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Swalwell’s exit created a vacuum in the race for Becerra, who also served as a Los Angeles-area US congressman and California attorney general. He ran on his years of experience in various governmental roles and argued that only someone who had managed crises could fix California’s current problems.
But Becerra also had to weather attacks on the very same record. Critics and opponents — including Steyer, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — criticized Becerra’s handling of the child migrant crisis and the mpox outbreak. Allies said those attacks were unfair.
“He inherited a super, super tough situation, and worked night and day, day and night, to try to do the humane thing by these kids and get them reunited with their US family members,” Ron Klain, President Joe Biden’s first White House chief of staff, told CNN in April.
Becerra’s opponents also criticized him after his former chief of staff pleaded guilty to a fraud charge related to a scheme to siphon money from a Becerra campaign account. Becerra has not been accused of any wrongdoing by law enforcement.