The University of Southern California canceled a California gubernatorial debate planned for Tuesday night after rebutting accusations of racial discrimination made by candidates of color.

Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Democrats Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell, and Matt Mahan, who are all white, were slated to participate in the debate hosted by USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future and KABC-TV.

“Concerns about the selection criteria for tomorrow’s gubernatorial debate have created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters,” the university wrote in a statement Monday night. “Unfortunately, USC and KABC have not been able to reach an agreement on expanding the number of candidates at tomorrow’s debate.”

A March 18 UC Berkeley poll shows the only two Republican candidates, Hilton and Bianco, leading the race for California’s gubernatorial primary at 17 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Swalwell, Porter, and Steyer follow at 13, 13, and 10 percent, respectively.

The only invited candidate not in the top six in the Berkeley poll was Democrat and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who was tied for seventh with 4 percent of the vote, behind Latino Democrat Xavier Becerra, who had 5 percent.

In response to allegations of bias, the university said the weighted formula used to select participants was based on candidates’ polling percentage and fundraising, in a statement on March 20.

“Professor [Christian] Grose is one of the most respected scholars in the field of elections and political science. He is regularly called upon by nonpartisan and independent organizations to provide data analysis and objective analysis,” USC Dornsife said. “We have reviewed his research extensively and see no legitimate reason to question its credibility.”

Mahan finished fifth under this scoring system and qualified for the debate because of his significant fundraising. The university said these parameters were set last year when candidates were notified that a debate with top-performing candidates would take place.

“We have had in-depth discussions about expanding the debate’s format; however, there is a significant gap between the top six candidates and the seventh, eighth and ninth placed candidates,” they said. “It simply would not be fair or feasible to invite every candidate in such a crowded field.”

Prior to USC’s cancellation of the debate, a group of 50 public policy scholars from across the country defended the professor in a letter to the university’s president on Monday and urged USC to stand firm in rejecting political pressure on its faculty and academic mission.

“The controversy does not arise from a flawed method,” they wrote. “It arises because a defensible, objective method produced results that certain candidates and campaigns do not prefer.”

The same day, legislative leaders, including chairs of black and Latino caucuses, sent a letter to organizers on Monday calling for alternative parameters.

“If USC does not do the right thing, we call on California voters to boycott this debate,” they wrote, according to USC’s newspaper. “If the university will not give voters a fair shot at evaluating everyone running for governor, voters should find other ways to learn about the candidates.”

After the university canceled the debate, Becerra celebrated on X.

“We fought. We won! We stood up against an unfair candidate debate set-up that prematurely chose winners and losers,” he said. “Tonight USC made the right decision to cancel their March 24 gubernatorial forum … so hopefully next time it’s done right.”

Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra attends a town hall meeting at a clinic in Orange, Calif., on March 9, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Mahan said on X that he’ll be at a rescheduled debate in Los Angeles and is working with the other candidates to make sure the event includes all voices.

“The answer isn’t to cancel debates, it’s to hear all voices,” he said. “Our democracy is stronger when more people are part of the conversation and our solutions become better when we debate them openly.”

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan speaks at a rally on Oct. 3, 2024 (Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times)

The Associated Press contributed to this report.