蜜桃影视

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In February 2015, barely three months after he was elected to a second term as California鈥檚 lieutenant governor, Gavin Newsom announced he would run for governor in 2018. The onetime mayor of San Francisco, where his dash and early support of gay marriage made him a high-profile hero on the left, raised millions for his campaign long before another candidate entered the race.

He has never trailed, and he will likely remain the front-runner heading into next month鈥檚 鈥渏ungle鈥� primary, which will send the two top vote getters, regardless of party, into November鈥檚 general election. Much of the race鈥檚 drama is unfolding in a close contest for the second spot and the right to challenge Newsom for leadership of an economy and a heavily Democratic-voting population.

Republican John Cox, a Southern California businessman who has run for office several times unsuccessfully, appeared to move a few points ahead of former Los Angeles mayor and past state Assembly speaker Antonio Villaraigosa in April, were .

The state鈥檚 major newspapers split their recommendations between the top two Democrats. On May 9, the San Francisco Chronicle , and a day later, the Los Angeles Times urged voters to in the June 5 primary. and also backed Newsom, while聽 favored Villaraigosa.

Under Gov. Jerry Brown, who twice served two terms as governor and at age 80 is reaching the end of his term limit, California became a bulwark against Trump administration policies on , , and, particularly, . In March, the Department of Justice sued the state for protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation. The president is viewed less favorably in California 鈥� his approval rating is , and just 16 percent among voters under 30 鈥� than nearly anywhere else, and his polarizing presence has imbued the governor鈥檚 race.

鈥淭his is not just California but everywhere: Trump just dominates everything,鈥� said Larry Grisolano, a consultant who is working with a super PAC supporting Newsom. 鈥淗ow candidates project and juxtapose next to Trump is a necessity, and especially among Democrats, because that鈥檚 who鈥檚 most energized at the moment.鈥�

In , the Public Policy Institute of California found that, along with hot-button issues like immigration and gun and school safety, education is a top concern for the state鈥檚 voters, with 64 percent saying the candidates鈥� positions on K-12 issues were 鈥渧ery important鈥� 鈥� a sentiment that crossed party lines but was more common among Democrats (69 percent) than Republicans (55 percent). Another 26 percent said the issues were 鈥渟omewhat important.鈥�

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鈥淧eople may say they鈥檙e going to be the 鈥榚ducation governor,鈥� but in California every governor is going to be the education governor.鈥�

鈥擬ark Baldassare, president and CEO, Public Policy Institute of California

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Sixty percent of voters told the policy institute in a subsequent poll that state funding for schools was inadequate, and a majority (61 percent) said they favored amending Proposition 13 of the state constitution, which limits local property taxes, so that schools would receive more money.

鈥淧eople may say they鈥檙e going to be the 鈥榚ducation governor,鈥� but in California every governor is going to be the education governor,鈥� said Mark Baldassare, the institute鈥檚 president and CEO. 鈥淚n California, so much of the funding in our 40-year, post鈥揚roposition 13 world is driven not by local funding but by state funding. That for so many voters is what the government is about: taking care of schools.鈥�

On Education

The flow of dollars from powerful interests has put education near the center of the campaign and possibly exaggerated differences between some of the candidates. Newsom, who is supported by between 21 percent and 30 percent of voters, won the backing of the powerful California Teachers Association last fall. But the gap between and , was more about tone than substance: Both emphasized early education and child welfare, increased school funding, and better access to college.

Newsom has stressed community schools, which provide basic health care and other services to disadvantaged students and their families, while Villaraigosa wants to increase teacher pay and training.

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A policy rift opened in February when Newsom鈥檚 spokesman that the candidate, a past charter school supporter, had indicated to the CTA while aiming for its endorsement that he was against expanding charters in California 鈥渦ntil there is real oversight and stricter enforcement,鈥� the spokesman said.

It鈥檚 unclear that Newsom鈥檚 concession was necessary. Villaraigosa鈥檚 support for a legal challenge to state tenure laws, and his accusation that teachers unions blocked change while he was mayor, made the former Los Angeles union organizer a pariah to his old union, and to the statewide CTA, years ago.

But the unions鈥� resistance to his agenda while he was mayor also elevated his stature in the school reform movement. His April polling numbers seemed stuck somewhere between 9 percent and 18 percent of voters, but he was expected to get a big boost after deep-pocketed charter supporters donated $12.5 million to an independent expenditure committee supporting his candidacy. Reed Hastings, the Netflix CEO, led the surge with a $7 million contribution, while billionaire education activist and philanthropist Eli Broad and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg also made seven-digit gifts.

鈥淰illaraigosa has a record and history of making education front and center and charter schools being part of that vision,鈥� said Gary Borden, senior vice president of civic affairs at the California Charter Schools Associations, which runs the super PAC supporting Villaraigosa. 鈥淣one of the other candidates has made education front and center.鈥�

With a war chest up to $22.5 million, Villaraigosa , who has raised $26.5 million, but the new funds make him competitive across the state鈥檚 far-flung and demographically varying media markets, and observers expect a storm of advertising in coming weeks.

The ads will inevitably draw stark contrasts, but even as Newsom鈥檚 education record has been more pragmatic and centrist than he and many of his supporters acknowledge, Villaraigosa is not a stereotypical reformer.

Neonatal care and housing insecurity aren鈥檛 usually shortlisted priorities for market-driven education advocates, even in blue states, nor is a nostalgia for the arts that almost sounds like anti-reform champion Diane Ravitch.

鈥淚f there was one curriculum change, I鈥檇 bring back the arts,鈥� Villaraigosa said at a March candidate forum. 鈥淵ou know, when I was a kid in the public school, you could play the trumpet for 25 cents and if you couldn鈥檛 afford it they鈥檇 give it to you for free,鈥� he said.

鈥淎s we know, not everybody focuses on science and math 鈥� it鈥檚 a great way to learn science and math, by the way. Or social studies.鈥�

The CTA doesn鈥檛 see similarities between the candidates, however.

鈥淰illaraigosa is backed by corporate billionaires with a privatization agenda and one that takes funds away from neighborhood public schools and moves to those privately run charters,鈥� said CTA spokeswoman Claudia Briggs. 鈥淣ewsom believes teachers are the solution to public education issues, where Villaraigosa wants to take away the professional rights of educators.鈥�

Several of the gubernatorial candidates will participate in 鈥淏uilding Our Future: A Forum on Children鈥� May 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College. The event is open to the public and co-hosted by The Chronicle of Social Change, the Children鈥檚 Defense Fund鈥揅alifornia, and the Children鈥檚 Partnership in partnership with LA School Report, 蜜桃影视鈥檚 sister site, and the Los Angeles Daily News.

Republican Challenge

Either Democrat would be preferable for teachers unions to Cox, the affluent businessman who is clocking a few points ahead of Villaraigosa (and who once for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois). Cox caught heat by not voting for Trump, but, like other Republican office seekers nationally, . In California that means opposing the state鈥檚 support for immigrants, defending gun rights and the Proposition 13 property tax ceiling, and repealing a gas tax passed by Brown.

Cox鈥檚 ideas on education are underdeveloped but echo Education Secretary Betsy DeVos鈥檚 calls for more parent choice and making schools compete for students. At he decried tenure (鈥淚 can be fired at any time. And you know what, it makes me better鈥�), opposed free tuition at state universities, advocated for civics education, and argued that money doesn鈥檛 improve schools.

鈥淐ompetition is the only way to get quality and efficiency,鈥� he said. 鈥淓very day I wake up in the private sector and I try to do something to beat my competition.鈥�

Cox faces large but not insuperable obstacles to making it through the primary successfully. The state Republican party is weak: , and no Republican has won statewide office since 2006. State GOP officials failed to endorse either Cox or state Assemblyman Travis Allen, an unabashed Trump supporter who trails Cox by a few points, preventing either from ascending as the consensus candidate among state conservatives.

Cox will also need Villaraigosa to fall back, perhaps losing some of his support to John Chiang, an early favorite among state workers and Democratic party regulars whose candidacy has failed to ignite. California鈥檚 treasurer and former controller, Chiang has deep support among Asians and is well funded, but he has attracted only single-digit support.

A former state education superintendent, Delaine Eastin, trails the other Democrats.

If Cox fails to finish in the top two, the race may have unusual national influence. that the absence of a Republican at the top of the ticket in November will depress turnout among GOP voters. With a half-dozen vulnerable Republicans in congressional elections, according to , the result could affect the control of Congress.

A race between the two Democrats would be more competitive than if either ran against Cox or Allen.

鈥淎 Republican would be ideal in the general election,鈥� Newsom joked at a debate last week. 鈥淓ither of these two will do.鈥�

A final turn of the screw: Traditional polling places no longer exist in five California counties, where residents were mailed ballots and were able to vote in the June 5 primary beginning last Monday, May 7.

鈥淚鈥檓 guessing that three-quarters of the ballots will be in by Election Day鈥� in these counties, said pollster Mark DiCamillo.

Disclosure: The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies provide financial support to 蜜桃影视.

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