Tax billionaires, lower rents and different takeaways from California’s first gubernatorial debate

SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Gavin Newsom, barred from operating for reelection, nonetheless took warmth Tuesday throughout the first debate in California’s 2026 race for governor.

Six Democrats and one Republican on the stage in Newsom’s hometown of San Francisco took direct goal on the governor’s file on homelessness, efforts to ban the sale of recent gas-powered vehicles and opposition to an anti-crime poll measure that Californians overwhelmingly handed two years in the past.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who unsuccessfully ran towards Newsom for governor in 2018, pointed to state spending on homelessness for example of ineptitude.

“We spent $24 billion on the state, together with billions extra from the counties and the cities all through the state, and homelessness went on,” he mentioned. “We can’t be afraid to look within the mirror.”

The televised debate revealed the schism between the average and progressive Democrats hoping to interchange Newsom, in addition to efforts by Steve Hilton, the only Republican who took half, to coalesce the conservative vote.

Hilton, a former Fox New commentator and British political strategist, known as on his prime GOP rival, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, to drop out of the race.

“My Republican colleague Chad Bianco shouldn’t be right here tonight to face these Democrats or his file in 2020, throughout the Black Lives Matter riots,” Hilton mentioned on the occasion, which was co-sponsored by the nonprofit Black Motion Alliance, which was based to present Black voters a larger voice within the Bay Space.

Bianco “took a knee when informed to by BLM, now he says he was praying,” Hilton mentioned. “Chad Bianco has acquired extra baggage than LAX.”

Bianco was invited to the controversy however mentioned he was unable to attend due to a scheduling battle. His marketing campaign didn’t reply to requests for remark about Hilton’s assaults.

The, at instances, feisty debate got here amid a gubernatorial race that to this point has lacked sizzle or a candidate on both aspect of the aisle who has excited Californians. Public opinion polls present that the majority voters stay undecided.

Seven of the dozen distinguished candidates operating to interchange Newsom participated within the gathering on the Ruth Williams Opera Home in entrance of a dwell viewers of about 200 individuals. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) was scheduled to take part however canceled, citing the necessity to return to Washington, D.C., for congressional votes. Former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) additionally didn’t attend the controversy.

The 2-hour conflict, at instances tormented by audio points, was hosted by two native Fox Information associates and moderated by KTVU political reporter Greg Lee and anchor André Senior, in addition to KTTV’s Marla Tellez.

5 takeaways from the controversy:

Making California reasonably priced once more

When grilled about how they deliberate to deal with the excessive price of dwelling within the state — gasoline costs, hire, utility payments and different day-to-day monetary challenges — a lot of the candidates prefaced their solutions by speaking about rising up in struggling households, typically with immigrant mother and father who labored blue-collar jobs.

Former U.S. Well being and Human Companies Secretary Xavier Becerra mentioned he would stabilize rents and freeze utility and residential insurance coverage prices “till we discover out why they’re rising.” California Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond mentioned he would elevate taxes on billionaires and create tax credit to assist households afford the excessive price of dwelling.

Villaraigosa and Hilton mentioned they’d decrease gasoline costs by slicing rules on California’s oil refineries.

Hilton blamed the state’s excessive price of dwelling squarely on Democratic insurance policies. “They’ve been in energy for 16 years,” he mentioned. “Who else is there accountable?”

Billionaire hedge fund founder turned local weather activist Tom Steyer mentioned he favors hire management. Steyer and former state Controller Betty Yee mentioned they’d prioritize zoning and allowing reform to construct extra housing, significantly close to public transit. Each Steyer, a progressive, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a average, spoke about utilizing new know-how akin to pre-fabricated houses to construct extra reasonably priced housing.

Defending immigrants

Within the wake of the Trump administration’s chaotic immigration raids that began in Los Angeles in June and have unfold throughout the nation — lately ensuing within the taking pictures deaths of two individuals by federal brokers in Minneapolis — the Democrats on stage unanimously voiced assist for immigrants who dwell in California. Some pledged that, if elected, they’d use the governor’s workplace to aggressively push again on President Trump’s immigration insurance policies.

“We’ve acquired to say no to ICE, and we’ve acquired to tackle Trump wherever he raises his ugly head,” Villaraigosa mentioned.

Steyer, whose hedge fund invested in an organization that runs migrant detention facilities on the U.S.-Mexico border, and Thurmond each mentioned they assist abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Thurmond and Mahan mentioned they assist a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Politicians politicking

Antonio Villaraigosa, left, talks to Betty Yee throughout the California gubernatorial candidate debate Tuesday in San Francisco.

(Laure Andrillon / Related Press)

Amid the controversy’s dodging, weaving, yammering and spicy back-and-forth, there have been a couple of moments when the candidates rose above the din.

Villaraigosa, the previous two-term mayor of Los Angeles and a former speaker of the California Meeting, insisted that the moderators name him “Antonio” as an alternative of Mayor Villaraigosa.

“It’s my identify, everyone. I’m only a common man,” he mentioned, prompting fun.

Mahan, alternatively, tried mightily to painting himself as being above the soiled enterprise of politics.

“The reality is that our politics has been oversimplified,” he mentioned. “It’s grow to be this blood sport between populists on either side, and also you deserve actual solutions, not the straightforward solutions.”

Yee, who has been operating on her background as controller and a member of the California Board of Equalization, forged herself because the monetary savior the state wants in making an attempt financial instances of funds deficits and federal cuts.

“We now have not been accountable or clear with our bucks for a very long time,” she mentioned. “Why are we proper now and [in successive] years spending greater than we’re bringing in? That is the place we’re. So accountability needs to be a tone set from the highest.”

The wealthy man and the brand new man

Steyer, who paints himself as a repentant billionaire dedicated to gifting away his riches to make California a greater place for all, didn’t instantly reply a query about his place on a controversial proposed poll measure for a brand new tax on billionaires to fund healthcare. However he mentioned he supported rising taxes on the rich and boasted of getting the political backing of bus drivers, nurses and cafeteria staff as a result of he was the wealthy man keen to “tackle the billionaires for working households.”

Mahan, the most recent main candidate to enter the race, wasn’t impressed.

“Tom, I’ve acquired about 3 billion causes to not belief your reply on that,” he mentioned, an obvious reference to Steyer’s web price.

Though he helps closing tax loopholes for the rich, Mahan mentioned he opposes the billionaire tax as a result of “it’ll ship good, high-paying jobs out of our state, and hard-working households, in the long term, will all pay extra taxes for it.”

Cash additionally spoke Tuesday

Though the battle over marketing campaign fundraising didn’t overtly come up throughout Tuesday’s debate apart from Mahan’s remark about Steyer, it nonetheless was getting loads of consideration. Marketing campaign fundraising disclosures grew to become public Monday and Tuesday.

Unsurprisingly, Steyer led the pack with $28.9 million in contributions in 2025, practically all of it donations that the billionaire spent on his marketing campaign. Different prime fundraisers had been Porter, who raised $6.1 million; Hilton, who collected $5.7 million; Becerra, who banked $5.2 million; Bianco, who obtained $3.7 million in contributions; Swalwell’s $3.1 million since coming into the race late final yr; and Villaraigosa’s $3.2 million, based on paperwork filed with the California secretary of state’s workplace.

Mahan, who lately entered the race, wasn’t required to file a marketing campaign fundraising disclosure, although he’s anticipated to have notable assist from rich Silicon Valley tech honchos. Former state Controller Betty Yee and state faculties chief Tony Thurmond had been among the many candidates who raised the least, which spurs questions on their viability in a state of greater than 23 million registered voters with a number of the costliest media markets within the nation.

Yee defended her candidacy by pointing to her expertise.

“All of the polls present that this race is large open. You understand, I believe voters have had sufficient. I’ve been across the state. I’ve spoken to hundreds of them,” she mentioned. “Sufficient of the lies, the damaged marketing campaign guarantees, billionaires making an attempt to run the world. You understand, look, I’m the grownup within the room. No gimmicks, no nonsense, straight shooter, the lady who will get issues finished. And we actually can’t afford a frontrunner who thinks grandstanding is definitely governing.”

Mehta reported from Los Angeles and Nixon reported from San Francisco. Information and graphics journalists Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee and Hailey Wang contributed to this report.