third time

The Democrats running for California governor have spent the spring and summer working to win over the powerful donors and interest groups who could help them squeak through a competitive primary election.

But the candidates, and many deep-pocketed Democrats, are still waiting for the decision that will have the biggest impact on the race: whether former Vice President Kamala Harris is running.

Since Harris lost to President Trump in November, the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom has been in suspended animation, with candidates trying to plan their campaigns without knowing who their biggest opponents will be. A few are making contingency plans to run for other offices. And some major donors are waiting to write big checks.

“It creates a little bit of a limbo situation,” said Tony Thurmond, the state superintendent of public instruction who launched his gubernatorial campaign in 2023.

The Democrats in the race are talking to many of the same potential donors, Thurmond said, and most have the same question: “Is she going to run?” The only answer, Thurmond said, is an unsatisfying one: “We don’t know.”

Since leaving Washington in January, Harris has mostly stayed out of the public eye, settling back into her Brentwood home with her husband, Doug Emhoff, and talking to close friends and confidantes about what she should do next. She is weighing whether to leave politics, run for governor or run for president for a third time. She is expected to make a decision about the gubernatorial race by the end of summer.

The Democrats who are already running for governor lack Harris’ star power, and her entry could upend the race. But the former vice president would also face questions about her 107-day sprint to the White House, what she knew about President Biden’s decline and whether someone who has run unsuccessfully for president twice really wants to be California’s governor.

“She is looking closely where is the best place to put her energy and focus and her time,” said Debbie Mesloh, a longtime Harris ally.

The few public appearances Harris has made this year — meeting with firefighters in Altadena, attending a high school graduation in Compton and headlining a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in the Bay Area — have been fodder for those trying to read the tea leaves. What does it mean that Harris skipped the state Democratic Party convention? That Emhoff has taken a teaching job at USC?

Harris had originally planned to take a two-week vacation at the end of this month but has canceled her trip, according to someone familiar with her plans.

Harris has also been in New York, where she attended Broadway plays and the exclusive Met Gala; in San Francisco, where she dined with her niece Meena at the high-end Japanese restaurant Shoji; and in Los Angeles, where she has shopped for groceries at a 99 Ranch Market in Westwood and the Brentwood Farmers Market.

As the months have worn on, some gubernatorial campaigns have started to think that Harris’ victory feels like less of a foregone conclusion than if she’d announced in January after leaving office.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Biden Cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra and former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine have said that they will stay in the race no matter what.

Veteran state Senate leader Toni Atkins of San Diego said she is also staying in if Harris runs, saying in a statement that “while the vice president has her own path, our campaign is moving full speed ahead.”

Former state Controller Betty Yee said in an interview this week that even if Harris runs, she is staying in, too.

“No, no, no,” Yee said, of the possibility of seeking another statewide office. Being governor, she said, “is what I feel like I’ve prepared to do. I will be staying in the race and really leaning into my fiscal and financial background.”

Yee said when she talks to donors, they want to know two things: how California can push back against the Trump administration, and what she will do if Harris enters the race.

Dan Newman, a political strategist who’s worked for Newsom, Harris and several of the gubernatorial candidates, said that the race is at an odd inflection point, with candidates who “don’t know who their potential voters are, because they don’t know who they’re running against,” and some donors who are waiting — at least for now — to write big checks.

“They’ve got a good excuse to not give, because even if they are a big fan of a candidate who’s in the race now, they don’t know if the candidate will stay in the race,” Newman said. “Then there are others who don’t want to give to someone who might run against her.”

Eric Jaye, a political strategist who previously worked for Villaraigosa’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign and advised Newsom when he was mayor of San Francisco, said he’s hearing “frustration” from donors who are ready to see the race pick up speed.

“They’re not going to wait much longer,” Jaye said. “There are going to be donors who say, ‘We have to go. We’re not going to wait for you.’”

But even if Harris entered, that wouldn’t be a guarantee that donors would back her again, including those who are angry that she spent nearly $1.5 billion in campaign funds in her compressed campaign for the White House in 2024.

“The money is very, very upset with her,” said gubernatorial candidate Stephen Cloobeck, a businessman and Democratic donor who is running for California governor. “They’re my friends. I’m part of that money. Everyone is thoroughly reeling.”

The amount of money that candidates raise is one way to gauge their support — and prospects. That picture remains a little fuzzy, though, since gubernatorial candidates have until July 31 to report their fundraising hauls from the first half of the year.

The only candidate to release numbers so far is Becerra, who said he raised $2.4 million since entering the race in early April, including a $1.1-million transfer from his congressional campaign account. Becerra’s campaign has $2 million on hand, including the largest contributions allowed by law — $39,200 — from the politically connected Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and Pechanga Band of Indians.

Campaigns are required to report contributions of $5,000 or more shortly after they receive them. Those figures don’t represent total fundraising, but can still show a campaign’s trajectory.

Three of the eight candidates have raised less than $100,000 this year in chunks of more than $5,000 at a time, state data show. Yee reported $71,900 and Thurmond, $32,500.

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis reported raising $70,000, including $5,000 from Google. Her campaign said Kounalakis, who has been raising money since entering the race in April 2023, has $9 million on hand.

“I want to be clear that I’m in this race to win,” Kounalakis said.

Villaraigosa, who entered the race last summer, has raised almost $1 million this year through large donations, data show. Atkins reported about $381,000 this year, and Cloobeck, about $132,000.

Porter, who entered the race in March, reported almost $475,000 in larger contributions, according to state data. She also transferred $942,000 from her U.S. Senate account to her gubernatorial account, according to federal filings made public Tuesday.

Ray Montgomery is just three weeks into his interim tenure as Angels manager. And as his responsibility grows, he’s well aware that so does the pressure.

“All blame, no credit,” he said Monday as the Angels began a seven-game homestand before the All-Star break. “And I get that. That’s just how it goes.”

Since taking over as manager on June 20 for Ron Washington — who will remain on medical leave until the end of the 2025 season — Montgomery has guided the Angels (44-46) to an 8-8 record entering Tuesday.

They’ve had the good: taking two of three from the Braves in Atlanta last week. And they’ve had the bad: getting swept by the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre over the weekend.

Montgomery said he understands the expectations aren’t what they were a few years ago — when the Angels lost 89 or more games from 2022 to 2024 — and that the Angels aren’t so far away from their first postseason berth since 2014 thanks to their young core having a few seasons under its belt.

“We’re not here to develop, although that’s a piece to what we do,” Montgomery said. “We’re here to win. And for the Angels, it’s important for us to have an opportunity where we are.”

If anything, there’s a case to be made that the Angels could be over .500 if a few plays had gone their way. Since Montgomery took over as manager, the Angels are 2-5 in one-run ball games, including all three games in the Toronto series.

When asked what the Angels need to do or adjust to end up on the other end of those one-run contests — of which they’d been 17-11 across the full season — Montgomery pointed to big swings and specific plays.

“You can point to the big hits, I get it, but you can also point to the execution on smaller plays, too, that prevent runs,” he said. “We made some mistakes in those games.”

The Angels got one of those big plays on Monday night. Nolan Schanuel drew a walk-off walk for a 6-5 victory over the Rangers, wiping away miscues such as a dropped third strike that led to a score-tying RBI double.

Montgomery, in his fifth year with the Angels — fourth as a member of the coaching staff — turned to a decision he made in Atlanta last week as proof that one moment can change the game.

Against the Braves last week, Yusei Kikuchi had been brilliant. The Japanese left-hander was two-thirds into the sixth inning of his then-scoreless outing. Instead of keeping Kikuchi — at 100 pitches — in to try to finish off the side as he worked through the Braves lineup for the third time, Montgomery pulled the left-hander in favor of right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn with two runners on base.

It backfired. Sean Murphy, who struck out twice against Kikuchi earlier in the game, hit a three-run home run to give the Braves a 3-2 lead, an advantage that would turn into an 8-3 loss.

“If I leave Kikuchi in Atlanta, right, and he gets a guy he handled pretty good during the game, we may sweep that series too,” Montgomery said. “[Games are] magnified now — I get it.”

Decisions like those are where Washington and Montgomery’s managerial strategies may differ. Washington, a longtime MLB coach, comes from an era of giving starting pitchers a longer leash (it goes hand in hand with the Angels using just five starting pitchers so far in 2025).

Montgomery, who comes from a scouting background in his post-playing career, may value analytical strategy more — holding pitchers from facing a lineup a third time through the order and playing matchups more.

Angels catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who has played for new-school managers that emphasize analytics such as Kevin Cash, as well as old-school managers such as Terry Collins, says Montgomery toes the line in between both managerial styles.

“He’s got a good feel,” d’Arnaud said. “He trusts the staff, which is really good, and also trusts the bullpen, which is also really good. He has really good communication with every player, lets them know when they’re playing — which is more of a younger thing — and so it’s a mix of both [new- and-old school].”

Strategy could be the difference between Murphy facing Zeferjahn rather than Kikuchi. Strategy may be the difference between a win and a loss — or staying in contention for an American League wild-card spot.

“It’s tough to say,” right-hander Jack Kochanowicz said when asked about the difference between Washington and Montgomery. “You feel like each game is different. It’s hard to really put an identity to either one of them, especially since Ray’s so new to it, too. It’s a small sample size.”

For Montgomery, he said he’s not going to dwell on the could-have-beens. Squarely in the chase — and in the zone between the franchise deciding between buying and selling at the trade deadline — he’s just happy the Angels are in the conversation.

“If you told us coming up on the All-Star break, that we were in the mix a couple games above or below .500 — and I’m not ignorant of the fact that we’ve cost ourselves a few games, we should be a little better than we are — I would be happy with where we sit right now,” Montgomery said.

BALTIMORE — Cedric Mullins and Gary Sánchez hit back-to-back home runs to give Baltimore the lead and Félix Bautista finished off the Orioles’ 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday with his second straight save.

Mullins hit his 11th home run, a two-run shot off Angels starter Tyler Anderson in the sixth inning, and Sánchez hit his first homer with the Orioles for a 6-4 lead. Mullins has been involved in three of the Orioles’ six back-to-back homers this season.

Bautista topped 100 mph for the first time since 2023 on a fastball to Mike Trout before the Angels slugger flied to right field for the second out in the ninth. Bautista walked Taylor Ward before striking out Logan O’Hoppe on the ninth pitch of the at-bat and his 22nd pitch in the inning. Bautista has 14 saves in 15 opportunities.

Trout homered high off the foul pole in left field after Zach Neto drew a leadoff walk from Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano to give the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first. It was his 11th home run this season and the 389th of his career.

L.A.’s Luis Rengifo hit solo homers from both sides of the plate for the third time in his career after entering with just one on the season. He homered off lefty Keegan Akin to give the Angels a 4-3 lead in the sixth and again off right-hander Andrew Kittredge in the eighth to cut it to 6-5.

Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg had RBI singles in the third to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead.

Anderson (2-4) allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings. He is 0-4 in 10 starts since beating the Giants on April 18.

Sugano gave up three runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings. Akin (2-0) got four outs, including the final one in the fifth with the bases loaded to keep it tied 3-3.

Baltimore rookie Coby Mayo had his first multi-hit game, going two for four with a double for his first extra-base hit at home.

Up next

Angels LHP Yusei Kikuchi (2-5, 2.92) will try to prevent a sweep when he starts Sunday’s series finale against Orioles LHP Cade Povich (1-5, 5.46).

Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck has won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender, becoming the first at the position to do so since Carey Price a decade ago.

Hellebuyck was unveiled as the top MVP vote-getter on an awards show Thursday night prior to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, hosted by actor and former Arizona State wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar won the Lady Byng for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct for a third time.

Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl finished second in the Hart voting and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov third, a single point ahead of Colorado’s reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon, as chosen by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Hellebuyck was a landslide winner of the Vezina as picked by general managers, receiving 31 of 32 first-place votes.

Hellebuyck won the Vezina for a second year in a row and for the third time in his career. He backstopped the Jets to the Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular season and the William Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals allowed before losing in the second round of the playoffs to Dallas.

Price was the last to pull off the Hart-Vezina double in 2015. Hellebuyck is just the sixth goalie to do it, joining Price, Jose Theodore in 2002, Dominik Hasek in 1997 and ‘98 and Jacques Plante in ’62.

Kucherov, the Art Ross Trophy winner for leading all scorers with 122 points this season, was also chosen for the Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player, as voted on by his peers. The Russian winger was MVP in 2019 when the Lightning finished atop the standings.

Draisaitl, the Rocket Richard Trophy recipient for scoring a league-high 52 goals, won the Hart in 2020 after the season was cut short by the pandemic. He became the first German player to be MVP.

A majority of the awards were already presented over the past few weeks, given out as surprises for the first time with no advanced notice. Colorado’s Cale Makar got the Norris as the top defenseman, Florida’s Aleksander Barkov the Selke as the best defensive forward and Washington’s Spencer Carbery the Jack Adams as coach of the year.