Becerra gains in California governor race after Swalwell exit, interview dispute grows

Xavier Becerra’s campaign surge has brought a new problem with it: as his poll numbers climb, so does the scrutiny over how much access a front-runner should demand before an interview.

Becerra, who launched his bid for California governor on April 2, 2025, asked KTLA reporter Annie Rose Ramos, “By the way, this is a profile piece, this is not a gotcha piece, right?” before their televised conversation. Ramos replied that the questions were fair and meant to help viewers learn about him as a candidate, and the exchange quickly became part of the larger story around a race that has grown more volatile since former Rep. Eric Swalwell suspended his campaign on April 13, 2026.

The timing mattered. In the days after Swalwell left the race, Becerra’s standing rose sharply. An Emerson College poll taken after Swalwell’s exit showed Becerra moving from 3% to 10%, while a later California Democratic Party tracking poll put him at 18%, tied for the lead with Republican Steve Hilton. With the June 2 primary approaching and California’s top-two system sending the two highest vote-getters to November, every point in the polls now carries real strategic weight.

That helps explain why the interview dispute struck a nerve. Ramos pressed Becerra on his record as former California attorney general and former U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, including a 2023 New York Times report that HHS could not locate 85,000 migrant children who were supposed to be tracked by the department. She also said she had interviewed Tom Steyer and Chad Bianco without similar pre-interview pushback, undercutting Becerra’s suggestion that the conversation was somehow uniquely adversarial.

The episode also landed in the middle of a bruising campaign stretch for Becerra. At a CNN debate in Monterey Park on May 5, 2026, he faced repeated attacks from rivals, and he was criticized in the same campaign period for comments related to Eric Swalwell’s alleged sexual misconduct. The pattern suggests a candidate trying to advance while limiting exposure, a familiar move for anyone rising in a crowded field but one that can look guarded when voters are watching for candor.

That tension has not gone unnoticed inside Democratic circles. POLITICO reported that former Biden administration officials reacted to Becerra’s rise with incredulity, mockery and resignation, a sign that his climb has become one of the race’s most unpredictable developments. Becerra has also benefited from momentum beyond the polls, including endorsements from 14 Assembly Democrats and more than $1 million raised in the week after Swalwell exited. For voters, the question now is whether that momentum reflects strength, or simply a campaign trying to stay in control while the race keeps slipping beyond it.