California Dems unleashed pressure campaign against USC prior to debate cancellation
Top Democrats in the California state legislature pressured the University of Southern California (USC) to cancel its planned gubernatorial debate after its framework for who got to participate included five...
By Fox News · Fox News
Top Democrats in the California state legislature pressured the University of Southern California (USC) to cancel its planned gubernatorial debate after its framework for who got to participate included five White candidates, but disqualified four minorities who were not polling or fundraising as well per the university. The "data-driven" candidate viability framework produced a lineup of Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, as well as Democrats Tom Steyer, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell – all White candidates. The same criteria, developed by a USC professor and defended by the university, ended up axing Xavier Becerra, Antonio Villaraigosa, Betty Yee and Tony Thurman, all Democratic Party minority candidates, due to lower polling and fundraising scores, they said. After news of who made the candidate pool and who did not, the excluded candidates expressed outrage over what they claimed was a racist candidate viability system created by USC that targeted people based on their race. One candidate, former Health and Human Services Secretary Becerra, even likened it to when his father used to talk about "the days when he would encounter signs posted outside establishments that read ‘No Dogs, Negroes or Mexicans Allowed.’" GOP GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL HAILS LEGENDARY GOLFER FOR HEFTY CAMPAIGN DONATION: 'INCREDIBLY HONORED' Among those expressing outrage besides the candidates themselves were California state Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limon, Speaker of the California State Assembly Robert Rivas, and a handful of other Democratic Party members within the state legislature who called the decision-making framework "biased" in a letter they signed that also included concerns about one of the selected candidate's donor ties to the university. They also referred to candidate's complaints, such as from Becerra, as "valid." "If USC does not do the right thing, we call on California voters to boycott this debate. If the university will not give voters a fai…