Body
Seven candidates seeking to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in California’s June 2 primary traded sharp attacks in a testy televised debate that aired on CNN as mail voting was already underway, the Associated Press reported. The two-hour confrontation, broadcast to a national audience, offered no clear leader and reflected how intensely rivals viewed the contest as the kind of early opening that could shape the field going into November.
Republicans Steve Hilton, a conservative commentator, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told voters that Democrats have made life worse for California’s nearly 40 million residents during more than 15 years in the governor’s office. Democrats on stage, including former state attorney general Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, tried to draw distinctions on policy and warned that President Donald Trump poses the biggest threat to the state.
A central thread through the debate was affordability, particularly the punishing cost of living that candidates said must be addressed. AP reported that the average gas price in California was more than $6 per gallon on Tuesday, citing AAA, and that rising prices faced voters alongside other pressures including California’s long-running homeless crisis, wildfire insurance shortages and housing costs that remain out of reach for many working-class families.
The candidates also disagreed sharply over what is driving the costs that Californians face at the pump and in daily life. Becerra said Trump and the war in Iran were to blame for rapidly rising gas prices, while Hilton and Bianco argued gas has long been more expensive in California than in other states because of state taxes and regulations.
Tensions peaked when Hilton said he could reduce gas prices to $3 a gallon, and Mahan responded: “You’re lying to people.” Hilton replied that Trump is the president in other states where the cost of living is lower and said, “Donald Trump is the president in all the other states in America where the cost of living is way lower than in California,” adding that he has Trump’s endorsement. Porter, the only woman on stage, interjected at one point, saying, “Boys, boys, enough with the bickering.”
The debate also turned to taxes and the size and direction of government. AP reported that Steyer was the only candidate who said he supports a one-time tax on billionaires that is likely to be on the ballot in November, and he said it would not be the only tax increase he would seek. Porter argued the tax plan was too narrow and would not make a real change, while Mahan said he would suspend the state gas tax and criticized fellow Democrats for focusing more on expanding government than making it work better.
Hilton pledged to exempt people’s first $100,000 of income from state income tax, while both parties continued to frame the race through Trump. Becerra said he would “repeat Donald Trump as often as I have to because he’s the real menace that we have in California,” and Porter bluntly said, “Donald Trump sucks.”
Beyond policy differences, candidates used opening to target one another on judgments and campaign credibility. AP reported that Becerra faced questions tied to a federal indictment involving his chief of staff and others that alleges they stole campaign money from him, including allegations about a scheme to pad the salary of Becerra’s chief of staff when Becerra served as federal health secretary; several people involved have pleaded guilty. AP said Becerra has not been implicated or indicted, but Villaraigosa and Hilton used the incident to question his judgment and suggest he may have been involved, while Hilton said that if elected he would even push the state attorney general to investigate Becerra. Becerra responded, “If I had been involved, the U.S. attorney would have had me in that indictment. I was not involved.”
Bianco faced questions about his decision to seize more than half a million ballots in Riverside County to investigate claims of election fraud that local officials said were unfounded. AP reported that the state Supreme Court ordered his investigation halted. Porter was asked about a new ad that refers in jest to an embarrassing video from last year in which she berated a staffer loudly; she said it showed “I’m able to take responsibility,” and added, “If these boys bullying and bickering hasn’t been enough to raise questions about their temperament, I would really challenge that.”
The contest is running under California’s system of a single ballot for all candidates, with the two top finishers advancing to the November general election regardless of party. AP reported that Democrats worry the crowded field could produce two Republicans in the final matchup, a scenario they described as a historic calamity for the party, and noted that the GOP has not won a statewide election in California in two decades and registered Democrats outnumber Republicans statewide by about 2-to-1.