Gamesmanship scandal rocks California governors race as Dems dark arts exposed

Democratic voters are amplifying a last-minute nefarious strategy to lock Republican candidate Steve Hilton out of the California gubernatorial race, as the primary comes to a close Tuesday night.Recent polls have Hilton as well as Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer as the top three candidates in a tight race for the top two spots to advance to the general election in November.But some voters who openly dislike President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement want to stick it to him by voting for Steyer regardless if they support him or not — just so Trump-endorsed Hilton won’t make it, leaving it a Democrat-on-Democrat matchup.Former state attorney general Becerra is the Democratic frontrunner and will likely secure a top two spot, so some liberals believe they should give votes to progressive billionaire Steyer to inch out in front of Hilton.That narrative has been circulating around more intensely in the final days before the primary, political observers told The Post.In fact, some are even calling supporters of Becerra, whose fights with Steyer have turned toxic, to hold their nose and vote Steyer.There are hints that at least some of the gamesmanship promotion is stemming from within Steyer circles.“For the libbed out, late-voting Becerra-leaners in your life, grab that poll average and explain to them they have a chance to truly stick it to Trump and deny his fav guv candidate a spot on the November ballot,” wrote Will Jordan, a pollster with the Steyer campaign.Others seemed to have embraced the idea.

Jon Lovett, a host of the left-leaning Pod Save America podcast, said he would vote for Steyer just to get a Dem-on-Dem runoff.Alex Wong, a San Francisco-based former congressional staffer, said he’s leaning Steyer.“I don’t think that a Dem vs Rep race would benefit the electorate,” Wong said.

“The race would become a Fox News segment.All about Trump, immigration, sanctuary cities, trans in sports, the kind of things that are settled in Cal...