California's leading gubernatorial candidates clashed over high gas, housing and home insurance costs in a testy debate Tuesday afternoon, an intense exchange that may finally grab voters' attention as the June 2 primary election quickly approaches.
Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, whose campaign flourished after former Rep. Eric Swalwell withdrew amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, came under persistent attack during the 90-minute debate but also went on the offensive.
Former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican who leads all candidates in the most recent opinion polls, criticized Becerra for promising to declare a state of emergency to address rising homeowners insurance rates, saying the governor lacks that constitutional authority.
“We can't have a governor who doesn't understand how government works,” Hilton said.
Becerra, who served as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, quickly defended himself by saying he knows the law better than Hilton.
“We don't need a talking head from Fox News telling us how government works,” he said.
And that was after Becerra early attacked Hilton, who has been endorsed by President Trump, by referring to Trump as “Hilton's dad.”
The debate was broadcast live on CBS stations across the state. Hundreds watched from Pomona College's historic Bridges Auditorium, a Renaissance-style landmark with Art Deco flourishes that was once among Southern California's premier performance venues.
Featuring eight major candidates from both parties, CBS moderators called it “the largest and most inclusive debate of the election.” Becerra and Hilton were joined by Republican Riverside County sheriff candidate Chad Bianco and Democratic candidates San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer, and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Some conclusions from the debate:
The candidates did not shy away from the main issues
The moderators set the topic of the first half hour of the debate as “affordability,” a top concern among California voters, and almost immediately the candidates began criticizing and talking over each other.
Nearly all of them promised to speed up housing construction in California, which is critical to reducing the state's high housing costs.
There was no shortage of ideas about other ways to ease the financial burdens Californians face, but few details on how they would deliver on those promises given the state's complex and arduous legislative process.
Hilton promised to cap the price of gasoline at $3 a gallon, and Mahan promised to suspend the state's gas tax. Bianco said Democrats have long regulated and overtaxed Californians, and that the state's supermajority Democratic legislature would have to align with him and put an end to those things if he is elected.
Becerra said he would reduce prescription drug prices. Thurmond said he would provide down payment assistance grants to those trying to own their first home.
Criticism exchanged over climate emergencies
Anchors and reporters from local CBS stations moderated the debate, including Los Angeles anchor Pat Harvey, Sacramento anchor Tony Lopez, Bay Area anchor Ryan Yamamoto and national investigative correspondent Julie Watts. They were joined by Sara Sadhwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College and a member of California's independent redistricting commission.
Moderators noted the increase in catastrophic wildfires across the state in recent years due to climate change, as well as the threat of earthquakes, and asked candidates how they would respond to future emergencies.
As he did throughout most of the debate, Bianco responded by attacking California's Democratic leadership, which he claims created most of the ills facing the state.
Bianco said the root causes of the state's fire disasters “are not due to climate change” but to “failed environmental activist policies” that prevented fire departments from clearing highly flammable brush around communities for years.
Mahan, after touting his actions as mayor of Silicon Valley during the emergencies, quickly pivoted to attack Becerra and his role as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services during the pandemic.
He said Becerra had “never faced a crisis that he couldn't ignore” and accused Becerra of failing to address COVID-19, monkeypox and the increase in unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border during the Biden administration.
Becerra responded by saying his agency addressed crises by working with all 50 states and the federal government to quickly deploy vaccines and other resources.
“You're not wearing a mask, are you, Matt? You're not worried about getting monkeypox, are you?” Becerra said.
Steyer also came under attack when he began discussing his plans to “make polluters pay” for the effects of climate change. Porter criticized the former San Francisco hedge fund founder for making millions from the oil and gas industry and using those profits to finance his gubernatorial campaign. Steyer has spent more than $143 million of his own money on his campaign, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the California secretary of state's office.
“How about speculators pay? You pay the lowest tax rate in this scenario, and yet you made the billions you're using to finance your campaign with fossil fuels,” Porter told Steyer.
Steyer responded that he is a “change agent” candidate opposed by special interests and pointed to campaign committees funded by utilities and other industry groups that oppose his candidacy. PG&E, the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Association. of real estate agents have invested more than $29 million in a pair of committees to finance attack ads against the billionaire.
Republicans focus on blaming Democrats
Just weeks before the June 2 primary, the race to replace the term-limited Newsom remains open and many voters are still undecided.
Republicans Hilton and Bianco have led numerous public opinion polls, while the large group of Democrats has split the vote, raising fears among Democrats that the party could be shut out of the general election, despite outnumbering Republicans nearly two to one among the state's registered voters. In California's open primary, the top two finishers advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
The two Republicans avoided openly attacking each other during the debate, but were regularly targeted by other candidates on stage.
Becerra, speaking about cuts to federal health care funding approved by President Trump and congressional Republicans last year, referred to the president's support for Hilton. “The first thing we have to do is arrest Steve Hilton's dad,” Becerra said.
Hilton jokingly responded that his father, who was the goaltender for the Hungarian national ice hockey team, had not intervened in the race. And he said Becerra's comment pointed out what's wrong with California politics: a fixation on Trump even though Democrats have controlled the state for more than a decade.
“We've had the same people in charge for 16 years and it's a disaster and such a high cost of living for everyone, and the highest poverty rate in the country and the highest unemployment rate in the country, and the worst business plan,” Hilton said. “When all these things go wrong, there's nothing they can do but blame Trump. Let's see how many times you hear that tonight.”
Bianco became visibly frustrated several times by the debate format and his opponents' responses. At different times he compared the event to “The Twilight Zone” and called it “the hour and a half that [viewers] “We will never go back.”
Pressed on what he would do differently if elected, the Riverside sheriff also focused on criticizing Democrats and accusing them of lying.
“We have a group of kids in their 20s and we're sitting here lying to them about failed Democratic policies in California for the last 20 years, and we're going to sit here and blame a president who's been president for a year. This is absolutely ridiculous,” he said.
Hilton has seen an increase in her poll numbers since she was endorsed by President Trump earlier this month. A CBS News/YouGov poll of more than 1,400 registered voters released Monday showed Hilton leading with 16%, followed by Steyer with 15%, Becerra with 13%, Bianco with 10%, Porter with 9%, Mahan and Villaraigosa with 4% and Thurmond with 1%. The largest group of voters (26%) were undecided.
Nixon reported from Sacramento and Mehta reported from Claremont. Times staff writers Kevin Rector, Dakota Smith and Blanca Begert contributed to this report.
