A bombshell fraud case takes the spotlight in California's high-stakes race for governor [View all]

• Xavier Becerra’s longtime advisor Sean McCluskie pleaded guilty to stealing $225,000 from the former Biden Cabinet secretary’s campaign account.
• Democratic and Republican rivals in the 2026 California governor’s race are seizing on the scandal to question Becerra’s fitness, warning that legal jeopardy could hand victory to Republicans.
• Prosecutors say McCluskie, who took a pay cut to join Becerra at Health and Human Services, diverted campaign funds with others to cover the cost of living in both Washington, D.C., and California.

As Xavier Becerra rose to the top echelons of power in Washington and Sacramento over the last two decades, his trusted advisor Sean McCluskie joined him at every step.

The son of a Scottish immigrant, McCluskie had a reputation as a political street fighter and his gruff style complemented Becerra’s more measured, cerebral approach.

Now Becerra is under attack in California’s wide-open governor’s race after McCluskie, 57, pleaded guilty in December to stealing more than $200,000 from Becerra’s campaign account.

The charges were part of a broader scandal that implicated or brushed up against some of Sacramento’s most influential Democratic political advisors, a scheme prosecutors allege included payments, bank fraud and an FBI sting operation that swept McCluskie’s incriminating private conversations and texts into evidence.

Rivals in the California governor’s race have seized on the case to question whether Becerra, one of the front-runners in the contest to succeed outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom, is fit for office and could be swept up in the case.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-13/becerras-advisor-pleaded-guilty-gubernatorial-rivals-are-piling-on