

[SVPete]

California governor debate abruptly canceled amid controversy over who was invited to attend

https://www.ocregister.com/2026/03/24/california-governor-debate-abruptly-canceled-amid-controversy-over-who-was-invited-to-attend/

A planned California gubernatorial debate for Tuesday night was abruptly canceled less than 24 hours before the event, amid controversy that no candidates of color were among those invited to participate.

In a statement released late Monday night, a USC spokesperson said it will “look for other opportunities to educate voters on the candidates and issues.” But the debate planned with ABC for Tuesday evening was nixed.

“USC vigorously defends the independence, objectivity and integrity of USC professor Christian Grose, whose data-driven candidate viability formula is based on extensive research and enjoys broad academic support,” said Beth Shuster, vice president of content strategy for USC.

“At the same time, we recognize that concerns about the selection criteria for tomorrow’s gubernatorial debate have created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters,” said Shuster, adding that USC and KABC Channel 7, the television partner of the debate, could not “reach an agreement on expanding the number of candidates.”
... The six candidates invited to participate were Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton and Democrats Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer and Eric Swalwell.

These top six candidates were picked based on a formula created by Grose, a political science professor.

Polling percentage and fundraising were used to determine a candidate’s viability formula, according to the methodology. The polling percentage was determined by the most recent Public Policy Institute of California survey, and the fundraising component took the total amount raised divided by the number of days a candidate was in the race. Polling, though, was weighted more than fundraising because that “is a snapshot measure of actual voters’ opinions,” the methodology said.