Just weeks before voters receive their ballots, the California race for governor remains unpredictable and chaotic; but in a debate Wednesday night, there were relatively few fireworks among the six candidates onstage.
For voters still deciding whom to support in the nonpartisan June primary, the debate shed light on the candidates’ positions on taxes and homelessness, but did not provide a breakout moment for any of them.
The leading candidates include four Democrats and two Republicans, and polls have consistently shown that there is no clear front-runner in the race.
The televised debate, held in the San Francisco television studio of KRON4, was the first since Eric Swalwell, a Democratic congressman, dropped out of the race last week amid accusations of sexual assault. While questions about the collapse of Mr. Swalwell’s campaign came up briefly during the 90-minute debate, the moderators largely focused on some of the state’s most persistent problems, including housing costs, gas prices and inequality.
Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, and Katie Porter, a former congresswoman, have polled near the top of the Democratic field for several weeks. But both Republicans — Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host who has been endorsed by President Trump, and Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County — have consistently polled well enough to worry Democratic leaders. The top two candidates in the primary, regardless of party, will advance to the general election.
Xavier Becerra, the former California attorney general, and Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, did not meet the original threshold of voter support to participate in the debate. But after Ms. Swalwell dropped out, the debate organizers commissioned a follow-up poll that showed a spike in support for both candidates.
County officials in California will begin sending ballots on May 4.
Here are five takeaways from the debate.
Everyone wants to talk about Tom Steyer’s money.
Mr. Steyer was arguably the best known of all the candidates onstage — and he is known for being a billionaire. He has spent roughly $120 million in the race so far, a fraction of his net worth, an estimated $2.4 billion according to Forbes.
And he has used that money to try to convince voters that he is a staunch progressive. “Tax me more,” he’s fond of saying.
On Wednesday, that tax may have come in the form of repeated questions about his money.
“I’m the billionaire who wants to tax other billionaires,” he said.
When the debate moderators asked him why doesn’t he choose to contribute more in taxes, Mr. Steyer said that he and his wife plan to give away the majority of their money while they are alive.
Ms. Porter was not impressed.
“Mr. Steyer likes to talk about his ‘giving pledge,’ but what he’s done with his own money is more give himself an opportunity to be the governor,” she said.
Mr. Steyer retorted that “billionaires and corporations are spending big in this race to oppose me.”
“I am the change agent here, and they don’t want change,” he said.
And everyone wants to be working class.
“The biggest problem in California is Californians can’t afford to live here,” Mr. Steyer said, in what may have been the least contentious line of the night.
The rising cost of living has been one of the most persistent issues in California in the past decade. The candidates each tried to convince voters that they feel their pain. Ms. Porter repeatedly referred to her experience as a single mother of three — talking about her minivan, tracking the price of groceries and paying the bills. Mr. Becerra spoke of his parents, who were immigrants from Mexico, saving money to send him and his siblings to college.
Mr. Mahan described growing up in Watsonville, Calif. in a working class family. “My mom was a teacher,” he said. “My dad was a mailman.”
And when Mr. Mahan boasted about his work building more housing in wealthy San Jose, Mr. Hilton seized on it: “If San Jose is the template for affordable housing in California — God help us!”
Mr. Mahan said that the city had been one of the most expensive in the state since before he was born. That reality forced his mother to move 50 miles away in search of cheaper housing, he said.
Grading Gavin Newsom is easy for Republicans, and no Democrat wants to say he’s failed.
One of the liveliest exchanges came when the candidates were asked to give Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter grade for his efforts to combat homelessness.
An A for effort, Mr. Becerra said.
B-minus, Mr. Steyer said.
Mr. Mahan initially declined to give a letter grade before landing on giving “all of us” a D.
Ms. Porter, a former professor, called herself a “notoriously tough grader” before issuing him a B.
Mr. Bianco and Mr. Hilton, unsurprisingly, gave out the toughest grades of all.
“My goodness, of course it’s an F,” Mr. Hilton said.
“An absolute dismal failure,” Mr. Bianco said.
Xavier Becerra, who nearly didn’t qualify for the debate, went on the attack.
A few days ago, Mr. Becerra had not even planned to be on the debate stage. But since Mr. Swalwell’s campaign imploded, Mr. Becerra has portrayed himself as the most experienced candidate in the race. And polls have shown a significant spike in his support.
He came into the debate hoping to make a splash — and to take his opponents down a notch.
When Mr. Hilton criticized Democratic plans as wasteful and unrealistic, Mr. Becerra saw an opening.
“It’s interesting to watch someone who has served as a talking head on a Fox News program telling us how government should run when he never has run any government in his life,” Mr. Becerra said.
He did not hold back on his Democratic rivals either.
When Ms. Porter criticized Mr. Becerra’s plans as lacking in details, he turned the comment back on her.
“That’s very rich to hear from someone who’s never had to actually run a government,” he said, adding that he had balanced budgets bigger than the state’s.
The Republicans agreed on nearly everything.
At times, Mr. Hilton and Mr. Bianco seemed like an in-sync duo determined to end what they called “16 years of one-party rule.” (The last Republican governor in the state, Arnold Schwarzenegger, left office in 2011.)
When Mr. Hilton was asked about his support from President Trump, he called it a “deep honor,” adding that it proved he would have support from the federal government. He said he had recently spoken with the transportation secretary and promised not to issue commercial driver’s licenses to “people who are illegally here and who don’t speak English. That is obvious common sense.”
Mr. Bianco went further.
“Let’s stop with this whole racism thing and racial profiling and all of this garbage,” he said, after being asked about California Highway Patrol officers questioning truck drivers in English. “We have to get over this.”
“Californians are absolutely sick and tired of our politicians making race the basis of everything,” he added.
When the moderators asked each of the candidates if they would back the winner of the primary from their party if they themselves lost, Mr. Bianco demurred. “It’s going to be he and I going to November,” he said, nodding to Mr. Hilton.
Coral Murphy Marcos contributed reporting.
