An alleged sexual predator, a 2020-election denying former Fox News host, a billionaire, a hotel worker, a couple of fathers, a filmmaker and Barack Obama.
No, that’s not the cast of a new Peacock show that gets suggested after you binge “Love Island” or the latest random cast of “Dancing with the Stars.” That’s some of the more-than-60 certified candidates to be the next governor of California.
While the candidate roster is deep, polling shows there are a few favorites, but it’s far from a runaway.
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Fringe candidates
Nearly seven million Californians voted for former President Barack Obama in 2012. For the nearly 40 million potential voters in the Golden State this fall, Yes We Can make sure they understand the Obama in this governor’s race is not the same Obama who ran this country for eight years.
Barack D. Obama Shaw is a Black man affiliated with the Democratic Party. That’s about where the similarities end when it comes to running for a major office.
The former president was a sitting U.S. senator in Illinois, who wowed the country and party leaders with his famous eloquence at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 before winning in 2008.
Mr. Shaw was originally born Cecil L. Shaw III before legally changing his name to invoke the 44th president in 2013. Shaw said the change was due to the hope Obama brought to the world.
If you’re wondering what the ‘D’ stands for in his new name, it’s un-D-fined.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shaw has a limited public profile and his answers to an OC Register questionnaire were kept relatively short. He also has 314 Instagram followers, which is 0.0007% of the followers former President Obama has and significantly less than even former President George H.W. Bush’s service dog.
While Shaw is the only candidate attempting to invoke a former world leader’s name in the race, he’s clearly far from the only candidate who has an incredibly long shot to Sacramento.
There are also people like Margaret Trowe, who’s officially listed as a hotel worker. She’s also a women’s rights activist and a former vice-presidential candidate of the 2000 presidential election with her running mate and presidential candidate James Harris.
The pair did manage to finish seventh in the state of Minnesota 26 years ago, four years before the launch of Facebook.
There are also several certified candidates who just listed “father” on that certification.
Being a dad doesn’t hurt in major politics. The last man to get elected president without being a father was Warren G. Harding in 1920. All but five presidents had kids, but being a dad may not be enough to get to a major political office.
But that didn’t stop Lukasz Adam Filinski, Dawit Kellel and others from putting that down.
Sam Sandak is also on the official list. Sandak is most known as a Hollywood writer/producer and was once an uncredited guitar player on an episode of “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.”
Another novelly named candidate deserves a mention. “LivingForGod AndCountry DeMott” successfully made it to the ballot.
Real candidates
If you’re wondering how bonkers this race has been, two of the three candidates named in the opening sentences are still relatively serious candidates.
Former congressman Eric Swalwell has officially dropped out of the race after significant sexual assault allegations, but will still appear on the ballot and is likely to still get some votes.
The current leader in the latest polling is former Fox host Steve Hilton, who refuses to admit former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Alongside Hilton is former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who received a significant bump after Swalwell dropped out.
Third in polling is Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, which is why some Democratic leaders are concerned the very blue state could end up with a Republican governor after November because of the jungle primary. That means the two candidates who get the most votes in the primary move to the general, regardless of political party.
That could be Hilton and Bianco if Democratic voters get spread too thin. Bianco has had his own issues in recent months, including a questionable recount attempt of ballots in California’s redistricting.
Other high-polling Democrats include billionaire Tom Steyer, who’s using those deep pockets to run nonstop TV and radio ads but has come under fire from counterattack ads.
Then there’s San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who has the financial backing of Silicon Valley but, frankly, no one knows who he is.
He’s followed by former congresswoman Katie Porter, who’s had her own issues make headlines.
What happens next?
At this point, who knows?
The deadline for candidates to file has passed, so it’ll be one of the fathers, or former congresspeople, or Obama or any of these other folks who will win the election.
That’s unless Mickey Mouse somehow gets enough write-in votes. If you are going to vote in this election, experts recommend avoiding a write-in for Mickey or Harambe the dead gorilla or Kanye West.
All we know for sure is that voters will hit the polls on June 2 and the top two vote-getters will duke it out in November for control of America’s most populous state.
So, good luck.
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