A University of Southern California professor has dismissed claims his debate formula was racist after a firestorm forced the cancelation of a high-profile California Democrat governor’s race showdown.

USC political scientist Christian Grose defended the controversial ranking system in an interview on CNN’s “The Story Is with Elex Michaelson”, after it produced an all-white slate of six candidates – sparking outrage from those who missed out and leading to the event being cancelled.

The debate, which had been scheduled to take place at USC, was scrapped following backlash when it emerged that the next four highest-ranked candidates excluded from the stage were all people of color.

The USC’s selection criteria excluded former California attorney general Xavier Becerra, ex-Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, California schools Superintendent Tony Thurmond and former state controller Betty Yee – but included San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who has polled at less than 5% in recent surveys.

“We fought. We won! We stood up against an unfair candidate debate set-up that prematurely chose winners and losers,” Becerra said after the event was cancelled.

But Grose insisted the formula was rooted in mainstream academic practice, combining polling strength and fundraising totals – two metrics widely used in political science.

“I used the methodology that’s been endorsed by scholars from Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton,” he said.

He dismissed accusations of racism from California politicians, arguing the same model has produced more diverse outcomes in other contests.

“When you run it through other elections, like the Mayor of LA race, the candidates who come out on top on this formula are candidates of color,” he said.

Grose also pushed back on claims the formula favored San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a Democrat whose relatively strong fundraising offset weaker polling and helped secure him a spot in the debate lineup.

He denied giving any candidate “bonus points,” adding: “The reality is just the candidates who were complaining were not doing as well. And it’s not the formula, and it wasn’t me.”

The fallout has left the gubernatorial race without a scheduled debate for at least a month – a missed opportunity, Grose said, for voters to hear directly from the candidates.

“We missed an opportunity to really hear from candidates on issues,” he said.

Grose stressed he did not decide how many candidates would be invited – that call was made by USC – and said the results reflected campaign performance, not bias, while acknowledging the broader importance of diversity in California politics.

Republican Steve Hilton, who’s leading the polls blasted the decision to cancel the debate.

”Democrats ALWAYS put the political insiders ahead of the people,” Republican Steve Hilton, who’s leading polls, fumed on X.

“We are done with these clowns.”

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