California’s top gubernatorial candidates clashed over the high cost of gas, housing and homeowner’s insurance in a testy debate Tuesday evening, an exchange that could draw voters’ attention as the June 2 primary election approaches.
Former US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, whose campaign blossomed after former Rep. Eric Swalwell left amid allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, came under sustained attack during the 90-minute debate but continued to attack him.
Former Fox News host Steve Hilton, the Republican front-runner in recent opinion polls, blasted Becerra for promising to declare a state of emergency to address rising homeowner insurance rates, saying the governor lacks that constitutional authority.
“We cannot have a governor who does not understand how government works,” said Hilton.
Becerra, who served as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, quickly defended himself, saying he knows the law better than Hilton.
“We don’t need a talking head from Fox News to tell us how the government works,” he said.
And that was after Becerra took a dig at Hilton, who has been endorsed by President Trump, by calling Trump “Hilton’s dad.”
The debate was televised and broadcast live by CBS stations across the region. Hundreds of people watched from Pomona College’s historic Bridges Auditorium, a Renaissance Revival-style Art Deco landmark that was once among Southern California’s premier performance venues.
With eight major candidates from both parties taking part, CBS anchors billed it as “the biggest and most engaging debate of the election.” Becerra and Hilton were joined by Republican candidate for Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Democratic candidate for San José Mayor Matt Mahan, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer, county Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Some of the takeaways from this debate:
The candidates did not shy away from the top issues
The moderators themed the first half-hour of the debate on “affordability,” a major concern of California voters, and soon the candidates began bantering and talking to each other.
Almost all of them vowed to accelerate housing construction in California, which is key to reducing the state’s high housing costs.
There is no shortage of ideas for other ways to ease the financial burdens facing Californians, but few details on how to deliver on those promises given the state’s complex and difficult legislative process.
Hilton promised to cap gas prices at $3 per gallon, and Mahan vowed to end the state’s gas tax. Bianco said that Democrats have been controlling and overtaxing Californians for a long time, and the state’s Democratic Legislature will have to go along with him and end those things if he is elected.
Becerra said he would lower prescription drug prices. Thurmond said he will provide down payment assistance grants to those trying to own their first homes.
Barbs trade for weather 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 reporter 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.
The moderators pointed to the increase in catastrophic wildfires across the country in recent years due to climate change, as well as the threat of earthquakes, and asked the candidates how they would respond to future emergencies.
As he has done throughout the debate, Bianco responded by attacking California’s Democratic leadership, which he said created many of the problems facing the state.
Bianco said the causes of wildfire disasters in the state “are not due to climate change” but to “failed policies of environmental activists” that have prevented fire departments from clearing high-burning brush from communities for years.
Mahan, after revealing his actions as mayor of Silicon Valley during the emergency, quickly took a shot at Becerra and his role as the secretary of Health and Human Services in the US during the pandemic.
He said Becerra “never met a problem he couldn’t ignore” and blamed Becerra for failing to address COVID-19, the monkey and the increase in unaccompanied minors at the US-Mexico border during the Biden administration.
Becerra responded that his organization faced challenges in working with all 50 states and the federal government to release vaccines and other resources quickly.
“You’re not wearing a mask, are you, Matt? You’re not worried about catching a monkey, are you?” Becerra said.
Steyer was also attacked 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 in the oil and gas industry, and using those profits to fund his campaign for governor. Steyer has spent more than $143 million of his own money on his campaign, according to a fundraising report filed with the California secretary of state’s office.
“What about the beneficiaries who pay? You pay the lowest tax in this category, but you’ve made billions that you’re using to fund your campaign on gasoline,” Porter told Steyer.
Steyer responded that he is an “ambassador of change” opposed by special interests and pointed to campaign committees funded by private companies and other industries that oppose his bid. PG&E, the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Assn. Realtors put more than $29 million into two committees to fund attack ads against billionaires.
Republicans focus on blaming Democrats
With weeks to go before the June 2 primary, the race to replace Newsom remains open, and many voters are still undecided.
Republicans Hilton and Bianco led the majority of public opinion while a large field of Democrats split the vote, leading to fears among Democrats that the party could be locked out of the general election, despite outnumbering Republicans by nearly two to one among state voters. In California’s open primaries, the top two finishers advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
The two Republicans avoided overtly attacking each other at the convention but were always the targets of the other candidates on stage.
Becerra, speaking about the health care funding cuts approved by President Trump and Republicans in Congress last year, referred to Hilton’s presidential endorsement. “The first thing we have to do is stop Steve Hilton’s father,” said Becerra.
Hilton jokingly replied that her father, who was the goalkeeper of the Hungarian national ice hockey team, was not ready for the race. And he said Becerra’s comments point to what’s wrong with California politics — fixing Trump even though Democrats have controlled the state for more than a decade.
“We’ve had the same people in charge for 16 years now, and it’s such a disaster and a high cost of living for everybody, with the highest poverty rate in the country and the highest unemployment rate in the country, and a very bad business system,” Hilton said. “All these things are wrong, they have no choice but to blame Trump. Let’s see how many times you hear that tonight.”
Bianco grew frustrated several times with the format of the debate and the responses of his opponents. At various points, he compared the show to “The Twilight Zone” and called it “an hour and a half [viewers] we will never come back.”
Pressed on what he would do differently if elected, the Riverside official turned his attention to criticizing Democrats and accusing them of lying.
“We’ve got a bunch of 20-year-old kids and we’re sitting here lying to them about the broken policies of a Democrat in California for the last 20 years, and we’re going to sit here and blame a former president for a year. It’s ridiculous,” he said.
Hilton has seen a bump in his poll numbers since then endorsed by President Trump earlier this month. A CBS News/YouGov poll of more than 1,400 registered voters released Monday showed Hilton leading at 16%, followed by Steyer at 15%, Becerra at 13%, Bianco at 10%, Porter at 9%, Mahan and Villaraigosa at 4% and Thurmond at 1%. The largest group of voters – 26% – was undecided.
Nixon reported from Sacramento and Mehta reported from Claremont. Times staff writers Kevin Rector, Dakota Smith and Blanca Begert contributed to this report.
