The panic was real. For days, California Democrats watched returns trickle in, fearing an unthinkable disaster: a November ballot without a single Democrat for governor. Then, late Friday, the numbers snapped into focus. Xavier Becerra had done it. He’d survived the chaos, the scandals, the fractures inside his own party. He’d beaten back a Trump-backed Fox alum, a billionaire activist, and a bruising narrative about Democratic disarray. With one projection, the specter of a Republican-vs.-Republican runoff vanished—and the emotional whiplash inside the party was instant. Relief. Vindication. And a new, sharper question: what will happen when the rest of the votes are fin… Continues…
