Former state Controller Betty Yee announced Monday that she is suspending her bid for California governor, telling CBS News California Investigates in an interview that the decision was due to internal polling.

Yee's exit comes just days after former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped his own bid for governor and resigned from Congress amid sexual misconduct allegations, upending a race in which recent polling shows nearly a quarter of likely California primary voters remain undecided.

With no clear Democratic frontrunner emerging in those surveys, pressure has been building on lower-polling candidates to drop out of the race. Party leaders, including state Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks, have warned that a crowded field could splinter the vote and risk advancing only Republicans to the general election under California's top-two primary system.

Yee said the decision to suspend her campaign was not due to ongoing pressure from the Democratic Party.

"I mean, they're doing their job and for whatever reason decided to put money into a poll that would narrow the field," Yee said in an interview with CBS News California Investigates just hours before she announced the decision publicly. 

She called the so-called "shame polls" a self-fulfilling prophecy. But said her decision to end her campaign stemmed from her own internal polling. 

"What they were saying, which was concerning, was that experience and competence was not polling as high as we thought when I first started this race," Yee said.  

In a conversation with CBS News California Investigates correspondent Julie Watts, Yee expanded on why she thinks her campaign never took off.

"We are in this new era where it's kind of almost a reality TV show mentality that people want, and frankly, conflict sells," she said. "That's what gets people's attention."

The longtime fiscal watchdog — who served on the state Board of Equalization before her tenure as controller — was widely seen as one of the most competent and qualified candidates for governor, including by fellow candidates who spoke highly of Yee in background conversations with CBS News California. Several said they hoped she would work in their administrations if they won the race.

"I'm not a flashy person, I don't come with gimmicks," Yee acknowledged. "I even joked with my team one time, maybe I just need to bring a folding stool and throw it off the stage just to get some attention. I mean, what's it gonna take, right?"

Yee reflected on the emotional toll of the race, the realities of the numbers, and why she believes now is the time to step aside.

"I am stepping aside from this race for governor because this is a time where I do not see a path to be successful. But success comes in all different forms," Yee added. "I do feel we've run a successful campaign. But the work doesn't stop here. My commitment to public service is both in my public life and in my personal life. So I will be back to the communities."