Four Californians ran for president in 2020. None made it to Super Tuesday.
Despite the lack of Golden State natives on the stage, California played a key role in the 2020 Democratic primary.
The state's massive trove of delegates, central to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' plan to win the nomination, served as a catalyst for the major shift � forcing Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar to end their campaigns and endorse former Vice President Joe Biden.
The consolidation of moderates worked: Biden racked up wins and regained his front-runner status in the media narrative. But Bernie won the biggest prize of the night, first place in California's primary, according to projections by the Associated Press.
SANDERS SURGES
Bernie's success caught me by surprise. After his heart attack, I thought Elizabeth Warren would own the progressive lane in the campaign. Yet Sanders bounced back stronger than ever and built a commanding lead in California.
California voters tend to be more progressive than voters in other states, but their shift to Sanders shows the degree to which Donald Trump has energized the Democratic Party's progressive base. Sanders' California strategy -- opening dozens of offices around the state and making special efforts to win over young voters and Latinos with highly organized outreach -- paid off in a big way.
He fought for every vote in every region of the state, and in nearly every major language. Win or lose, the democratic socialist from Vermont has awakened the conscience of a new generation and changed the way would-be presidents will campaign here.
BIDEN BOUNCES BACK
Like most political observers, I saw the Democratic nomination as Biden's to lose. After the chaos of the Trump era, Uncle Joe sounded like a perfect antidote. Yet Biden struggled to live up to the front-runner mantle, stumbling badly and raising serious doubts about his candidacy. Younger players like Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Kamala Harris started seeming like better bets for moderate voters.
The experts declared Biden's candidacy all but dead after embarrassing losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. But like Lazarus, Joe jolted back to life. His massive win in South Carolina made it clear he's still got juice. Buttigieg and Klobuchar bowed out and bent the knee. The "Joementum" is back, but it faces a serious threat from Sanders -- and from Biden's unique ability to get in his own way with fumbles and gaffes.
KAMALA COLLAPSES
We saw it coming. Despite a picture-perfect launch on the steps of Oakland City Hall, The Bee's Editorial Board expressed early skepticism about Harris, questioning "whether her deeds can live up to her words." The Editorial Board also predicted Harris' record as a prosecutor would face withering criticism from Democratic progressives and complicate her path.
Harris rocketed to the top tier of the primary but fell back to Earth. Staff infighting, bad press -- and an inability to define her positions in a crowded field -- tripped up her effort. She ended her campaign in December, after scorching stories in the New York Times and Politico made its collapse appear imminent.
But don't count her out. California's junior senator has one of the most powerful positions in the country and a strong national fan base. Some consider Harris a smart pick for vice president.
WARREN PERSISTS
I got this one wrong. Shortly before her launch, I called on Warren to scrap her run because I thought her campaign ended the moment she took Donald Trump's DNA bet, thus proving her claims of Native American identity untrue. I wrote that her false identity claims "raise serious questions about her character and alienate people of color."
Unfazed, Warren surged in September, but her chances of winning the nomination are now 1 in 100, according to FiveThirtyEight. Her campaign resonates mostly with college-educated whites, according to Vox.
But Warren's historic candidacy has endured. She has repeatedly proven herself to be more capable and knowledgeable than any man in the race. On the debate stage, she performed a national service by singlehandedly transforming billionaire Mike Bloomberg from a juggernaut into a jugger-not. That alone made her entire run necessary and worthwhile.
BILLIONAIRES DROP
Talk about predictable. California voters, once again, disappointed the hopes of self-funding billionaire candidates. I said they would -- because they always do. Despite an inescapable blitz of ads, neither New York's Bloomberg nor San Francisco's Tom Steyer caught fire in delegate-rich California. Saturating the airwaves with nonstop ads starring uber-wealthy candidates still can't beat whatever strange mix of charisma and authenticity voters find persuasive in real politicians. Steyer dropped out after South Carolina. Bloomberg may win some delegates in California, but he'll mostly be remembered for spending half a billion dollars to divide American Samoa's six delegates with Tulsi Gabbard.
On Wednesday morning, Bloomberg dropped out.
Of course, the high-paid consultants from the losing billionaire campaigns were probably drinking the finest champagnes on Tuesday. Pro tip for billionaire candidates: Next time, hire a democratic socialist to advise your Golden State ground game.
With 244 days until Nov. 3, only one thing's certain: Though California has spoken, this race is far from over.
