FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The race for California governor is still wide open even after the California Democratic Party Convention this past weekend.

The top candidates are in a virtual dead heat with one another, with no one having a clear lead. 

And in that crowded field to replace current Governor Gavin Newsom as he terms out, Xavier Becerra is hoping voters are paying attention to him. 

“When it comes time to solve these really major crises that we face in California, you want someone who knows how to get things done,” Becerra said. 

Becerra is a former Los Angeles area congressman and former California Attorney General. He then worked as the Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden. He’s now touting all of that experience to voters as they try to make a decision come June 2. 

“I’m the only candidate who’s actually balanced a budget that’s larger than the budget of the state of California,” he said. 

Becerra is fresh off this past weekend’s California Democratic Party Convention. While no candidate received enough votes from delegates to secure an official party endorsement, Becerra said he’s happy with the momentum from the meeting. 

“All of us have these next few weeks to really try to make the case. I made a case at the convention. I’m, I was I came out in the top three. I’m going to continue to build on that because I think there is something that people want that I can offer,” he said. 

A candidate needs 60% of the delegates’ votes to get an endorsement. Becerra got the third most votes, behind Congressman Eric Swalwell and former State Controller Betty Yee.

Despite that, recent polling from The Public Policy Institute of California shows there’s still no clear frontrunner in the race, with the top five candidates all within a few points of one another. According to that poll, Becerra is polling at or below 5%. 

When asked if he thought it was possible to have two Republicans on the ballot after the June primary, Becerra answered with this. 

“Well, first, I think it’s healthy that we have good candidates and people have choices. We’ve seen elections where we have very few choices and folks are not happy,” he said. 

“I’m certainly, as a Democrat, very interested in making sure a good Democrat or two good Democrats make it into the November runoff. And so I’ll work very hard to make sure that I’m one of those two,” he continued.