Latest California governor race from Paris Barraza
TODAY Californian reporter Paris Barraza delivers a quick update on the California governor race, covering candidates, polling trends and key election developments.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
California’s governor’s race isn’t letting up. Another debate arrived just a day after leading candidates squabbled over health care and assessed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s performance, right in time for the rapidly approaching June 2 primary election.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52 hosted the gubernatorial debate on Wednesday, May 6, which featured Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, and Democrats Xavier Becerra, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer and Antonio Villaraigosa.
Here are key takeaways from the debate, where topics spanned housing, homelessness and more:
Hilton argued for simplifying regulations that make it pricey to build housing in the state, and to stop “hidden taxes” on building. However, the big change needed is ending an “ideology” that says the only acceptable form of housing is to “shove” apartment buildings into suburban neighborhoods. Hilton said California has stopped building the kind of starter homes and single-family homes that used to be built so well in the state.
To Bianco, you can’t afford a home in the state because builders can’t afford to build due to “excessive regulations.” So, he’ll remove restrictions and regulations causing this, calling out the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA, in particular.
But should the state get involved in zoning? Mahan said that if cities don’t do their job, then the state needs to intervene and hold them accountable.
Becerra had a promise to help give Californians the chance to own a home. He’ll expand down payment assistance programs; Villaraigosa was also in support of down payment assistance.
Under Porter’s leadership, Californians would have a 5% down payment on their homes and “not 20” — presumably meaning 20%. While down payments can vary, Redfin said a 20% down payment “is standard, if you can afford it.”
Becerra repeated his plan to call for a freeze on insurance rates; among his plan in addressing the home insurance crisis in California is making sure that rates are based on risk, and that risk is based on the mitigation efforts to reduce it.
Yet Becerra’s plan to freeze rates is something other candidates took issue with.
“We can’t afford to freeze rates because what will happen is every insurer remaining in the state will leave, and if people cannot get insurance, they will not build more houses,” Porter said. “They will not build green energy projects.”
The solution is to bring back insurers and have them compete to drive down costs, according to Mahan. It’s a sentiment shared by Porter.
“The notion that we would freeze insurance rates — one, the governor can’t do that, two, it’s just going to make it worse,” Villaraigosa said.
It’s worth noting that voters will also be tasked with deciding the next California insurance commissioner.
Several candidates for the position were asked about Becerra’s stance in a clip published on social media and shared by candidate Patrick Wolff. More specifically, they were asked whether they believed the governor has the authority to tell the insurance commissioner to freeze insurance rates, with most candidates saying “no” in response.
It comes as Consumer Watchdog issued a statement from Litigation Director Will Pletcher on the topic of rate increases in response to a recent gubernatorial debate.
“The new Insurance Commissioner — who has the direct power to order a moratorium on rate increases as well as stop unjust cancellations and non-renewals — and the next Governor will need some time to wrestle the insurance industry back under control,” Pletcher said. “A regulatory freeze will help stabilize the insurance market until they do so.”
Steyer said it’s critical to keep people from getting to the point of being homeless. That comes in the form of rental assistance and emergency interim housing.
According to Bianco, homelessness is not, and never has been, about homes. It’s about drug and alcohol addiction, it’s about mental illness, and it’s a combination of those. Bianco said what’s needed is treatment centers that treat both mental health conditions as well as substance abuse.
His perspective: Putting a roof over someone isn’t any different from a tent, and it doesn’t solve the problem.
However, Porter said the cause of homelessness is the cost of housing, sharing Steyer’s sentiments about prevention.
Hilton said he also shared a perspective with Spencer Pratt, the former reality TV star running for Los Angeles mayor. The law must be enforced when it comes to homelessness, Hilton said.
A change went into effect earlier this year for certain undocumented Californians: an enrollment freeze for full-scope Medi-Cal. Medi-Cal is the state’s Medicaid health care program.
Candidates were asked whether they’d reinstate this as governor.
Here’s what they said:
Candidates also faced a yes or no hypothetical question: If the following bill comes before you, do you sign it? The bill in question would be whether to seek an increase in oil production in the Central Valley.
Here’s what candidates said:
According to moderators, the May 6 debate hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo 52 is the last televised debate ahead of the primary election.
A SurveyUSA poll released on Monday, May 4 found that 20% of voters would cast their ballot for Hilton if the primary election was held today. Following him was Steyer at 18%. The only other two candidates to get double-digit support were Bianco and Becerra.
Meanwhile, a different poll shared by the California Democratic Party on May 4 found that 18% of likely voters would cast their ballot for Hilton if the primary election was held today. However, 18% of likely voters would also support Becerra; the former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services beat Steyer, who has frequently led among his fellow Democratic candidates in the polls.
The primary election will be held on June 2, where the two top vote-getters for governor, regardless of political party, will move on to the general election on Nov. 3.
Not sure if you are already registered to vote? You can check on the California Secretary of State’s website by submitting your name, date of birth and a few other pieces of information.
Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at pbarraza@usatodayco.com.
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