California Candidates Clash on Taxes, Homelessness in Volatile Debate

Ballots drop in early May for California's June 2 primary, and the state's next governor will inherit crushing housing costs, persistent homelessness and the highest cost of living in the nation. Wednesday night's debate among six contenders offered the clearest look yet at how starkly their prescriptions diverge. With no breakout performance and roughly one in four voters still undecided, the central tension remains unresolved: can a fragmented Democratic field hand the top two primary spots to Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, or will Democrats consolidate in time to preserve one-party control?

The 90-minute Nexstar broadcast from KRON studios in San Francisco came days after Eric Swalwell quit the race amid sexual assault allegations he denies. Organizers had expanded the stage after a follow-up poll showed San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra clearing the threshold. Moderators drilled candidates on affordability, gas prices, insurance and homelessness. Republicans repeatedly tied those problems to 16 years of uninterrupted Democratic governance. Hilton, a former Fox News host endorsed by President Trump according to multiple campaign statements, called Democratic tax policy an "insatiable appetite for more and more taxes for their bottomless money pit." He pledged to halve the state's 61-cent gas tax and bring prices down toward $3 a gallon.

Democrats largely defended Gov. Gavin Newsom's record while jostling among themselves. On homelessness grades, Becerra gave Newsom an A for effort. Porter, a former congresswoman, awarded a B and cited her background as a single mother tracking grocery bills. Steyer, the billionaire hedge-fund founder who has poured more than $100 million of his own money into the campaign per his own disclosures, offered a B-minus. Mahan settled on a D for "all of us." Both Republicans awarded F grades. Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff, said the state has spent billions with little to show.

Exchanges grew sharpest on race and regulation. Porter pressed Bianco on truck-driver language requirements, suggesting the policy profiled Black, brown and immigrant drivers. Bianco replied that Californians "are sick and tired of our politicians making race the basis of everything" and insisted the rule prevents fatal crashes by drivers unable to read signs. The moment, captured in multiple broadcast clips, crystallized the Republican argument that identity politics has crowded out practical governance. Federal Department of Transportation scrutiny of California's commercial licensing practices, reported by LAist in 2025, lent context to Bianco's position though exact linkage to the debate was not restated onstage.

Democrats trained much of their fire on Steyer's wealth and past investments. Mahan charged that "the only housing Tom Steyer's built has been private prisons and ICE detention centers," referencing Steyer's earlier hedge-fund stakes in Corrections Corporation of America. Steyer responded that he is "the billionaire who wants to tax other billionaires" and plans to give away most of his fortune. He also reminded viewers that other billionaires and corporations are funding opposition. Becerra, who has seen his support rise since Swalwell's exit according to Emerson and PPIC polling, attacked Hilton as an inexperienced "talking head" who never ran government. Hilton countered by highlighting federal partnerships possible under a Trump-aligned governor.

Bianco went further than Hilton on the primary outcome. Asked whether he would support the eventual nominee of his party, Bianco predicted he and Hilton would both advance to November, bypassing any intraparty runoff. All four Democrats pledged to back their party's eventual choice. Recent surveys, including a late-March PPIC poll taken before Swalwell withdrew, showed the field clustered with Hilton near 17 percent, Bianco around 14 percent, and Democrats Steyer, Porter and Becerra each between 10 and 14 percent, with 23 percent undecided. Those numbers have shifted post-Swalwell but have not been fully corroborated by every outlet.

Porter also addressed video that surfaced of her sharply confronting a staffer, saying it was "not the right way to treat someone" while insisting she works hard for Californians. Mahan highlighted his record fighting homelessness and crime in San Jose and positioned himself as an independent voice ready to regulate artificial intelligence, an issue touched on only lightly. Becerra reminded viewers of his experience clashing with Trump as state attorney general and balancing large budgets. No candidate substantially engaged the other's strongest moments; the debate produced contrasts rather than conversion.

California's top-two primary system means the top two finishers advance regardless of party. Democrats have not lost a statewide race in two decades and outnumber Republicans two-to-one in registration. Yet the crowded field has party leaders privately concerned, according to reporting by the Associated Press and The Guardian. Republicans sense a historic opening if Democratic votes split. Whether voters ultimately punish or reward the status quo will not be settled by one debate. The exchange did, however, sharpen the choice: continued progressive experimentation versus a blunt diagnosis that one-party rule itself is the root failure.