Mayor Faulconer Considering Race For Governor

When Mayor Kevin Faulconer was running for reelection he was considered the odds on favorite. The only problem he faced was the claim by opponents that he would leave San Diego on run for governor in 2018. Kevin Faulconer told San Diego's he was committed to serve as mayor for four years. Now comes a story from POLITICO that Mayor Faulkner has been quietly soliciting support for gubernatorial run next year. Join me as the senior reporter with POLITICO desk good to be here. What does that mean quietly soliciting support? What did you find out? I think I would call it testing the waters. People close to his deliberations on the issue say he has not made up his mind and I think he has a reputation for being cautious and is hesitant about this. Has been encouraged by Republicans statewide to run. I testing the waters I think what he is really testing this to see if there is enough support from donors to run a credible campaign. Nobody wants to get into a race with no funding. That's what he's looking at a Apparently Tom Campbell is trying to present him as an alternative for the GOP to run a candidate for governor and there has also been a meeting with Ellie Mayor Robert Bearden. He said that he met with Faulconer a couple weeks ago just before Christmas Faulconer that he plants run. The can -- Campbell meeting he was more circumspect he said he organized a meeting with more than 100 of his political donors and then he traveled to that meeting but was careful there not to say what his plans are for running. We should note Mayor Faulconer's office did not respond to us or tearing -- POLITICO about his plans. As you say former LA mayor Richard Riordan told you Faulconer asked for his support in the campaign for governor. Riordan did not give Faulconer his support. That's also what he told you. He said he just does not know Faulconer well enough. It is so early in the campaign that that should not be seen as a snub. He gave money in December to a Democratic candidate John Chung but also said that that does not mean that he's necessarily endorsing that person. He also spoke highly of Antonio VO rugosa. Is a moderate Republican much like Faulconer. He said that it is fairly early days but Democrats are already raising millions of dollars aren't they? That's right Gavin Newsom the lieutenant governor Antonio Pierre Cassatt and John Chung are all raising significant sums of money a Democrat has said she will run others have said they will run. The real issue is if there are so many Democrats brawling it out in the primary there's a decent chance that a Republican could make it through the runoff in the fall. That is important to the Republican Party even if that candidate is -- there has really been a scramble among Republicans to try to field somebody credible. Faulconer would certainly be a that. Kevin Faulconer actually has some early polling. There are some poll numbers coming in showing that he has second in this very early days of the race. They did a poll in November that had him at about 16% that was well behind Gavin Newsom but well ahead of the other Democrats. The other thing to remember is that Republican registration is still something like 26% statewide. If you have many Democrats running in the primary and you do not clog that field with a lot of different Republicans but have say one credible Republican that is the avenue for that person to get through. Political experts have told me when I have been speaking with them that as California gets more democratic on the whole the Republicans in California are getting more conservative. With a moderate like Kevin Faulconer appeal to what has become an extremely conservative Republican party? That is true especially over -- when you compare the party now to what it was during Reagan's day I think the importance of party label is so significant to Republican and Democratic voters -- his moderation may help with crossover votes. That's why we have seen him certainly successful in the Democratic city in San Diego. You have covered several Governor's race is. What we need to do over the next year to have a shot at winning? The primary would be the first concern. It really is to raise money so that is the first step of somebody that is interested in running in one take is to test the waters on fundraising. The reason he would do it quietly is because he may decide he does not want to run and so by not advertising he's out there he could make the decision and avoid the headache of going back on what he said last year about not running for governor. That's it. You test the donor waters and at some point you get in. Thank you David.