Doug Ose Quits California Governor’s Race, Leaving Two Republicans to Split the Vote

Former Congressman and Republican Doug Ose dropped out the crowded California gubernatorial race on Monday, leaving two GOP candidates in the race.

California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte Party says he would prefer if there was only one Republican candidate.

Ose joined the race in January.

“There’s no money in the Republican donor community,” Ose said in his Monday announcement, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “People who had given $25,000 in the past are only giving $1,000. They’re beat down. They don’t see the same path forward as I do. And if I don’t have the money to get my message out, it doesn’t make sense to go ahead.”

Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) and San Diego businessman John Cox are the two remaining Republicans in the Democrat-heavy race, which is being led by Democrats Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Cox, who spoke to Breitbart News recently, has reportedly raised more than $3.5 million for his campaign. However, the Chronicle notes that $3 million of it came from his personal finances.

A Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll released in January showed Newsom with 23 percent of support from likely voters and Villaraigosa with 21 percent.

Following Newsom and Villaraigosa was Democratic State Treasurer John Chiang at 9 percent, Allen at 8 percent, Cox at 7 percent, former state schools chief and Democrat Delaine Eastin at 4 percent, and Ose at 3 percent.

Brulte said he would prefer to see either Allen or Cox on the ballot because having two Republicans would split the vote and increase the changes of two Democrats proceeding to the general election. “I would prefer to see one (Republican) candidate in the primary,” Brulte said Monday, according to the Chronicle. “If that happens, then we are in the general election.”

Under California’s “top two” or “jungle” primary system, the two lead finishers in the June 5 primary will advance to the general election, regardless of party.

Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.