Rusty Hicks, chair of the democratic party, wrote an open letter asking candidates without the ability to win to drop out of the upcoming California gubernatorial race. 

“If you do not have a viable path to make it to the General Election, do not file to place your name on the ballot for the Primary Election,” Hicks said.

In the letter, Hicks prepared candidates who file for the race to withdraw and endorse another candidate by or on April 15 if their “campaign cannot show meaningful progress towards winning the Primary Election in the coming weeks.” 

Hicks’ letter suggested that if Democrats were able to win the election, it would threaten Democratic wins during the November midterms. After the passing of Prop 50 added additional California congressional seats, Hicks suggested a Democrat win could take the House, impeach President Trump, and “spare our Nation from the pain many have endured since January 2025.”

Democratic candidate Tony Thurmond, polling in the single digits, claimed the instructions in Hick’s letter were racist. 

“The California democratic party is essentially telling every candidate of color in the race for governor to drop out,” Thurmond said in a video posted on X. “Bernie Sanders was right. Our political system is rigged, corrupted by the political elites, the wealthy and well-connected,” Thurmond continued in the video.

“I recognize my suggestions are hard for many to contemplate and may be even viewed as overly harsh by some,” Hicks wrote in the letter. “So much is at stake in our Nation, and so many are counting on the leadership of California Democrats to stand up and speak out at this historic moment.”

Following the letter’s release, former Los Angeles Mayor and Democratic candidate Antonio Villaraigosa posted on X that Xavier Becerra should drop out, citing data from Paul Mitchell’s Two Party Simulator, a simulation tool used for analyzing potential outcomes in California’s top-two primary system. “If Xavier Becerra stays in the race, there is a 27.6% chance two Republicans advance to the runoff. If he drops out, those odds fall to just 8%,” Villaraigosa wrote in the post.

Grant Cowles, a mathematics junior and member of Cal Poly Democrats said he agrees with Hicks’ letter. “The GOP has fewer candidates than Democrats, which is advantageous in our top-two primary system.”

Cowles said he sympathizes with complaints about the two-party system, but “politics is first and foremost about garnering power.”

“We have little to gain from allowing hopeless candidates to absorb Democratic votes, and a lot to lose from allowing a pro-MAGA candidate like Bianco or Hilton into the general election,” he added.

The California gubernatorial election will take place on Nov. 3, 2026.