Voters flipping through California's state voter guide for the June primary may notice something missing: candidate statements for some high-profile races.
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 12:46AMWhen you look through the state voter guide for the June primary, you may notice blank pages and some candidates missing.
It's not a mistake. It's actually a choice made by the candidates, including Democrat Tom Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton, both running for governor, and state Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is seeking reelection.
"I've been hearing a lot of people sort of aghast - why isn't our favorite candidate x, y, z in the voter guide," said Roxanne Hoge, the chair of the L.A. County Republican Party. The reason is Proposition 34. Passed by California voters in 2000, it established limits on campaign contributions for certain offices.
For governor, you must agree not to spend more than $11,767,000 for the primary and stay under $19,611,000 for the general election.
"A hundred million dollars is not unusual for statewide campaigns, so the fact is, if we would have agreed to those limits, there's no way we could have won," Hilton said. According to the Secretary of State's office, the candidate statement costs $25 per word, not to exceed 250 words, which would cost $6,250.
"I decided to not to go ahead and pay the ransom fee in order to be in that voter information bulletin," said Gloria Romero, a Republican candidate for California lieutenant governor. "Many other candidates chose to as well. I think in today's day and age, I think we're much more savvy in terms of how we want to target, I think, high-propensity voters who we believe we really need to market to to get our vote out. "Copyright © 2026 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
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