California governor debate live: Watch candidates discuss immigration, homelessness, more

[9:47] ACROSS CALIFORNIA. [9:48] I NEVER HAVE MY PARENTS NEAR ME. [9:51] THESE ARE THE ISSUES DEFINING [9:53] THIS RACE. [9:54] CALIFORNIANS WANT ANSWERS. [9:55] THEY WANT SOLUTIONS. [9:56] THE QUESTION NOW, WHO WILL [9:58] DELIVER? [9:59] SEVEN CANDIDATES, ONE STAGE. [10:02] NBC4 AND TELEMUNDO 52 PRESENT [10:05] DECISION 2026, THE GUBERNATORIAL [10:08] DEBATE. [10:09] AND WE ARE NOW JUST ABOUT 30 [10:12] MINUTES AWAY FROM NBC4 AND [10:14] TELEMUNDO 52'S GUBERNATORIAL [10:15] DEBATE. [10:16] GOOD EVENING ONCE AGAIN [10:17] EVERYBODY. [10:18] THANK YOU. [10:19] THANK YOU. [10:20] THANK YOU. [10:21] THANK YOU. [10:22] THANK YOU. [10:23] THANK YOU. [10:24] THANK YOU. [10:25] THANK YOU. [10:26] TONIGHT WE ARE ASKING THE TOP [10:27] SEVEN POLLING CANDIDATES YOUR [10:28] QUESTIONS ABOUT CALIFORNIA'S [10:29] FUTURE BEFORE THE PRIMARY [10:30] ELECTION ON JUNE 2. [10:31] YOU WILL HEAR FROM FORMER U.S. [10:32] SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN [10:33] SERVICES, Javier Becerra, [10:35] RIVERSIDE COUNTY SHERIFF CHAD [10:36] BIANCO, AND CONSERVATIVE [10:37] COMMENTATOR AND FOX NEWS HOST [10:39] STEVE HILTON. [10:40] ALSO SAN JOSE MAYOR MATT [10:41] MAYHAN, FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN [10:43] KATIE PORTER, BILLIONAIR [10:45] HOPING TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION ON [10:48] VOTERS WHO WILL HAVE TO SIFT [10:49] THROUGH DOZENS OF NAMES ON THE [10:50] BALLOT. [10:51] SOME OF THEM YOU MAY NOT HAVE [10:52] HEARD OF BEFORE. [10:53] OTHERS NO LONGER EVEN IN THE [10:54] RUNNING. [10:55] ALL RIGHT. [10:56] NBC4'S ROBERT KVASIK LIVE AT [10:57] THE SCRIBBLE CENTER WITH A [10:58] CLOSER LOOK AT THE CANDIDATES [10:59] YOU ARE GOING TO HEAR FROM [11:02] TONIGHT. [11:03] ROBERT. [11:04] MICHAEL AND CAROLYN, WE ARE [11:05] HERE BACKSTAGE. [11:06] WE ARE WATCHING THE AUDIENCE [11:07] COME BACK IN AFTER GOING [11:08] OUTSIDE AND THERE IS A [11:09] RECEPTION BEING HELD AS WE [11:10] WAIT NOW FOR THE SECOND OF [11:11] CANDIDATES. [11:12] YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE THESE [11:13] CANDIDATES TAKE THE STAGE. [11:14] SOME WITH NATIONAL EXPERIENCE, [11:15] LOCAL EXPERIENCE, AND THEN [11:16] SOME WITH VERY LITTLE [11:18] POLITICAL EXPERIENCE AT ALL. [11:20] AND WHAT THEY ALL WANT TO DO IS [11:22] BECOME THE NEXT LEADER OF THE [11:24] STATE OF CALIFORNIA THAT BOSTS [11:26] THE WORLD'S FOURTH LARGEST [11:28] ECONOMY. [11:29] AS CALIFORNIA'S CURRENT GOVERNOR [11:30] GETS READY TO LEAVE OFFICE, [11:32] IT'S WORTH NOTING GAVIN NEWSOM'S [11:33] POLITICAL TRAJECTORY FOLLOWED A [11:35] TRADITIONAL PATH. [11:36] A TWO-TERM LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR [11:37] WHO THEN ASCENDED TO THE TOP [11:38] POST. [11:39] NO INCUMBENT NOW ON THE BALLOT, [11:40] MEET SEVEN CANDIDATES OFFERING [11:42] UNIQUE CREDENTIALS TO CONVINCE [11:43] YOU TO ELECT THEM. [11:44] IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, HERE ARE [11:45] THOSE PARTICIPATING TONIGHT. [11:46] DEMOCRAT Javier Becerra HAS BEEN [11:48] IN PUBLIC SERVICE FOR DECADES. [11:49] THE 68-YEAR-OLD FROM [12:04] SACRAMENTO, THE FIRST LATINO TO [12:06] BECOME THE NATION'S HEALTH [12:09] SECRETARY. [12:10] CHAD BIANCO HAS BEEN IN LAW [12:12] ENFORCEMENT FOR DECADES. [12:14] THE 58-YEAR-OLD REPUBLICAN IS [12:18] is currently the sheriff of Riverside County where he also lives. Bianco first elected as sheriff in [12:24] 2018. Steve Hilton was a TV host and commentator on Fox News. The Republican was also an advisor [12:32] to former British Prime Minister David Cameron. At 56, Hilton calls Silicon Valley home. Also from [12:40] the Silicon Valley, Matt Mahan who is currently the mayor of San Jose. The 43-year-old Democrat [12:47] was first elected a city council member in 2020, Mahan winning the race for mayor two years later. [12:54] The lone female here, Democrat Katie Porter, seeking to become the first woman elected [12:59] governor of the state. Porter, 52, is a former congresswoman residing in Irvine where she is a [13:05] professor at UC Irvine School of Law. Tom Steyer founded a hedge fund in San Francisco where he [13:12] lives. That hedge fund made him a billionaire. Steyer, a 68-year-old Democrat, is now an [13:19] environmental and liberal activist. At 73, Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles has decades of public [13:26] service, including the state legislature where he was assembly speaker. In 2005, LA City Council [13:33] member Villaraigosa won his first of two terms as mayor of LA, the first Latino in that role in more [13:40] than a century. Seven candidates, two Republicans, five Democrats, three from Southern California, [13:47] four from Northern California. All just minutes away from taking the stage and taking your questions. [13:54] We are standing here with Dustin Gardner, who is the co-author of Politico's California Playbook. [14:03] And Dustin, before we talk about the candidates for governor, let's just quickly recap the mayor's [14:09] race. Who won that debate tonight? It was a fiery debate, and I have to say Karen Bass probably won [14:14] the night because she avoided a lot of more direct attacks. A lot of the attacks ended up focusing on [14:19] Nithya Rahman. The city council member Spencer Pratt and Karen Bass both kind of piled on Nithya, [14:24] and that allowed Bass to escape probably more attacks than you might have expected coming in. And also, [14:29] Spencer Pratt, their expectations were high. He's never run for public office, [14:33] no experience in government. But he managed to present himself as a somewhat more serious [14:39] candidate. There were a couple of odd moments where he had a few off comments, calling Karen [14:43] Bass a liar and a few things like that. But on the whole, Spencer Pratt came across more serious [14:49] than a lot of people probably expected. Okay. Let's talk about the seven about to take the stage [14:53] right now in just minutes here at the Skirball Cultural Center. Dustin, we've got seven [14:58] candidates vying for governor. What do they need to do tonight? Well, Gavin Newsom's time in office [15:03] is almost over. And will the state elect a more progressive Democrat like Tom Steyer, [15:07] someone who wants to pursue single-payer health care taxes on billionaires, or someone like Javier [15:12] Becerra, who is now the front-runner among the Democrats, who is maybe a little bit more [15:17] of a status quo Democrat, who's more nervous about raising taxes, isn't sure about single-payer health care. [15:23] This is really the moment. This is the last televised debate. Voters already have their [15:27] ballots. And this is the moment where voters are going to decide what kind of Democrat they want [15:31] to go with. Someone more like Gavin Newsom or someone who would maybe push for some more [15:35] dramatic, disruptive changes in Sacramento. You have two Republicans on the stage, [15:39] five Democrats, two Republicans who basically so far have not really sort of poked each other. [15:44] They've stayed away from each other. Do the Democrats on the stage need to do that? Do they try to [15:50] unify as one voice, or is it better to try and pick one another apart? Is that what we expect to see? [15:54] I expect the Democrats to focus on attacking each other. This is a top-two primary system. [15:59] One Republican, most likely Steve Hilton, is expected to get through. And whether it's Javier [16:03] Becerra or another Democrat, that's really the highest stakes of this debate. And Javier Becerra, [16:08] as I said, is leading. And so his opponents are all starting to pile on and really target his 30-year [16:14] career in political service. They're going after him for a child migrant crisis when he was the [16:19] director of Health and Human Services. They're questioning him for taking money from oil companies [16:24] and for being a little bit squishy in his stance on single-payer health care. So the more progressive [16:29] candidates in this race are trying to frame Javier Becerra as maybe too corporate of a Democrat for [16:34] primary voters. And so I think he'll probably be the biggest target tonight. But of course, [16:38] he'll be ready to push back hard against his opponents, especially Tom Steyer. Tom Steyer and [16:43] Javier Becerra have been trading the most attacks on TV commercials on the air. And Steyer's a former [16:49] hedge fund manager. And Javier Becerra is not letting him forget that. [16:52] And, Dustin, when it comes to the candidates tonight, people at home trying to make a decision, [16:57] do we expect tonight maybe the last gasp for some of them here? [17:01] I think so. I mean, they're all on the ballot to stay. They can't be removed from the ballot at this [17:07] point. But if someone doesn't really break through tonight, the time is really running out. Voters [17:11] have their ballots. And I think this is the last shot for quite a few of them. [17:15] Dustin, you know, we've done our homework. And do you know the one thing that all seven [17:19] of these candidates have in common? I don't. You're stomping me. What is it? [17:23] They're all parents. Okay. Keep that in mind as you watch the debate. It's coming up in just minutes, [17:31] right here on NBC4. I'm Robert Kvasik. Let's go back to you. [17:34] All right, Robert. Appreciate it. Thank you. You've learned a little more about the candidates. [17:37] Now it's time to talk about the issues. At the top of the hour, Colleen and [17:40] Conan will get answers for you to some of the most pressing topics facing our state. [17:45] Up next, the number one concern from voters, the economy. [17:49] Why is it so expensive to live in California? I'm McConnell Medina. We talk to voters [17:54] on what they want to hear from the candidates about how to make the state more affordable. [18:03] In about 15 minutes, the race for California's future shifts to the issues that matter most, [18:08] from immigration enforcement and the effect on California families. Yeah, [18:12] it's a wildfire recovery and the demand to cut through delays and ease the path to rebuild. [18:16] And above all, housing, affordability, a top concern from sky high rents [18:21] to the dream of home ownership slipping out of reach for so many. [18:25] Yeah, NBC4's McCollum Medina digs into what's behind the crisis. [18:30] The biggest issue with housing is that we're not doing enough of this construction. [18:35] The state's housing department says we're not building nearly enough to meet demand. [18:40] The agency says we need to build about 2.5 million homes by 2030 just to catch up with demand. [18:47] Right now, the state is permitting about 100,000 homes a year. Construction will have to be more [18:52] than double and stay there for years just to close the gap. That shortage is driving home prices higher, [18:58] including rent. I have four daughters, my wife and me, and we can only afford a one bedroom apartment [19:04] and one bathroom because it's like $2,000. Jose Rios is paying close to the average for rent in [19:09] Los Angeles County, which is about $2,500 a month. To afford that without being stretched too thin, [19:15] you need to make more than $100,000 a year if you can find the work. Not that much work right now. [19:20] More than half of renters here in California are already spending over a third of their income [19:25] just to keep a roof over their heads. Kenneth Williams says he spends half of his income on rent. [19:31] It's almost paycheck to paycheck, almost. Buying a home isn't much easier. The median price in [19:35] California now hovering around $900,000. That's according to the California Association of Realtors, [19:41] and only about one and four households can actually afford that. Homeowner Monica Gordina [19:47] sees people in her neighborhood struggling. I have a, uh, well, he's, he's considered my neighbor, [19:53] but he's, he lives in his car. Gordina says far too many people are waiting far too long for [19:58] affordable housing to be built. Experts say the reasons are complex from strict zoning laws to [20:03] high construction costs to years of not building enough housing in the first place. Voters hope [20:09] whoever becomes governor can find a simple and fast solution. Make it more affordable for the community. [20:17] Yeah, make it more affordable. That was certainly the headline when I talked to voters about what they [20:22] feel they struggle with the most. I asked him, is there any one of these candidates for governor? [20:26] They saw that there could be a possibility. They all said no. They hope to watch the debate and they [20:31] hope someone will sway them in their direction. Live at Skirball, I'm McCallum Medina, NBC4 News. [20:36] All right, Mac, thank you for that. What took just hours to burn down will take many years to rebuild. [20:43] That process is nearing completion for just a fraction of homeowners who lost everything. NBC4's [20:48] Hedy Chang is live at the Skirball Center now for us. And Hedy, last hour we heard from the candidates [20:53] for mayor and they addressed their plans to restore the Palisades. What was the biggest takeaway to you? [21:01] Well, Carolyn, it was the very first topic right out of the gates, right? So let's talk about what we [21:05] heard from the three candidates. Mayor Bass essentially calling January 7th one of the worst [21:10] moments of her life to not be there when her city was burning down. But then she pretty quickly [21:15] pivoted to other subjects like helping to reduce homelessness. We knew there was going to be some [21:20] heated debate between the mayor and Spencer Pratt. Pratt, as you know, basically blaming the mayor for [21:26] letting his home, his family members' homes and thousands of others burn down during the Palisades [21:31] fire. He even called the mayor an incredible liar, which we heard Colleen reprimand him for that. [21:37] And Nithya Rahman, she said that the mayor's role should be the CEO of the city and that person [21:43] should be there before, during and after a wildfire disaster. Last week we had a chance to catch up [21:49] with some homeowners who now 16 months later are still trying to rebuild. Smith III says the eerie [22:00] silence following the Eaton fire in his Altadena neighborhood is now replaced by Hope. I do love to [22:06] hear the sounds of people doing the construction. No matter how early it is, it is a good sign that we're [22:11] starting to bounce back. But Smith hasn't started rebuilding, even as hundreds of other Eaton fire [22:18] victims have already received settlement payments from Southern California Edison. We don't want to [22:23] settle. We shouldn't have to be able to get into debt to be able to rebuild our home that we lost. [22:27] The biggest challenge, Smith says, what his family was offered won't be nearly enough to rebuild. [22:33] This house is owned for 70 years. The banks haven't owned it. We've always owned it. We don't [22:37] want to give it back to the banks. How are you doing? I'm good. I miss you guys. I miss you too. [22:42] Like many other homeowners, Smith's longtime neighbor found out she was underinsured. [22:48] You were not covered. I was, they gave me $324,000 to rebuild and they gave me $30,800 to live on [22:56] until the rebuild. Building records show about 44% of Altadena homeowners [23:02] have fully approved permits to rebuild, but only 30% have started construction. In the Palisades, [23:08] 6,800 homes and buildings burned down. City data shows only 13 homes have been rebuilt. [23:16] We want this to giddy up and go. We're paying our mortgage, which we don't have a home for. [23:22] Do you have a permit? No, I do not have a permit. Why? [23:27] I think the city is just overwhelmed and they're understaffed. Many homeowners who lost everything [23:32] want their local leaders to deliver on the promise of a speedy recovery they made nearly a year and a [23:38] half ago. I want focus. I want a plan. Yeah, and these homeowners tell us that they really want a [23:46] state leader who can help them navigate these challenges, especially when it comes to insurance [23:51] companies. We're live from Skirball, Hedy Chang, NBC4 News. All right, Hedy, thank you. Immigration has [23:56] been a hot topic of the campaign. NBC4's Amber Frey shows us how deportations have hit [24:01] families and business owners. Across California, immigration policy is having a growing impact on [24:09] families and communities. Some days are better than others, but it's just not fair that they're [24:15] not here. Stephanie Quintino says she once shared daily life with her parents until last February. [24:20] Her parents, Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez, immigrants from Colombia, went to a routine check-in with U.S. [24:26] Immigration and Customs Enforcement and were detained and deported. They had lived in the U.S. for more [24:32] than 35 years. DHS told NBC4 neither had a criminal history, but both were in violation of immigration [24:40] law. Cases like theirs are part of a broader trend across Southern California. The Deportation Data [24:46] Project, an initiative between UCLA and UC Berkeley, reports that in 2025, more than 14,000 people were [24:54] arrested by federal immigration officials in the greater Los Angeles area. More than half had no [25:00] criminal convictions. Advocates say where those arrests happen is also having an impact. Day labor [25:06] or centers often outside of Home Depots report fewer workers. A UC Irvine study found spending in Orange [25:12] County dropped about 25 percent after immigration enforcement ramped up last summer. Meanwhile, [25:18] federal officials say they are enforcing existing law. But the impact has sparked a public response. [25:25] Protests have drawn large crowds and National Guard deployments in Los Angeles and Santa Ana. [25:31] For Quintino, the experience has reshaped her political views. [25:35] Our immigration system is so, so, so broken and needs, needs help. [25:40] For now, she's left navigating life without her parents, [25:43] in a debate still playing out across the nation. Amber Frias, NBC4 News. [25:48] Well, how will the candidates for governor address these issues? Find out in just a few moments as [25:54] NBC4 and Telemundo 52 host the final gubernatorial debate before the June 2nd primary. We'll be right [26:01] back with the countdown. We're now just minutes away from the start of the final gubernatorial debate [26:09] before the June 2nd primary. Let's bring you back out live to the Skirball Cultural Center [26:14] for a final check-in with NBC4's Robert Kvasik. Robert. [26:19] Michael and Carolyn, there is a hush in the room. The audience is seated. They are standing by, [26:24] and all seven candidates are at their podiums and ready to go. Who are we talking about here? [26:29] Seven people who want to be the next leader of California. We have two Republicans, five Democrats, [26:34] three from Southern California, four from Northern California. They range in age from 43 to 73, [26:42] and in just minutes, they're going to make the case to you as to why they should be the next [26:48] governor of our state. The debate begins in just minutes. I'm Robert Kvasik. Let's go back to you. [26:54] All right, Robert. Thank you. Well, coming up next, NBC4 and Telemundo 52 present [27:00] Decision 2026, a fight for California's future. It's the gubernatorial debate. [27:06] That's right. Right now inside the Skirball Cultural Center, Colleen, Conan, and Enrique are [27:11] about to start. Then right after, please join us at eight o'clock for a recap and reaction on the NBC [27:18] Los Angeles News Channel, and a full wrap up on the NBC4 News at 11 o'clock. We expect a very heated [27:27] debate coming up among these seven candidates. But right now, NBC4's Belen de Leon and the Loyola [27:33] Marymount University Choir take it away with the national anthem. Oh, say can you see [27:43] California, the world's fourth largest economy, an innovation juggernaut and home to the world's [29:19] newest frontier, artificial intelligence. And yet, it's one of the most unaffordable states in which to [29:26] live. Every day, people are having to make those tough decisions between gas, utility prices, and of [29:31] course food on the table for their children. As costs rise, Hollywood flees, and homelessness [29:37] remains a common theme. Many people are left rethinking their California dream. I knew right [29:43] then and there, my life was never going to be the same. Our dreams moving forward would never be the [29:49] same. Now, voters get to decide who's going to reshape the state. Our country, it's a dire situation. [29:56] The bureaucracy that burns the industry, burns businesses. It's a really special thing that we have, [30:01] and to lose it would be a real tragedy. And that decision starts now as we question the leading [30:06] candidates vying for the state's top job. Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Javier Becerra, [30:13] Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, former Fox News host Steve Hilton, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, [30:21] former Orange County Representative Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer, and former LA Mayor Antonio [30:28] Villaragosa. NBC4 and Telemundo 52 present Decision 2026. A fight for California's future, [30:36] the debate for governor. Welcome to the beautiful Skirball Cultural Center, a place that brings [30:47] people and communities together. Good evening, everyone. I'm Colleen Williams. We are broadcasting [30:52] live across the state. The top candidates for governor of California have one last televised debate [30:58] to make their pitch to voters before the primary in June. Tonight, NBC4 and Telemundo 52, in partnership [31:05] with LMU, are bringing you the final statewide debate to California governor, or voters, actually. [31:12] I'm joined by my colleagues, Conan Nolan from NBC4, our chief political reporter, [31:17] and Telemundo 52 news anchor Enrique Chiavra. [31:21] Que tal, buenas noches a todos. In the next hour, we'll be asking the leading candidates questions [31:26] that are going to showcase their differences. We're broadcasting and streaming in both English [31:31] y también en español. We're less than a month away from the election. The ballots are in the mail. [31:35] They actually already have arrived. The top two finishers face off in the November general election, [31:40] regardless of party. These are the highest polling candidates. One of them is going to be the next [31:46] governor. Our goal tonight is really to explore the positions of all the candidates you see here. [31:51] Our questions will focus on the job and the responsibility of the governor. The candidates [31:57] will have 60 seconds to respond to questions, 30 seconds for rebuttals. Again, that is at the [32:03] discretion of the moderators here, and 30 seconds for follow-ups. For our live audience, please hold your [32:10] applause. Question number one goes to you, Conan. That's right, Colleen. In deference to you, [32:14] one note here. You had a bit of a food fight last night on another debate. We'd prefer that not happen [32:22] here. We want a competition of ideas. Please don't interrupt for the benefit of the voters and the [32:28] viewing public. So let's talk about the issue of housing. The Department of Finance last week said, [32:34] yes, more people are leaving the state than are arriving. We know that. Employers, unless you're an AI [32:40] company in San Francisco, are having a hard time finding people to take jobs in this state because [32:45] they can't afford to live here. Everybody has said we need more housing. We need to build more housing, [32:51] but I'd like some specifics. Mr. Hilton, we'll start with you. In our conversation, you said we need more [32:57] subdivisions and to link them by freeways. Do I have that right? Yes, the California dream was built on [33:04] that idea of owning your own home. And right now we have the highest housing costs in the country and [33:10] the lowest home ownership. Young people saying to me all the time, I can't imagine making my life in [33:17] California because I'll never be able to own my own home. We've got to change direction on housing. [33:22] Yes, we've got to simplify the regulations that make it so expensive, two or three times more expensive to [33:28] build housing compared to other states. Yes, we have to stop the hidden taxes on house building. But the big change [33:35] we need to make, which the Democrats on this stage aren't prepared to make, is to end this ideology which says [33:41] the only acceptable form of housing is to shove apartment buildings into suburban neighborhoods. We've stopped [33:47] building the kind of starter homes and single family homes we used to build so well in California that made the [33:54] California dream a reality. And that is what I will get back to as governor to restore that California [34:00] dream of home ownership. Thank you, Mr. Steyer. So the biggest problem in California is Californians [34:07] can't afford to live here anymore. And the number one part of that is housing. And in order to solve [34:14] our housing problems, there are a bunch of things we have to do. So we have to shorten permitting times [34:20] and make them less expensive. For sure, everyone on this stage will say that. I believe in zoning [34:24] densely near public transportation. And I believe that the way to drive down costs per square foot [34:30] by at least a third is by constructing off-site and then putting together on-site. But there's some [34:36] other things I'll do that no one else on this stage will say. I'm going to close a corporate real estate [34:41] tax loophole for $22 billion a year that's going to go to the cities and counties. And that's going to make [34:47] them willing to permit housing and to make it happen. They're standing in the way because housing is an [34:53] unfunded liability for them. I'm going to fund it. And lastly, our community bank, non-profit [34:59] community bank, has financed 17,000 losing housing units. The state of California needs to use finance [35:04] Thank you, Mr. Steyer. [35:05] to finance low-income units and also for down payment assistance. [35:09] Thank you. Sheriff Bianco? [35:10] Yes, we certainly can't afford to live here anymore. And it's exactly, solutions like that are exactly why you [35:17] can't afford to live here anymore and why you will never be able to afford here to live in California [35:21] anymore. Unfortunately, in the position we are, I'll stick up for Steve unless you elect Steve or I. [35:28] Because the policies that the rest of the people on these on this stage are proposing to all of you [35:34] is just a repeat of all of the problems that got us here in the first place. You can't afford a home [35:39] in California because the builders cannot afford to build homes because of the excessive regulations in [35:44] California. With me as your governor, we will become, for the first time in many decades, [35:50] a building empire in our country. We will build more homes than we have ever built before because [35:56] we will allow builders to build them. We will remove the restrictions and the regulations that [36:01] prevent it right now. And those restrictions come from CEQA, they come from the Coastal Commission, [36:06] they also even from it and from on the outside in CARB. But regulations are the key to afford housing in [36:13] California. Secretary Becerra, when we had an interview, you said that housing should be based [36:18] on how many people we want to live in California. We have to determine what essentially our population. [36:26] Do I have that right? And can you explain in your one minute what did you mean by that? Sure, [36:31] Conan. We have to make sure we understand how many homes we need. And you can't understand how many [36:35] homes you need unless you know how many people are coming to California. I remember when my parents told [36:39] me the story when they got here. They had $12 in their pocket, yet they got to live that California dream. [36:44] They purchased a home. They were able to give my three sisters and I far more than they ever had. [36:49] And that's what we have to get back to is giving every family that opportunity. [36:53] I will make sure that down payment assistance programs are expanded under my watch because [36:58] today, California families are essentially buying a house. They're just buying it for the landlord. [37:04] Because in their rental payments, they're essentially paying the mortgage. How about we do this? [37:08] How about we help you get that last cog in the process of buying a house, the down payment? [37:13] Then when you pay a monthly payment, it's not for rent, it's to own the home. How about we make [37:18] sure Wall Street isn't the person you're bidding against when you're trying to buy that house? [37:21] That is unfair when Wall Street can outbid you. Third, how about we streamline regs, [37:28] make CEQA work? Because CEQA was meant to help protect communities, not to stop housing. [37:33] Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Congresswoman Porter? [37:35] Yeah, housing is personal to me. It's personal to me because I've spent a large part of my career [37:41] working on helping families who couldn't afford housing, who were the victims of predatory lenders, [37:46] or were facing eviction. It's also personal to me because I'm raising three teenagers here, [37:51] one of whom I think there's a pretty good chance he's going to wind up living on my couch [37:55] if we don't figure out how to build more affordable housing. It's not enough to just build housing for [38:01] those who are here. We have to build enough housing for California to grow our economy, [38:07] and it's not enough to just build more. We have to build it less expensively than we are now. [38:13] Building faster is building cheaper. If we build faster, we can take 10 or 20 percent off the cost [38:19] of rent and mortgages. That is a lot of money back in the pockets of California. We also need to [38:25] innovate into construction technique, architectural design, manufacturing, and housing finance. [38:33] When I'm governor, Californians will have a five percent down payment on their houses, not 20. [38:38] Thank you. Mr. Mahan, in answering this as a mayor, should the state get involved in zoning? [38:45] It's normally a local municipality that decides what housing is built. [38:49] Well, thanks, Conan. If cities don't do their job, [38:51] the state absolutely has to intervene and hold them accountable. [38:55] I'm running for governor to deliver the kinds of results I've delivered as mayor of our third [38:59] largest city. When we weren't building housing, we cut permitting times, cut red tape, reduced one-time [39:05] fees, and got thousands of homes under construction. We built interim housing and moved thousands of [39:10] people indoors. We've expanded backyard cottages for grandparents and kids coming back from college. [39:17] We've actually gotten housing built. The entire state of California needs those kinds of results today [39:23] to create upward mobility for our kids and our grandkids. While we're on the topic of leadership, [39:28] though, I want to be really clear. We do not need the leadership that MAGA candidates on this stage [39:34] are offering that's divisive. We don't need the leadership of a billionaire who's now against [39:39] everything he made his money in or a career politician who has failed again and again to deliver results. [39:46] He's trying to remember his lines. Right. Mayor Villaraigosa. [39:52] You know, my mother struggled to make ends meet a single mom, so for most of my life we rented. [39:58] I bought a home at 25 years old. Young families can't do that right now. The average down payment is [40:05] $140,000. So the first thing we need to do is support down payment assistance. There's an initiative on the [40:13] ballot. No cost to the taxpayers that will build 150,000 homes and provide that kind of first-time [40:21] assistance. Secondly, streamline permitting. But let me remind you all, those of you who live in LA, [40:27] when I was in that, when I was mayor, we built, we went from 20,000 units of housing downtown to 60,000. [40:34] We transformed downtown. I built more housing, market rate, workforce affordable, and homeless housing [40:41] in eight years, four years of recession than the 12 years before that. The next governor's got to roll [40:48] up their sleeves and get the job done. I will as the next governor. Thank you. Next question. A lot of [40:54] people in the state of California think insurance is at a crisis situation. California investigation [41:00] this week found State Farm mishandled and delayed claims from the wildfires. Major insurance companies [41:07] have either pulled out of the state of California or they're stopped writing policies, new policies [41:12] altogether. Many people feel California's fair plan is the insurer of last resort. It is expensive [41:19] any way you look at it. What would you do to help homeowners and especially those waiting to rebuild, [41:26] we're still waiting a year later and haven't received a check. Be specific on this. Secretary Becerra, [41:32] we're going to start with you. You have one minute. So I have called for a freeze of insurance rates [41:38] for the very reason you've pointed out. Most Californians don't understand why they are losing [41:44] their insurance. My mom last year lost insurance coverage for a home she has that she had paid for [41:49] for over 30 years. I don't believe she ever filed a claim on that home and all of a sudden her insurance [41:56] company just dropped her without explanation. That is not fair. There are people still in the Palisades [42:02] and Altadena who haven't received payment. They haven't received the debt timeline when they're [42:07] going to be paid. But Secretary Becerra, what specifically would you do to help those folks? [42:11] And Kathleen, I was going to get to that, just trying to make sure we explain the problem because [42:14] it's real for everybody. And that's why I'm calling for a freeze because those companies ought to tell us [42:21] we are entitled to know why they continue to raise our rates, why they get out of dodge when the going [42:26] gets tough. We have to make sure they are there when we need them. We have to make sure we go through that audit [42:31] and I will make sure that we base insurance on the rates based on risk and risk based on mitigation [42:37] that's been done to reduce your risk. Secretary Becerra, thank you. Ms. Porter. Yeah, we can't afford [42:43] to freeze rates because what will happen is every insurer remaining in this state will leave. And if [42:51] people cannot get insurance, they will not build more houses, they will not build green energy projects. [42:57] The solution is more insurers competing for rates. Exactly. I'm a consumer protection advocate. [43:03] I have spent my life taking on corporations with or without a whiteboard who lie, cheat or steal. [43:09] And there's a lot of evidence that that is exactly what State Farm has done here. These folks are victims [43:15] and they need someone who isn't taking corporate contributions from the very insurers that they claim [43:21] they will hold responsible. The solution is to bring insurers back into the market, to do the things [43:27] that we've already done here in terms of allowing premiums to be written to the risk at the household [43:32] level and to address climate change risk and invest in our firefighting service. Mayor Mahan, you have 60 [43:40] seconds. Well, Javier, I can tell you why the insurance companies left and stopped writing policies and why [43:47] your plan will only make it worse. We effectively told them they couldn't use climate data to actually [43:54] model the amount of risk. We effectively told them they had to lose money by writing new policies. So [43:59] the answer is bring them back, as Katie said, have them compete to bring down costs. Now, if they slow [44:06] roll the payment of claims that they need to pay, then yes, let's sue them and hold them accountable. But [44:13] the truth is the state of California broke the insurance market. We need to bring them back, [44:18] have them compete, and the state and the federal government have to take responsibility for reducing [44:24] wildfire risk around all of our urban areas by clearing brush, thinning forests, and reducing the [44:30] risk of the catastrophic fires that are driving up insurance costs. It's not rocket science, but price [44:37] caps will only make it worse. It'll be impossible to bring insurance companies back to California. [44:42] Mayor, thank you. Mayor Villarigosa. Mr. Mahan and my friend to my left here, [44:49] all right, everybody. The reason why we got here, this is the only state that didn't do catastrophic [44:54] modeling, the only state that didn't do reinsurance, and the only state that took longer than three months [45:01] to pass a rate hike. So the entire industry left the bigot market. So the notion that we would freeze [45:09] insurance rates, one, the governor can't do that. Two, it's just going to make it worse. Now, let me say [45:16] something about the fair plan, because I'm on it. The fair plan is not fair. If I lost my house today, [45:24] the fair plan wouldn't compensate for me. Maybe three bedrooms, and that's about it. At the end of the day, [45:32] we have to make the fair plan something that works for more people until we bring the market back. [45:39] Once we bring the market back, of course, we're going to hold them accountable [45:43] when they're not paying the insured appropriately. Mr. Mayor, thank you. Mr. Hilton. [45:48] So just a couple of observations on what we heard in the previous answers. I love all the stories of [45:53] the California dream for some of my friends and colleagues on this stage. But the California dream [45:58] they're talking about happened when you had a Republican governor in California. And that's [46:03] what we need to get back to to restore it. Matt Mahan talked about housing. His city was just rated [46:10] the least affordable for housing in the world. So what that all points to is that actually, [46:16] if we want change in California on all these issues, we can't keep doing the same thing over [46:22] and over again, specifically on insurance. The things we haven't heard that I would do as governor [46:27] is number one, enforce the actual regulation in the original proposition 103 that set up our insurance [46:34] commission and the regulations around it, which says that rate changes need to be approved in 60 [46:39] days. Now it takes over a year. That's one of the reasons that they're leaving. And the other massive [46:43] one, lawsuits. Lawsuits are adding sometimes up to $15,000 a year onto insurance premiums. And these [46:52] Democrats won't change it because they are funded by the trial lawyers. Thank you so much. Mr. Steyer. [46:57] Can I respond to that? Look, Steve's right that we've had the least affordable... Excuse me, [47:04] Mayor, I'm asking for specifics on this. We'll get back to you in just a moment. Mr. Steyer. [47:09] So I think I know as much about business as anyone on this stage. And people are right. This is a huge [47:15] home insurance market. And we need to harden the homes. And we need to reduce the catastrophic risk. [47:21] And everyone's describing how we need to make it possible for insurance companies to come here [47:25] and make money. But the truth is someone has to stand up for Californians when people are going [47:31] after them. And as someone who's been to Altadena and talked to the people there and see how they've [47:36] suffered, not just financially, but the stress that it's put in their lives and the fact that the [47:41] insurance companies are slow rolling them and the fact that SoCal Edison is slow rolling them and the [47:47] fact that FEMA is slow rolling them. Yeah, I absolutely believe we should have an insurance [47:52] market. And as governor, I'll make sure we reduce catastrophic risk. But as governor, [47:56] I'm going to stand up for the people of California when corporations are taking advantage of them. [48:01] And we are seeing that right now in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. And it's the governor's job to [48:07] stand up and fight and make sure those people pay the claims, pay the FEMA and pay the cost of having [48:12] caused the fire in the first place. Thank you. Sheriff Bianca. Yeah, thank you. So the difference [48:17] between me and everyone else after I'm your governor is I'm not going to lie to you about what's causing [48:21] this problem in the first place. And I have some very dire news for all of you. The insurance companies [48:26] are not going to come back if another Democrat is elected, especially the ones that are on this stage, [48:31] because the reasons why they left is because of failed Democrat policies that force them to leave. [48:36] A government cannot force a business to go into bankruptcy. And the insurance companies repeatedly [48:43] told our legislature and our governor that our environmental policies that prevent our fire [48:48] department from creating defensible space around our homes and our properties was going to lead to [48:54] multiple, multiple cities being destroyed. And unfortunately, we saw it in the Palisades. [49:00] And unfortunately for the Palisades victims, the insurance companies, [49:04] our governor called their bluff and they left the state, leaving all of them, most of them, [49:09] without insurance. We absolutely will get rid of CEQA and the Coastal Commission. The fire [49:15] department will clear defensible space and naturally the insurance companies will come back and our rates [49:20] will go down. Mayor Mahan, because San Jose was mentioned, you have 30 seconds to respond. [49:26] Yeah, thank you. I mean, Steve's right. San Jose is expensive. It has been since before I was born. But [49:31] as a leader in an elected office, I took ownership for that and challenged City Hall to do better. [49:38] That's what we need to ask of Sacramento. We reduced fees. We sped up permitting. We cut the red tape. [49:44] And we got thousands of homes under construction. We're not going to fix California's housing market [49:49] overnight. But we can hold ourselves accountable for implementing common sense policies that bring [49:55] investment and home building back to California and create room for working families and younger [50:01] generations. Thank you. So on a different topic. Yesterday, the vice chair of the California [50:05] Energy Commission told the legislature, we have four to six weeks left of fuel if the Iranian war [50:11] continues. Now, if a bill comes before you, I want to know, do you sign it or do you veto it? And this [50:18] bill would be whether to seek an increase in oil production in Kern County in the Central Valley. [50:26] The governor of this state was not a big fan of oil. He's actually changed his tune a little bit on [50:31] that. Yes or no? This is the bill. Do you sign or do you veto it? Mayor Villaraigosa? Yes. [50:35] Congressman Porter. Can you repeat the question? So would you advocate for an increase in oil [50:42] production in the state? Western states point? No. All right. No. All right. Very good. Mr. [50:48] Sheriff Bianco. Absolutely. Mr. Hilton. We don't need a bill. I'll get it done directly as governor [50:53] by instructing the California Department of Geologic and Energy Management to open up oil production. [51:00] This is the problem with Democrats. Endless legislation instead of just getting the job done. [51:05] We're going to veto it next time. Mr. Steyer. No. All right. Mr. Secretary Becerra. [51:11] Versus importing. Yes. Mayor. Yes. We also should stop pushing all of our refining capacity out of [51:18] state and importing dirtier oil from thousands of miles away. It doesn't make sense. [51:23] One other thing. Everybody has an opinion about this. You don't need to go into detail. [51:28] It'll cost another 30 billion to finish California high speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield. We've got [51:35] the viaduct laid. We have overpasses. Do you finish it? Yes or no? Mayor Villaraigosa. Yes. [51:42] Congresswoman Porter. Yes. If you can build it faster and cheaper than it's been projected. [51:46] Okay. Sheriff Bianco. No. I would rather arrest the people that stole our money. All right. [51:51] That would be on brand for you doing things that are illegal. Mr. Hilton. [51:53] Stop spending taxpayers' money on pointless things and improve our roads, which are the worst in the [52:00] country because of Democrat policies. Mr. Steyer. Yes. We need public transportation. [52:06] The slow speed delivery of high speed rail, no, but a high speed delivery of high speed rail, [52:10] yes. What does that mean? That means we get rid of all the bureaucracy that has caused all this [52:16] litigation. We try to make the call. Yes or no. That's either yes or no. The bill's on your desk. [52:21] Do you say yes or do you veto it? Is that to me? Yes. I said, I don't want to do it the way it's [52:28] been done because we've overspent, but yes, we're going to build high speed rail. Yes, we're going to build [52:33] high speed rail. Conan, I would send it back to the legislature and say fix CEQA, reduce litigation risk, [52:39] let's fix the regulatory environment, and then I'll sign the bill. That's okay. Thank you. [52:44] All right. Let's talk about companies leaving California. So companies are moving their [52:48] headquarters out of California, SpaceX, Tesla, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, so many companies. [52:54] Those are just a few of the corporations that are going to more tax friendly states. My question [52:59] to all of you is how can you reduce the state's high unemployment rate when so many employers are [53:06] leaving the state? We're going to start with Mr. Mayhem. Look, the reality is just like with the [53:12] insurance market, the housing market. What we're talking about is California has regulated itself [53:18] to death and much regulation makes sense. We're protecting workers in the environment. But when [53:24] projects get caught up in years of litigation or getting a permit to open a restaurant takes a year, [53:30] you kill the ability for entrepreneurs and small business owners to actually create a future here. [53:37] So we've got to actually fix our underlying regulations and make it easier to invest and [53:43] start companies. In San Jose, I've led us to have small business growth every year I was mayor, [53:49] build thousands of new homes, reduce homelessness, and become the safest big city in the country [53:56] without raising taxes and with a balanced budget. It is time to demand our government do better [54:02] before we ask you to pay more, starting with actually auditing all of the spending in Sacramento, [54:08] where we've increased the budget by 75 percent in the last six years. [54:13] Your time is up, Mr. Villarragoza. Look, this is the toughest state to do business [54:19] in the United States of America. You know, you heard our Republican opponents say that Democrats [54:26] aren't willing to call it like they see it. I've been willing to do that. I've challenged [54:31] why we send so many businesses out of this state. I've challenged why we have the highest gas prices, [54:39] the highest utility costs, the highest home prices in the United States of America. [54:43] It's because we're looking for perfect. Perfect doesn't exist, everybody. That's what comes with [54:49] a proven problem solver, someone who's been mayor of Los Angeles, speaker of the assembly. The one thing [54:55] I get, we got to roll up our sleeves and fix these problems. We have the brains of AI and tech, [55:03] but the brand's leaving, and we've got to look in the mirror and ask ourselves why. The reason is [55:09] overregulation. We can do this, protect the environment, protect workers, and protect business [55:16] at the same time. Thank you, Mr. Villarragoza. Mr. Hilton, you're up next. [55:19] Mr. Villarragoza. So Matt mentioned restaurants. I actually did open a couple of restaurants, [55:24] but not here back in the day in England before we moved here with my wife and my family in 2012. [55:29] And unbelievably, it's actually much harder to do it here in California, which should be the home [55:35] of enterprise and opportunity, the best place in the world to do business. And the fact is, [55:41] when we talk about all those issues, there's this famous saying that comes to mind, [55:45] the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different [55:52] result. Well, here in California, we've been voting Democrat over and over and over and over again. [55:59] And look at the results. The highest unemployment rate in the country, the highest poverty rates, [56:04] the worst climate for business. We cannot expect to make changes for the better if we keep voting [56:11] Democrat. I will exclude Antonio. I agree with you, Antonio. You definitely have [56:16] a more pragmatic approach to this. And that's what we need from our next governor. [56:20] Thank you, Mr. Hilton. [56:20] A problem-solving, pragmatic, common-sense approach. [56:22] Thank you, Mr. Hilton. Mr. Steyer. [56:25] So, California remains the best place to start a business and build a business. [56:29] But it's also the most expensive business. [56:31] It's not true. [56:32] It's the most expensive place. [56:33] It's rated 50th out of 50 states by Chief Executive Magazine. [56:37] And the person on this stage who is going after those costs and driving them down for [56:44] working Californians is me. And I'm doing it by going after the special interest corporations who [56:49] are driving up our costs. I'm going after electric costs that are driven by the electric monopolies. [56:55] I'm going after gas costs that are driven by the oil companies. I'm going after healthcare costs. [57:00] I'm for single payer. I'm going after housing costs. What's driving people out of California [57:05] is the cost of operating here. And I'm talking about it in terms of people. But it absolutely [57:10] is the same thing in terms of the companies that employ those people and have to pay them to live [57:15] here. You can tell I'm doing this because the special interests are spending tens of millions of [57:20] dollars to stop me. But I'm the person on this stage who's willing to change California and go after [57:25] the corporate special interests that are driving up the costs for working people. [57:29] Your time is up. Mr. Bianco. [57:32] As long as we have the same policies that we've had for the last two decades, more and more [57:38] businesses are going to leave. Of course, it's the best place to be. California, of course, [57:42] is the greatest state in the world. But the taxes here, the regulations here are what are causing [57:47] people to leave. Yes, we want to live here. We just can't. We want to own a business here. We just can't. [57:53] So the people that are here on this stage are going to tell you everything you want to hear. [57:58] They've been telling you that every time they want to get elected and nothing ever changes. They are [58:03] not going to deliver anything because it is their policies driving this up. I will make California the [58:09] most business friendly in the state because we will no longer punish businesses for being in California. [58:16] We will remove all of the regulations, the regulatory environment that increases cost of business, [58:22] the PAGA lawsuits that are absolutely destroying every single business simply to raise more money [58:28] for the state of California because we have a spending problem, not a money problem. [58:32] Thank you, Mr. Bianco. Mr. Becerra, you're up next. [58:36] Let me give a specific example. Right now, Hollywood is in dire condition because [58:41] every place in the world wants to have their own Hollywood. We must fight to keep Hollywood here in [58:46] Southern California because it creates so many great paying jobs. And so I will work with Hollywood, [58:51] I will work with the industry, I will work with the legislature to make sure we fight back against [58:56] those who are trying to steal our industry away from us. And that means whether it's the tax credit [59:01] or making sure we graduate the next generation of workers who can work in the entertainment industry, [59:06] we will make it so attractive that they will not want to leave. But we have to make sure we're [59:10] graduating the workforce for these industries to locate here. We have to create more public private [59:15] partnerships. So it's not just that private business that does it on its own, but it knows it's got a [59:19] government that wants to work with it so they can establish their business here. And we want to [59:23] make communities livable where the workforce that will come can know they can buy a house and they [59:28] can afford to live here. If we do all those things, we'll attract business. And then what we have to do [59:34] is balance our budget. And as someone who has had a balance of budget bigger than the state of [59:37] California's budget, I will do that. Thank you, Mr. Becerra. Ms. Porter? Yeah, I mean, billionaire Tom Steyer says [59:43] that California is the best place to do business. And I guess it was for him because he became a [59:49] billionaire off it. But for the rest of California businesses, it's been a real struggle. He says he's [59:55] the one doing it. But the truth is, he's the one promising it. I've actually brought down costs like [1:00:01] prescription drug costs by passing a law in Congress to give people their money back. I actually helped [1:00:06] write a bill and testify for a bill that became a lot of crackdown on credit card fees. If we want employers [1:00:12] to be able to stay in this state and to add workers to this state, we have to make it affordable [1:00:18] for workers to live here. Labor is one of the biggest costs that businesses face. And we have [1:00:24] to pay higher wages because the cost of living goes up and then wages go up. This is a terrible cycle. [1:00:29] So bringing down the cost of housing, my policies for things like free childcare and a tuition-free [1:00:35] UCCSU degree will do exactly that. It will make it cheaper for people to live here and businesses [1:00:41] will benefit. Thank you, Ms. Porter. Thank you so much. 30 seconds for your reply, Mr. Sayer. [1:00:46] Look, California is the richest state and the richest country in the world. [1:00:50] You're the richest person on this stage. California is half the growth of the United [1:00:56] States of America. The issue we have is we also have the highest poverty rate in the United States [1:01:02] of America. The issue we have is the majority of Californians cannot afford to live here. [1:01:07] After 16 years of Democrat one-party rule, why do you think that is home? [1:01:11] And that's why I'm talking about driving down costs for working Californians and the companies [1:01:19] that employ them so that we can all succeed. Well, you're one of those billionaires that's [1:01:23] staying in California looking for a job here. But there are other billionaires who are moving on. [1:01:29] Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Mark Zuckerberg, they've left. Steven Spielberg's left. There are a whole [1:01:35] bunch. And obviously it's because they may not say it, but it's not a coincidence that you have on the [1:01:41] ballot in November a wealth tax where they come in and first in the nation where they tax, you know, [1:01:47] what do your cars look like? How much are they worth? And what are the watches worth? So yes or no, [1:01:52] if this is again, if it's on your desk as governor, do you support the wealth tax which is on the ballot, [1:01:59] which the governor fears is driving billionaires out of the state? And according to the franchise tax [1:02:05] board, they pay for about 40% of the income tax. Mayor Villaraigosa, yes or no? No. Congresswoman? [1:02:12] No. What was the question again? Sheriff, uh, the wealth tax, do you support it or do you oppose it? [1:02:18] Absolutely not. Mr. Hilton? No. Mr. Steyer? If it's on the ballot, I sign it. You sign it. [1:02:25] Okay. Secretary Becerra? No. Mr. Mahan? No, we should charge billionaires in other ways. [1:02:31] Okay. I agree with Matt. Are you happy with that, Tom? How do you want to be charged by Matt? [1:02:40] There is a longer, there is a longer discussion here. That's for another debate. We want to move [1:02:47] on. We want to get as many topics in here as possible. The state has spent tens of billions [1:02:52] to solve the homeless crisis in this state. And yet there is a perception that the homeless have [1:02:59] more rights than the people who live in this state. Homeless encampments are taking over the streets, [1:03:04] the sidewalks, parks, and so much more. So the question I have for all of you, [1:03:08] and I'm going to begin with you, Mr. Steyer, is, is this the new norm? [1:03:13] Absolutely not. I mean, we've got to start with a very important point, which is no one gets well on [1:03:19] the street. That actually being homeless and being on the street, only about one in seven of the people [1:03:25] who become homeless have serious mental health or addiction problems, but it's so stressful and [1:03:31] dangerous that virtually everybody succumbs to that stress in some major mental health way. [1:03:38] So what I would say is it's absolutely critical to keep people from going on the street, [1:03:42] that rental assistance is much cheaper and more humane than letting someone go on the street, [1:03:47] that emergency interim housing to get people off the street into a single room with a key, [1:03:53] with shared dining, laundry facilities where you can bring your dog is much more compassionate. [1:03:59] But all of those things lead to the point that we don't want our streets to be dangerous. We do [1:04:04] want our kids to feel safe. We do want, I'm for someone who wants to build dense housing in the [1:04:09] inner city and make it vibrant and walkable and fun. And it's absolutely critical that people feel safe, [1:04:14] can walk around. Thank you, Mr. Steyer. And actually create the environment that Californians [1:04:19] deserve and want. Thank you. Mr. Bianco. Yeah, so it was a misstatement in the beginning, [1:04:24] or not a misstatement, but I will tell you that they are definitely not, they don't have more rights [1:04:28] than anyone else. No, but there is a perception. They are actually pawns in the homeless industrial [1:04:34] complex. There is absolutely zero, zero intent on helping any of them. If we did, the billions of dollars [1:04:43] that were going there, the numbers wouldn't get more every single year. This is not, and has never been, [1:04:48] about homes. This is about drug and alcohol addiction. This is about mental illness and a [1:04:53] combination of both. And until we start calling it what it is and treating it for what it is, [1:04:57] we are never going to get out of it. And proof of the last 12 years is right in front of us. It's [1:05:03] never going to be better until we get them the treatment that they need. Stop calling it homes. [1:05:08] It's mental health, drug addiction and alcohol addiction combined. The biggest thing that we need [1:05:13] is the treatment centers that treat at the same time, mental health conditions and drugs and [1:05:18] alcohol. Putting a solid roof over someone's head is no different than a tent. And it doesn't mean [1:05:25] that you solve the problem. Sheriff, thank you. Mayor Villaraigosa. [1:05:29] We spent $24 billion from the state and billions more in cities and counties. And during that period, [1:05:37] homelessness went up. Folks, we just got to acknowledge we can't just throw money at the problem. [1:05:43] We have to invest in what works and stop spending on what doesn't. What works according to the LAO? [1:05:52] Temporary housing works. The home key program. Rental assistance works. But we need permanent [1:06:00] supportive housing as well with services connected to them. But the average unit is $850,000 a unit. [1:06:07] Your kids can't afford that. So in San Jose and Los Angeles, we're building small homes for $100,000. [1:06:15] We've got to focus on what works and stop throwing money at what doesn't. As governor, that's what I'll [1:06:21] do. Because what we're doing now, just not working. More homelessness than in my life I've ever seen in [1:06:28] my lifetime. It's a state government scam. Thank you. Secretary Becerra. [1:06:34] Secretary Becerra. So homelessness is also a mental health crisis. And we have to attack that straight [1:06:40] on. That's why when I was Secretary of Health and Human Services, we established the 988 program, [1:06:45] which functions like 911, but for mental health and suicide prevention. And it is working. We have [1:06:51] to start getting people access to the treatment that they need. But first and foremost, when it comes to [1:06:57] those on the street, we have to have accountability by the folks who are getting those billions of dollars. [1:07:02] We have to make sure that we scale the projects that work to get people off the streets. And we [1:07:06] eliminate those that are failing. But I will tell you this, and I'm glad to hear some of my colleagues [1:07:11] beginning to take up what I have said at the beginning. My job as governor, because I don't [1:07:16] control the streets of the cities and the counties, is to make sure we prevent more Californians from [1:07:21] becoming homeless. Because it costs far more to take you off the streets, pick you up, get you the services, [1:07:27] and get you the temporary shelter, than it does to help you get past that medical emergency or that [1:07:32] lost job. Let's keep you in your housing. Thank you. Representative Porter. Look, the cause of [1:07:40] homelessness is the cost of housing. It is correct that many people who experience long-term or chronic [1:07:47] street homelessness develop substance use and mental health issues. But a foster kid who is aging out of [1:07:54] foster care with no money to put down for an apartment, that's not mental health problems. [1:08:00] That's the cost of living in California. We have higher homelessness in California because our housing [1:08:06] costs more than virtually anywhere else. Homelessness prevention is the key. It costs about $6,000 to [1:08:14] prevent someone from becoming homeless. That is a such a better investment and so much more humane [1:08:21] than allowing people to live on the streets. We have to stop making the problem worse. And I think [1:08:27] it's appropriate always to do oversight of where our money went. I drive a minivan. My license plate [1:08:34] is O-V-R-S-I-T-E, oversight. So we should be asking, did we get the bang for our buck? We owe that answer to [1:08:41] California taxpayers. And I think we have accountability that's needed here. Ms. Porter, thank you. [1:08:47] Mayor Mahan, talk to us about the city of San Jose and what you've done. [1:08:51] Well, we've created a model for the rest of the state. I want to be [1:08:54] really clear that 988 is not going to solve our homelessness problem. We need to have places for [1:08:59] people to go. It's all about having alternatives. San Jose has led the way on this issue. I have the [1:09:07] receipts to show for it. We have moved thousands of people indoors this year for the first time. [1:09:15] Let the mayor speak. I hope I'm going to get the time to actually answer the question. For the first [1:09:19] time in our history, a majority of people experiencing homelessness in San Jose will be [1:09:25] indoors, not outdoors. I am sick and tired of career politicians' complacency on this issue. [1:09:32] No one should be outside in a tent encampment. In San Jose, we're building interim shelter, [1:09:37] basic treatment capacity. We are moving people indoors. When those spaces are available, [1:09:43] we require people come indoors. I was the first Democrat leading a major city to support Prop 36. [1:09:50] Because if you're repeatedly committing crime out on our streets due to addiction, [1:09:54] we need to get you into treatment to save your life and to benefit the broader community. [1:10:00] Mayor, we let you go extra time. We did. Mr. Hilton. [1:10:07] I was just trying to offer a fact check. Homelessness actually has gone up in San Jose. [1:10:11] It's actually about flat. What's important, though, is we've moved thousands of people indoors, [1:10:16] 30 percent of whom have graduated to permanent housing. The number of people dying on our streets [1:10:21] has gone down. It's a solution. Mayor, Mr. Hilton. As you noted, he didn't challenge [1:10:28] the fact that homelessness has gone up on his watch. Now, the good news in this debate is that actually [1:10:35] there's a lot of agreement among many of the candidates about the nature of the problem and [1:10:38] how we solve it. But we've got to think about the fact that who's been in charge all these years? [1:10:46] Some of these Democrats on the stage here, they talk as if we're in some parallel universe where [1:10:51] Democrats haven't been running this state for the last 16 years of one-party rule. I mean, [1:10:57] you look at Javier, 36 years he's been a career politician for Democrats. It's just got to change. [1:11:05] We need change if we're going to make progress. And that is what Chad's plan is exactly right. [1:11:10] And I just add one thing to it, which is we need to enforce the law when it comes to homelessness. [1:11:16] Just as Spencer Pratt laid out in the mayor's debate to you earlier, it's illegal to live and [1:11:22] camp on the streets. And that's the starting point. I have to give Mr. Becerra a chance to respond to that. [1:11:30] You know, I am proud of my service as a member of Congress, as the Attorney General fighting off [1:11:36] Donald Trump, as the secretary who brought the country to the highest rate of insurance coverage [1:11:42] in the nation's history. What I would ask is, what does a Fox News talking head know about running [1:11:49] government? You've never balanced a budget the size of California, Steve. You've never had to worry [1:11:54] about declaring a state of emergency the way I had to. I'm proud of my service on my public service. [1:11:59] You made private profit. I was doing public service. Mr. Becerra, are you proud that you [1:12:04] pushed out 85,000 migrant children? They were, according to the New York Times, they were maimed. [1:12:11] They were exploited. They were, some were even killed. You said those are MAGA talking points. [1:12:17] It's a MAGA hoax. Tell that to the children who died. So I'm not sure what that had to do with [1:12:23] homelessness, but calmate, Antonio, calmate. Well, I'll tell you what it had to do. It's about [1:12:28] it's about truth telling. Talk about your service and how proud you are of that service. [1:12:32] That's what it has to do with. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hilton. I'll give you a moment, [1:12:36] 30 seconds to respond to this. Thank you. Wait, wait. Tell me what I haven't done. [1:12:40] We could go on about homelessness for an hour here this evening. Colleen, I thought we got 30 seconds to [1:12:44] respond. Yeah, ask him what happened to the other company. I didn't get 30 seconds to respond to the [1:12:49] attack by Mr. Villaragosa, so I would like my 30 seconds. Okay, I will give you 30 seconds. Mr. Hilton, [1:12:53] you get 30 seconds. Okay. Then we move on to the next topic. So Trump lied about that, [1:13:01] this whole situation with the migrant kids in 2024. Did the New York Times lie? Why don't you let me [1:13:05] finish, Antonio? Okay. Donald Trump campaigned against our Democratic candidate, Kathleen, I mean, [1:13:12] Kamala Harris, Vice President, in 2024 using these lies. In 2026, now you have candidates like Antonio [1:13:20] and Tom Steyer using these very lies. There were lies when Trump said them two years ago. They're [1:13:25] lies today. We protected kids. We did not let them be abused. Those were the employers, [1:13:30] but stop lying. The facts are the facts. Okay. There were congressional hearings. [1:13:33] Okay. Twenty-six Democrats condemned him. They said it was outrageous that he pushed kids out. [1:13:39] Mr. Villaragosa. You said on tape. You said on tape. You said on tape. Mr. Villaragosa, [1:13:44] invented the assembly lines. Put them on an assembly line. Get them out of here. [1:13:49] Mr. Villaragosa, I'm only going to ask you one more time. Please. Please. We have a lot of topics [1:13:55] here this evening. I laid out the ground rules. You had a chance to respond. Mr. Hilton, [1:14:00] you get 30 seconds. Thank you. Then we move on. Mr. Villaragosa. Thank you very much. [1:14:04] I'll tell you what I haven't done, Javier, is break state and federal law by taking money from [1:14:10] a campaign account and funneling it to a senior aide, breaking those laws and then denying it. [1:14:17] I'll tell you what I haven't done, which we revealed today, which is to take a taxpayer-funded [1:14:22] organization from your money, your taxes are paying illegal immigrants to campaign for Javier [1:14:30] Becerra through an organization called Churla, and he's accepted their endorsement. It is [1:14:36] completely outrageous. So, Colleen, once again, once again. [1:14:40] Um, no, we have to move on. Wait, wait, time out. [1:14:43] The next subject, the next topic is sanctuary. I think it's very important listening to the audience [1:14:49] here, listening to the group. Enrique has a question, please. [1:14:52] And, and, and, and, Colleen, so long as I understand, if a candidate is attacked... [1:14:56] No, it wasn't. It was up to them, and she said no. Let's move on. [1:14:59] We'll get back to you in a second. We, we gotta move on. This is really important. [1:15:02] Okay, so the state... Again, at the discretion of the moderators here, [1:15:05] I've given everybody a chance to respond. Please stop with the attacks. We, we, we do the voters [1:15:11] a disservice when we attack like that. I agree. [1:15:14] We are trying to get more information about the topics at hand. So, sanctuary. [1:15:19] The state sanctuaries law, as we know, that restricts local authorities from cooperating with [1:15:24] federal agents, federal immigration officers. Uh, my question goes to Mr. Bianco. What is, [1:15:29] one thing, Mr. Bianco, you would replace or change about the current sanctuary law in California? [1:15:34] One aspect. Just one. [1:15:36] I would eliminate sanctuary state. Sanctuary state is what is creating the issue that we have in [1:15:41] California. It didn't exist before 2017. Immigration, it is the responsibility of the [1:15:49] federal government to enforce immigration laws. And prior to 2017, they would come into our jails, [1:15:54] and they would come into our prisons, and they would remove those criminals who are victimizing [1:15:58] us, and they would, and they would deport them. That ended with prop, with sanctuary state law, [1:16:04] SB 54. They forced us to release those people back into our communities, and then ICE has to go into [1:16:12] the communities to get them, instead of in the safety and security of the jail. [1:16:16] Mr. Bianco, so if county jails can communicate with ICE if the person in question is a convicted [1:16:21] felon of a criminal, of a violent crime. Okay. So what would be the difference then, [1:16:26] if you want to change something? There's, there's a huge difference, because I have someone in my jail [1:16:30] right now that if the attorney general wants to arrest me when I turn him over, he, he, this, he's [1:16:36] convicted of a felony. But the three prior convictions for DUI, he was released from jail, he was deported on [1:16:43] two of them back into the country, and then he killed a 14-year-old boy with another DUI. So we [1:16:49] have to wait until somebody dies before we deport criminals who are in our jail, and those people [1:16:55] who are released from the jail, immigration enforcement officials have to go into the communities [1:17:01] to get them, and that is why we see what we see on the streets. Mr. Villaregosa, really quick, 30 seconds. [1:17:06] He said that, he said that yesterday. It's just not true. Uh, 12,000, uh, undocumented, uh, [1:17:14] violent criminals. Tell that to the family that lost their child. Look, I know you're an oath [1:17:20] keeper, and you feel like you could do whatever you want, but let me be clear. Let me finish my [1:17:25] thing. May I have my time back? Yeah, yeah. Okay, yes, we're gonna give it to you. Continue. [1:17:29] Let me just say, in point of fact, you keep on saying that they don't turn over [1:17:34] violent criminals. No, I didn't. That's just not true. No, I didn't. They do. [1:17:37] They've turned over 12,000 since 2019. It obviously wasn't enough. Well. Mr. Villaregosa, thank you. [1:17:43] Ms. Porter, you want to say something about this issue? Yeah, I mean, I think we ought to enforce [1:17:48] the existing sanctuary laws everywhere, so we don't have crazy cowboys taking the law into their own hands. [1:17:54] Tell that to a crazy mother who lost her child. Sir, I don't need any lectures from you about being a [1:18:01] mother. Of course, you might. Okay. So, again, please. All you have done this evening is shout [1:18:11] past me and not giving me a chance to respond. That was obviously a scripted answer that didn't fit, [1:18:18] but go ahead. But please, I'm sorry, everybody. No, I'm not gonna be, excuse me, not for this. [1:18:24] I'm not gonna be lectured, because I have not interrupted a single person. I understand, [1:18:28] Congresswoman. You have the floor. So, I think it's important to recognize that our sanctuary laws [1:18:34] are only as good as the enforcement of them. We have entities right now, including local sheriffs, [1:18:42] including state agencies in a lot of our counties that are violating sanctuary law. He says he wants [1:18:48] to enforce the sanctuary law. He wants to do away with the sanctuary law policy. That's because he [1:18:53] doesn't want to have to follow it. Every Californian deserves the protection of their governor. [1:19:00] Every Californian deserves the protection of their governor. Keep talking over me. [1:19:06] You know, Sheriff, you had an opportunity to speak. Ms. Porter, you have. I respect you, [1:19:10] but I don't need your help being defended. Thank you. Okay. You know what, Conan? We have a final [1:19:15] question. Right, so. Wait, can we all address this? This is a key question. Do you have a final [1:19:20] question? But very quickly, the Democrats on this panel, for the most part, support the sanctuary [1:19:27] state law. Is that in agreement, Mr. Secretary? It would be, Mr. Mahan, Mayor. Yeah, I'd like to say, [1:19:34] I'd like to be able to respond to the accusations that were made. I'd like to just answer the question. [1:19:39] I'd like to answer the question, too. Please, let me at least answer. You all said I was going to get to [1:19:44] answer that question. Time is your enemy here. Okay. May I then answer the question? [1:19:47] Thirty seconds. We're going to start with Mr. Becerra. Thirty seconds. Go ahead. [1:19:50] First, SB 54, the Values Act, sanctuary law, I defended it against Donald Trump's attacks the [1:19:56] first time he was president, and I beat him. That's why we still have that law in place. I stopped ICE [1:20:01] from trying to force our law enforcement to do ICE raids because I beat Donald Trump in court. As [1:20:07] governor, I will investigate ICE. We will prosecute ICE. We will, uh, uh, convict ICE if they have [1:20:14] violated the law. And what I will tell Steve and Chad is that Chirla is one of the biggest defenders [1:20:20] of immigrant rights in this nation. They deserve respect. I agree. Please. So, Enrique, you're correct. [1:20:28] And as the mayor of the safest big city in the country, I can affirm that our sanctuary laws do [1:20:37] not provide sanctuary to criminals. What they do is they build trust between law enforcement officers [1:20:43] in the community they serve. We don't ask our police officers to check your tax returns [1:20:48] or your immigration papers because we want you to report. We never did. Let me finish. We want you [1:20:54] to report crime, serve as a witness, provide evidence, but we absolutely have to enforce [1:21:00] our laws and keep people safe, and we can do both. I do want to say, though, Antonio is absolutely right [1:21:08] about the secretary's failure on the immigration issue. There is a direct line. That's an absolute [1:21:15] lie. There's a direct line between his failed leadership and Donald Trump being in the White [1:21:20] House. So, once again, an attack. Do I get to respond to the false attack? You have 30 seconds. [1:21:26] Thank you. Really quick. 30 seconds. Those were Trump lies in 2024, and now that you're peddling them, [1:21:31] Matt, they're still lies. Lies don't become facts because you're a Democrat and Trump was a Republican. [1:21:37] You're just peddling a Republican's lies. I don't think Democratic Congress [1:21:40] members like AOC or NSU were lying. And if there were 26 of them said it was outrageous. [1:21:43] I could just finish with my time. If I could just finish with my time, [1:21:46] we stopped what Donald Trump was doing. Remember those days. Trump was putting kids in cages. [1:21:51] Donald Trump was separating children from their parents. We stopped that. We took care of them. [1:21:57] We protected those kids. We didn't do what Trump did, and we're not using lies. [1:22:01] Let me say this. ICE is a criminal organization. They're coming into our state. [1:22:10] They're terrorizing people. They're racially profiling people. And they're harming people [1:22:14] and committing violence against them. I'm in favor of abolishing ICE. But along the way, [1:22:19] I did push for the sanctuary state law, which I absolutely believe in. But more than that, [1:22:25] we should be prosecuting ICE agents for racial profiling. It's illegal in the state of California. [1:22:30] We should be prosecuting them for violence against Californians. It's illegal. And we should go up [1:22:35] the chain to the people who asked them to commit violence, including Stephen Miller. The truth is, [1:22:40] we should be investigating their detention centers that they will not show that are dangerous, [1:22:45] and they won't let anyone in. And I guess you can figure why. We should be protecting immigrants. [1:22:50] This state was built by immigrants. They continue to make this state run. And the idea that we let [1:22:55] agents from Washington, D.C., with masks and assault rifles come in here and terrorize them [1:23:00] is absolutely against Californian values. And the governor is here to protect Californians. [1:23:05] Tom, you profited off of those detentions. [1:23:07] Mr. Hilton, we're going to have the private prison system. [1:23:11] Mr. Hilton, thank you so much. Mr. Hilton, go ahead. [1:23:14] Thank you very much. Unlike everybody else here, I actually am an immigrant. [1:23:18] I'm a proud American, American citizen, and I am the candidate of the legal immigrant community [1:23:25] for the legal immigrant community, so that they can have the California dream, just as my parents [1:23:32] had it when they moved from Hungary, fleeing communism, to build a new life in England. [1:23:36] That's what California is all about. But it's got to be managed and orderly and legal. And that's [1:23:42] what we have to be honest about in this whole discussion about immigration and its enforcement. [1:23:48] I can tell you very clearly that when I'm governor, as I've said, I will be there for our immigrant [1:23:56] communities, our legal immigrant communities. But also, we'll make sure that all our laws, [1:24:02] all our laws, are peacefully enforced. We can't just stand up here and decide which laws we like and [1:24:09] which laws we don't. If we don't like the laws, we've got to change them. But the governor's job [1:24:14] is to enforce them. And as governor, I will do that peacefully and calmly and cooperatively with [1:24:20] the Federal Immigration Authority. Mr. Hilton, are you aware that not [1:24:22] every immigrant has the privilege that maybe you had to come to this country with a visa? [1:24:27] I understand exactly what it's like to be in a country without those privileges, [1:24:32] because that's my life and my story when my parents fed communism in Hungary. And I grew up [1:24:38] in a household with a single mother, working class immigrant story, just like so many millions in [1:24:45] California. My stepdad worked construction, my first job, project manager for a construction company. [1:24:50] So yes, I absolutely understand that. And that opportunity is what I want for every single one of [1:24:56] you. Thank you, sir. Every single one. [1:24:58] OK, we have a few minutes left. What we're going to do is ask you several questions, [1:25:03] as many as we can get in. Yes or no answers. Please respect the time we have left. We want [1:25:09] to get as much information out to voters. Enrique. [1:25:12] So as of this year, undocumented adults can no longer enroll in Medi-Cal. [1:25:16] Would you reinstate this if you become governor? Yes or no? Mr. Villarregosa? [1:25:21] Yes. [1:25:21] Ms. Porter? [1:25:22] Yes. [1:25:22] Mr. Bianco? [1:25:23] No. [1:25:24] Mr. Hilton? [1:25:25] No. [1:25:25] Mr. Steyer? [1:25:26] Yes. [1:25:26] Mr. Becerra? [1:25:27] Yes. [1:25:28] Mr. Mahan? [1:25:28] Yes. [1:25:29] All right, film and television, it is the backbone or was the backbone of California. [1:25:35] We've seen a lot of production move out of state. On a scale of one to ten, [1:25:40] where would you place this in terms of priority? I believe we touched on it earlier, but I'd like [1:25:45] a commitment from you. [1:25:46] Number one. [1:25:47] That's your top priority in the whole state? [1:25:52] Please answer the question, Ms. Porter. [1:25:53] On a scale of one to ten, is it a priority? [1:25:56] It's a priority. [1:25:57] Of course it's a priority. [1:25:59] Everyone's going to say, it's a priority. [1:26:01] Of course it is. [1:26:02] Yeah. [1:26:03] It's a weird question, to be honest. [1:26:05] I agree with Katie. [1:26:06] Okay, I think you managed to bring bipartisanship. [1:26:09] I think you might even get all of us to agree with that one. [1:26:12] Let me give you a different yes or no. [1:26:13] Very quickly, we have two minutes left, if you don't mind, Colleen. [1:26:17] For the people in Avalon Beach and San Luis Obispo County. [1:26:19] Diablo Canyon, the only nuclear power plant left in the state. [1:26:22] Nine percent of the electricity. [1:26:23] We pay three times the power in the rest of the nation. [1:26:28] It's supposed to go offline in 2030. [1:26:30] Do you extend it, Mayor Mahan? [1:26:31] Yes or no? [1:26:32] Keep it open. [1:26:33] Secretary Becerra. [1:26:35] Yes, if safety, yes, but safety first. [1:26:38] I'm sorry, Tom Steyer. [1:26:39] Extend it. [1:26:40] Extend it, okay. [1:26:41] Mr. Hilton. [1:26:42] Yes, extend it and build new ones. [1:26:44] Uh, Chad Bianco, the sheriff? [1:26:47] Completely nuclear. [1:26:48] Okay, Katie Porter. [1:26:50] Extend. [1:26:50] Okay, Antonio. [1:26:52] All right, let me rephrase the film question. [1:26:55] Would you extend tax credits to match other countries and other states? [1:26:59] Yes or no? [1:26:59] Yes. [1:27:00] Yes or no? [1:27:01] Yes. [1:27:01] Mr. Bianco. [1:27:03] Yes. [1:27:03] Yes, I published my plan on this last week. [1:27:05] I would exceed, exceed other countries. [1:27:08] We've got to be the best in the world. [1:27:10] Mr. Steyer. [1:27:10] Yes. [1:27:11] Mr. Becerra. [1:27:12] Yes, and it's an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10. [1:27:14] Thank you. [1:27:15] Yes, I was the first candidate to put out a plan doing just that. [1:27:19] Thank you. [1:27:19] Yes. [1:27:20] Very quickly, again, we've got a minute left. [1:27:23] Under the California Education Code, you perform in an athletic event, [1:27:27] K through 12, based on your identification by gender. [1:27:31] Would you change that law to match the IOC that you identify based on your birth agenda? [1:27:40] Yes or no? [1:27:40] Very quickly, we have 30 seconds left. [1:27:42] Mr. Mahan? [1:27:42] Sorry, change which law? [1:27:44] State law? [1:27:44] The current law says you identify and that's how you participate. [1:27:48] Yeah, but at higher levels, I would let the leagues decide. [1:27:51] Okay. [1:27:51] Mr. Becerra? [1:27:52] Enforce the law. [1:27:53] Okay. [1:27:54] Mr. Steyer? [1:27:55] 15 seconds. [1:27:56] Allow trans athletes to participate. [1:27:59] Mr. Hilton? [1:28:00] I have a wristband that says save girls sports. [1:28:02] Yes, and I will. [1:28:03] And I will. [1:28:03] Katie Porter? [1:28:05] Yes, enforce the existing law. [1:28:06] Okay. [1:28:07] That wraps it up for us.