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Seven of the leading contenders in California’s unexpectedly dramatic race for governor faced off on Tuesday night, in a feisty, high-stakes showdown that arrived as voters begin casting ballots in the state’s nonpartisan primary.
The heightened tenor of the two-hour scrap matchup reflected how important the candidates viewed the debate, which aired on CNN to a national audience.
“This is a very serious moment for California. The ballots are out there in your hands, and we have a really big choice to make, which is, do we go for another four years of one party rule?” said Republican Steve Hilton, the former Fox News host who has continually led the jumbled field.
The tumultuous contest to succeed the outgoing Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, began to take clearer shape weeks after one of the leading candidates, former Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell, suddenly withdrew amid sexual assault and harassment allegations, which he strongly denies.
Millions of voters across the state have already received their mail-in ballots before the 2 June primary, leaving precious little time for lower-polling Democrats to break through.
Xavier Becerra, the former secretary of health and human services under Joe Biden, who has seen a remarkable turnaround after Swalwell’s exit, argued that he was the most qualified candidate to help navigate the many challenges facing California, from the punishingly high cost of living and soaring gas prices to homelessness and climate preparedness. “You have to deliver,” he said. “And I have a proven record of delivering results.”
Hilton, who was the director of strategy to the former UK prime minister David Cameron and has been endorsed by Donald Trump, faces an uphill battle in a state where Democrats enjoy supermajorities in the state legislature and hold a two-to-one advantage over Republicans in voter registration. But he argued that the state needs “some fresh thinking after 16 years of one-party rule”.
Signs that the contest is narrowing have helped to ease fears among Democrats that a fractured field might allow two Republicans to slip through to the November general election in the country’s biggest and most influential blue state. Under the state’s so-called “jungle primary”, the top two vote-getters advance regardless of party. A recent survey conducted by the California Democratic party found that the number of undecided voters had shrunk considerably, falling from 24% in early April to 14%.
Becerra’s sudden contention made him a prime target on Tuesday night, to the point he quipped that it was “nice to hear my name” so frequently. Trump was also a frequent target of attack, with Democrats blaming high gas prices on the president’s war with Iran and assailing his administration for its immigration and climate polices that have targeted California.
Becerra called the president California’s “real menace,” while the former California congresswoman Katie Porter was more blunt: “Donald Trump sucks.”
Hilton refused to be drawn into criticizing the president, even though the overwhelming majority of California’s disapprove of Trump. He ignored a question from the former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who pressed him to admit Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. “Election denial certainly is running a campaign in a different way,” San Jose’s mayor Matt Mahan shot back at Hilton.
Several candidates pressed Becerra to clarify his position on a single-payer healthcare system, long an ideological litmus test for Democrats.
“I am absolutely for Medicare for all,” Becerra said, adding that as governor he would work to “build” towards the system.
Villaraigosa accused Becerra of flip-flopping on the issue, which Becerra sharply denied. Porter later accused him of being the “only one who won’t” clearly answer the question, “and to me, with health care on the line, that’s disqualifying”.
Hedge fund founder turned climate activist Tom Steyer, another leading Democrat, has sought to rally progressives behind his campaign, casting himself as a “class traitor” whom other billionaires are trying to defeat. “I’m the change-agent. I’m the progressive,” said Steyer, who has spent more than $130m of his own fortune on his gubernatorial bid. But he found himself on the defensive as his Democratic rivals attacked his wealth and his former hedge fund’s investments in fossil fuels and private prisons.
Mahan, meanwhile, sought to position himself as the only Democrat willing to take on Trump and his own party. “We don’t need Maga values but we don’t need more of the same,” he said.
The candidates split on a proposed billionaire tax that recently earned enough signatures to qualify for the ballot this year. Porter said she wants to tax the highest income earners in the state more, but believed the initiative – which would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires was “simply not good tax policy”.
Steyer said he would vote for the tax, but argued that the state needs to go further by taxing corporations more. Villaraigosa questioned the wisdom of the proposals, warning that new taxes would push even more businesses and high-income earners to flee the state.
The two-hour debate also produced some unexpected exchanges, with Chad Bianco, the Republican sheriff of Riverside county, defending his past membership in the Oath Keepers – a far-right extremist group implicated in the January 6 assault on the US Capitol. “I don’t think an Oath Keeper is qualified to be governor,” Villaraigosa shot back.
During an early round of cross-talk, Porter, the only female candidate on the debate stage, interjected: “Boys, boys! Enough with the bickering.” Attempting to appear above-the-fray, Porter then confronted questions about her management style, which have dogged her gubernatorial campaign since a tense interview and a viral video of her snapping at staffer during a 2021 meeting surfaced.
“I can’t believe that on a stage with 30 minutes of interrupting and bickering and name-calling and shouting and disrespect for everyone up here who’s stepping into public service,” she said, “that anyone wants to talk about my temperament.”
Becerra and Steyer arrived on the debate stage in Los Angeles touting endorsements from two larger-than-life California icons: the labor activist Dolores Huerta recently announced her support for Becerra, while the former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown lent his Bay Area political clout to Steyer.
On Monday, the powerful SEIU California hedged its bets by endorsing both Steyer and Becerra. The union had previously rescinded its endorsement of Swalwell after the allegations against him.
