The top candidates in California’s more open gubernatorial race squared off Wednesday night in a Los Angeles debate that started modestly but quickly descended into another tug of war.
Former Biden Cabinet member Xavier Becerra and billionaire Tom Steyer, both Democratic front-runners, were the targets of political attacks — Becerra for his record as U.S. Health Secretary and Steyer for his past investments, including private prisons housing immigration detainees.
San José Mayor Matt Mahan opened the debate by criticizing Republicans and Democrats.
“We don’t need the divisive leadership that the MAGA people are giving us on this stage. We don’t need the leadership of a billionaire who is against everything he does with his money, or a politician who has repeatedly failed to deliver results,” Mahan said, taking a shot at commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriffs Chad Bianco, Steyer and Becerra.
Mahan had good reason to continue the attack. The moderate Democrat has struggled to meet early expectations that he will be out of office.
The latest California Democratic Party poll, released Monday, showed Hilton and Becerra tied at 18 percent, with Bianco, a Republican, at 14 percent. Steyer received 12% support, with the support of other top Democrats in the race – former Orange County District Attorney Katie Porter, Mahan, former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond – was in the single digits. Thurmond did not meet the voting threshold to qualify for this week’s televised debates.
The sanctuary state policy is leading to a kerfuffle
In a heated debate over immigration and the state’s sanctuary laws, Porter said, “We have to strengthen our sanctuary laws everywhere so we don’t have crazy guys taking the law into their own hands.”
It was a blow to Bianco, who has criticized the law that prevents local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration agents.
“Tell that to a crazy mother who lost her child,” Bianco said, referring to a case in her area involving a 14-year-old child who was hit and killed by a driver who said he had two prior DUI arrests and was in the country illegally.
“Sir, I don’t need lessons from you about motherhood,” said Porter, a single mother of three and the only woman on the debate stage.
“It’s possible,” Bianco said, prompting Porter to grimace and groan along with the audience from the studio audience.
The one-hour standoff followed another debate Wednesday evening, between the candidates for mayor of Los Angeles, part of a doubleheader hosted and broadcast by NBC4 and Telemundo 52 in Los Angeles. Both took place at the Skirball Cultural Center and were moderated by NBC4 News anchor Colleen Williams, chief political reporter Conan Nolan and Telemundo 52 News anchor Enrique Chiabra.
Republicans and Democrats are divided on immigration
Democrats have remained tight-lipped on a number of immigration-related issues, including opposing Immigration & Customs Enforcement raids and supporting a sanctuary law that prohibits police from cooperating with federal agencies.
Republicans say the controversial state law, approved in 2017 under President Trump, harms public safety.
“I have someone in my jail right now … convicted, but three prior DUI charges, he was released from jail,” Bianco said. “He was exiled over the two of them, [came] he returned to the country, then killed a 14-year-old boy in another DUI. So we have to wait until someone dies before we deport the arrested criminals.”
Villaraigosa argued that the law allows violent criminals to be deported and that thousands have been deported by state and local authorities.
Hilton, a British citizen who became an American citizen in 2021, called himself “a candidate for the legal immigrant community” and said the governor’s job is to enforce the laws, whether they agree with them or not.
All Democrats have said they will restore full Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented immigrants, which has been rolled back due to budget problems, while Republicans have said they won’t.
Polling Latino voters
Also at the center of Wednesday’s debate was the ongoing rivalry between Becerra and Villaraigosa. Both were competing for California’s key Latino vote, and attacks on the former Los Angeles mayor have intensified as Becerra has moved up in the governor’s race.
About 40% of the state’s population, Latinos are California’s largest ethnic group but are also among the most likely to vote, making up only 21% of votes in the 2022 primary election.
Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at USC, said Becerra’s increased momentum could increase Latino turnout, “but I don’t see any evidence right now that tells us that will happen. Unfortunately, when it comes to primaries, turnout is always low. Even in competitive races like this.”
On Wednesday, Villaraigosa launched a new digital ad featuring a former member of the Biden administration questioning Becerra’s record as US Health and Human Services secretary.
He emphasized the issue during Wednesday’s debate after moderates asked the candidates how they would address homelessness in California.
“Mr. Becerra, are you proud that you deported 85,000 migrant children? According to the New York Times, they were deformed, they were exploited,” said Villaraigosa. “Some were even killed. You say those are MAGA speeches, MAGA lies. Tell the dead children.”
“So I’m not sure what that had to do with homelessness, but calm downAntonio, calm down,” Becerra responded, urging his opponent to “calm down.” He blamed Villaraigosa for the baseless attack Trump used on former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
“We protected the children. We did not allow them to be abused,” said Becerra. “Stop lying.”
Speaking of homelessness
Democrats and Republicans on stage are deeply divided over how best to address California’s ongoing homelessness crisis.
People living on the streets are “industries in homeless factories,” Bianco said, adding: “This is not and has never been about homes.
Mahan, Villaraigosa and Becerra touted their record of building housing and expanding mental health services, saying that would help reduce homelessness. They, along with Porter, also called for greater attention to spending on the homeless.
Hilton said that this issue is one of the biggest problems of the state and blamed the Democrats – the party that has been in charge of the state government for the past 16 years.
“Some of these Democrats in this section, they’re talking like we’re in the same place where the Democrats have never run this state for the last 16 years of one-party rule,” he said.
Democratic transition to nuclear power plants, high-speed rail
A series of lightning-quick questions highlighted subtle shifts in Democratic policies as candidates aim to make the country more affordable.
Democrats have led the charge to phase out nuclear power plants in California due to concerns about potential environmental and health hazards, but as the state struggles with energy availability, all Democrats (and both Republicans) have said they will support continued operations at the state’s only remaining nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo County.
Most Democrats also said they support completing a high-speed rail line from Bakersfield to Modesto, despite the high cost and delays, but said the project must be done cheaply and efficiently. Hilton and Bianco want to dismantle the project.
And all Democrats except Steyer have said they will vote against a proposed billionaire tax that could be on the November ballot primarily to fill federal cuts to health care. While most of the Democratic candidates except Mahan say they support higher taxes on the wealthy, they have raised issues with the details of the proposal, including the fact that it is a one-time tax.
