No clear front-runner has yet to emerge in the election to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Even as early voting has started ahead of the June 2 primary election, a gubernatorial debate with the top seven candidates, according to recent polling, took place on Tuesday night and was televised by CNN.
Among the Democrats were former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former Rep. Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer, and former Speaker of the California State Assembly and Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The polls suggest the top two Democrats are Becerra and Steyer, with the former health secretary’s high ratings making him a target during the debate.
“I think everyone’s invoking my name,” Becerra said toward the end. “It’s nice to hear my name.”
Since it’s a nonpartisan primary race where candidates across party affiliations run on the same ballot, the debate also included the leading Republicans: Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former TV news host Steve Hilton.
According to SurveyUSA poll conducted April 28-May 1, Hilton has most support overall in the open primary with 20% support, enjoying a two-point lead over Steyer.
Here are five highlights from the debate:
Tax on billionaires
Only one candidate — Steyer — fully supported a one-time wealth tax on billionaires, a proposal that is likely going to be on the ballot in November. The tax revenue would go toward supporting the health care system.
Porter opposed the policy, saying the one-time tax doesn’t address ongoing revenue concerns and that it also excludes millionaires.
Both Steyer and Porter advocated for other programs to also receive these newly created streams of revenue.
“It doesn’t go to education and teachers and students, which is a critical need in the state of California,” Steyer said, as The New York Times reported.
Katie Porter and her temperament
Porter’s campaign released a TV ad that addressed a 2021 incident in a lighthearted way. At the time, Porter curtly asked a staffer to get out of her shot while she taped a promotional video. She says the same line — “please get out of my shot” — in a more polite way in her latest ad.
She also faced scrutiny over another incident where she lashed out at a journalist during an interview before threatening to walk out.
Porter repeatedly stated she has apologized for the incident, while shifting the attention to her opponents and their squabbling on stage.
“I can’t believe that on a stage with 30 minutes of interrupting and bickering and name-calling and shouting and disrespect … that anyone wants to talk about my temperament,” said Porter.
“Californians can decide for themselves about my temperament based on what they’ve seen here tonight.”
Other Democrats test Becerra
Mahan, the youngest candidate on stage, attacked Becerra, calling him “a career politician” who didn’t produce results while in office.
“We don’t need MAGA values, but we also don’t need more of the same,” Mahan said. “But we should be honest, the experience we hear from Secretary Becerra didn’t lead to better outcomes. It led to 85,000 migrant children who were lost, more fraud in our healthcare system.”
Aside from receiving criticism for his record while serving as California’s attorney general and Health secretary, Steyer, Porter and Mahan also challenged Becerra for supporting a single-payer health care system, also referred to as “Medicare for All.”
His opponents questioned whether Beceraa could successfully implement such a system.
“Californians don’t care what you call it so long as they have affordable health care that they can use to take their child to the doctor or the hospital,” Becerra responded in defense of his position.
What about immigration?
Overall, most Democrats vowed to protect sanctuary city laws and migrants who live in the country without proper authorization. Others went so far as to propose disbanding federal enforcement of immigration policies in California.
Steyer said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is breaking the law and should be abolished but Biano countered saying that isn’t true.
“No one’s broken the law in California,” Bianco said.
When Porter suggested immigrants contribute to the economy in significant ways, she earned criticism from Hilton.
Porter fired back: “Given that you’re an immigrant, and you added to our population, and we’re all having to live with the consequences of that decision,” Porter said,
Hilton, in his response, pointed out to Porter the difference between legal and illegal immigration.
What do these candidates think about Newsom’s job performance?
All the candidates were asked to pick a word to describe Newsom’s tenure in office.
Here’s what the candidates said.
- Becerra used the word “game-changing.”
- Porter describe it as “bold.”
- Steyer viewed Newsom’s time in office as “progressive.”
- Mahan called it “incomplete.”
- Villaraigosa described the tenure as “performative.”
- Meanwhile, the two GOP candidates had similar ideas. Where Bianco said “failure,” Hilton said “failed” as they exchanged a smile.