USC canceled a gubernatorial debate planned for Tuesday after candidates of color who were excluded from the event accused the university of discrimination, prompting a dispute that unfolded over several days and escalated late Monday. The debate had been scheduled to be hosted by USC’s Dornsife Center for the Political Future and KABC-TV in Los Angeles, with a lineup that included Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco and Democrats Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell and Matt Mahan.
The candidates who were kept off the stage—Antonio Villara-gosa, Xavier Becerra, Betty Yee and Tony Thurmond—contended that the university’s selection process discriminated against candidates of color. The university, according to the statement it issued earlier in the week, defended the formula it used to determine participation and denied bias.
USC said in a statement that an independently developed set of criteria was created by a public policy professor and based on candidates’ polling and fundraising, and that the formula had broad academic support. In response to the criticism, a group of 50 public policy and social science scholars from across the country said it backed the professor, writing to USC President on Monday and urging the university to stand firm.
“We urge USC to stand firm in rejecting all efforts to apply political pressure on its faculty and its overall academic mission,” the scholars wrote, according to the account of the letter. Later, however, USC said the co-hosts could not agree on a solution, reversing its stance and canceling the debate Monday night.
The cancellation came as the Democratic field remained crowded and no clear front-runner had emerged ahead of the June 2 primary. Ballots are scheduled to go out in early May, leaving candidates and organizers focused not only on debate access but also on how voters may perceive viability in the large field.
The AP account said that much of the criticism was directed at Mahan’s inclusion over other candidates. Mahan, the San Jose mayor, joined the race months after some of his competitors, but, according to the report, he had outraised some of them thanks in part to contributions from ultrawealthy donors in Silicon Valley.
Mahan said he was disappointed the debate was canceled and argued that the other established candidates should have been allowed to participate. “The best way to promote democracy is to have every voice included and have forums like this for debate,” he said in an interview cited by the report.
The dispute intensified Monday when legislative leaders, including chairs of the Black and Latino caucuses, called on the organizers to open the debate to more candidates. The leaders said that if USC did not make the decision they wanted, they would call for a boycott, writing that “If USC does not do the right thing, we call on California voters to boycott this debate.”
Villara-gosa, a former Los Angeles mayor who is Latino, publicly supported USC’s cancellation. In a statement cited by the report, he said USC made the right call even if it came “late and under pressure,” describing the move as aligned with the effort to ensure a fairer forum for evaluating candidates as the campaign heads toward the primary.