The Left Comes For Xavier Becerra

SACRAMENTO — Xavier Becerra has surged to the front of California’s wide-open governor’s race since Eric Swalwell’s exit — and straight into a barrage of attacks from progressives and rival Democrats.

After months on the sidelines, the former Health and Human Services secretary is now facing blowback from activists who prefer the fiery populist rhetoric of Tom Steyer, a billionaire vowing to raise taxes on the rich, or Katie Porter, the former lawmaker known for her whiteboard takedowns of corporate CEOs.

Leaders on the party’s left flank view Becerra as a middle-of-the-road Democrat aligned with entrenched interests wary of a progressive likely to clash with Silicon Valley or the Chamber of Commerce, and they’re rushing to blunt his momentum ahead of the June 2 top-two primary.

“Democratic leadership likes a governor that is open for business with corporations,” said Amar Shergill, a former chair of the California Democratic Party’s progressive caucus, who is turning his attention to torching Becerra, dismissing him as a “go-along Democrat.”

To undercut his chief selling point — three decades in public service — his detractors on the left are surfacing complaints from his 24 years in Congress and his time as state attorney general and Biden Cabinet secretary.

They’re circulating old clips questioning Becerra’s handling of the influx of unaccompanied migrant children as Health secretary, spotlighting campaign contributions from companies like Chevron and hammering his opposition to a union-backed billionaire tax. They’re also questioning his support for single-payer healthcare, a litmus test for Democrats.

The flurry of criticism underscores how unsettled the race remains just days before ballots begin landing in voters’ mailboxes — as opponents scramble to define Becerra before his late gains harden into a commanding lead.

Becerra previously received little scrutiny in the contest, despite launching his campaign more than a year ago. He was polling in the mid-single-digits, below the top tier of Democratic contenders, and the field remained frozen as former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla weighed runs. That changed almost overnight after Swalwell ended his campaign and resigned from Congress amid sexual assault allegations, upending the contest. Now, Becerra’s tied with Steyer near the front of the Democratic pack in recent surveys.

“It’s not surprising that the other candidates are coming after him given that they look at him as poised to be the frontrunner,” said Michael Bustamante, an adviser to Becerra’s campaign. “I can assure you that there is no one on the stage that has gone through a vetting process like Xavier Becerra has.”

Becerra has repeatedly said he supports a publicly run health system. But Shergill and a host of influencers on the left, including progressive news sites, have faulted him for not endorsing such a bill — now stalled — in the California Legislature and argue he didn’t further the cause as HHS secretary.

They’re leveling similar critiques on climate, accusing him of punting efforts to sue oil companies during his time as attorney general. RL Miller, a progressive activist who leads Climate Hawks Vote, said Becerra “never did anything groundbreaking” on the environment.

She added, “He would do the bare minimum and put out press releases.”

Steyer’s campaign is playing to that progressive angst as it increasingly targets Becerra’s record. Anthony York, Steyer’s spokesperson, argued that a super PAC running TV ads against Steyer is backed by some of the same corporate interests, including oil companies, that have supported Becerra.

“He’s clearly not a progressive, and there’s a lot of progressives that want to make sure people know it,” York said.

Among the Steyer backers amplifying criticisms of Becerra are progressive state lawmakers Isaac Bryan and Alex Lee, who chairs the Legislature’s Progressive Caucus. Bryan pointed to Becerra taking a $39,200 maximum contribution from Chevron soon after launching his campaign.

“That rubs some folks … that’s what people are noticing,” Bryan said. “Progressives in Sacramento have lined up pretty clearly.”

Bustamante dismissed attacks on Becerra’s progressive credentials, noting he sued the Trump administration 122 times as attorney general — including lawsuits to defend California’s liberal policies on vehicle emissions, clean water, workers’ rights and the Affordable Care Act.

“That is a progressive agenda, that is a progressive approach,” Bustamante said. “This isn’t something that he’s thinking about, this is something that he’s done.”

Becerra’s rise has been palpable. Recent polls show him picking up a significant portion of Swalwell’s former supporters, and his campaign is circulating videos showing packed, energized crowds at events in the Bay Area and Central Valley.

Still, he faces significant hurdles given his late rush. His campaign had about $500,000 cash on hand at the end of the most recent fundraising period, while Steyer has poured more than $120 million of his own wealth into the campaign — a torrent with no sign of slowing.

Attacks on Becerra are also increasingly coming from his rivals in the race, even those arguably running to his right. Matt Mahan, a tech-friendly centrist candidate, said Thursday during an interview in San Francisco that “the establishment in Sacramento is rallying behind [Becerra], precisely because he won't rock the boat.”

Mahan added, “Becerra does not threaten the status quo in Sacramento, which is precisely the problem.”

Steyer, meanwhile, launched a blistering TV ad over the weekend criticizing the former health secretary's handling of a crisis at the border early in his tenure. Becerra sought to more quickly place unaccompanied migrant children with sponsors amid concerns about them languishing in crowded federal detention facilities, but his agency later lost contact with 85,000 of those children, some of whom were trafficked for their labor, according to a New York Times investigation.

“Xavier Becerra, if you lose children, you’re not fit to lead California,” the ad says.

Porter, speaking to reporters after a recent candidate debate, also said the episode was an example of Becerra’s failures at HHS — arguing he had "basically said it’s not my job to take care of these kids.”

Bustamante said that criticism was unfair, saying Becerra had inherited a child migrant crisis created by the first Trump administration. The campaign also launched a webpage over the weekend, featuring video clips designed to debunk the attack.

“He did the best he could, and, frankly, was able to prevail getting these kids processed and moved out,” Bustamante said.