Commentary: Fix the potholes or fight the power? That's the choice facing California's next governor

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You may have missed it, what with President Trump’s endless pyrotechnics, but California voters will decide in November who succeeds Gavin Newsom, the highest-profile governor since the Terminator returned to Hollywood.Unfortunately for those attempting to civically engage, the current crop of contenders is, shall we say, less than enthralling.In alphabetical order (because there is seriously no prohibitive front-runner), the major candidates are Xavier Becerra, Chad Bianco, Ian Calderon, Steve Hilton, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, John Slavet, Tom Steyer, Eric Swalwell, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa and Betty Yee.Whew! (Pause to catch breath.)Armed with that knowledge, you can now go out and win yourself a few bar bets by asking someone to name, say, even two of those running.Meantime, fear not.Your friendly columnists Mark Z.

Barabak and Anita Chabria have surveyed the field, weighed the odds, pondered California’s long history and concluded ...they have absolutely no clue what will happen in the June 2 primary, much less who’ll take the oath of office come next January.Here, they discuss the race that has Californians sitting on neither pins nor needles.There’s a large and varied field to choose from, even if there are no celebrities or white knights riding to the rescue.

Voters are looking for someone to lead the state, not entertain them.Chabria: Mark, I do this for a living and I’m having trouble summoning up any interest in this race — yet, anyway.Part of my problem is that national events are so all-consuming and fast-moving that it’s hard to worry about potholes.

I admit, I appreciate that our White House-contending governor is fighting the big fight.But remind me again, what’s a governor supposed to do?Barabak: End homelessness.

Elevate our public schools to first-class rank.Make housing and college tuition affordable.

Eliminate crime.End disease ...