{"id":2596446,"date":"2026-04-29T00:26:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T04:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-governors-debate-turns-chaotic-as-candidates-chase-breakout-moment\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T00:28:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T04:28:53","slug":"california-governors-debate-turns-chaotic-as-candidates-chase-breakout-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-governors-debate-turns-chaotic-as-candidates-chase-breakout-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"California governor\u2019s debate turns chaotic as candidates chase breakout moment"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-governors-debate-turns-chaotic-as-candidates-chase-breakout-moment%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2596446&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Eight candidates in California\u2019s crowded gubernatorial race debated Tuesday at Pomona College just before ballots begin arriving, with moderators cutting in frequently and order breaking down as candidates spoke over one another and struggled too stay on topic.<\/p>\n<p>Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton traded sharp barbs early, including a derogatory comment about Trump and a tense dispute over becerra\u2019s idea to require insurers to stand by customers after major wildfires-Hilton argued the governor lacks authority while Becerra said emergency powers mean california can\u2019t \u201cjust let the insurance companies run over us.\u201d Becerra was also more animated than in the frist debate, at one point offering to \u201cgo to court\u201d over insurer accountability.<\/p>\n<p>Katie Porter attacked Tom Steyer for his fossil-fuel-related investments and taxes, while Matt Mahan criticized multiple rivals on healthcare-calling Trump-era Medicaid cuts \u201ccruel\u201d-and warned that single-payer funding is unproven based on other countries\u2019 struggles. Mahan also attacked Becerra\u2019s crisis record and referenced Becerra\u2019s handling of past emergencies and the border influx.<\/p>\n<p>The field is entering a critical stretch ahead of the June 2 nonpartisan \u201cjungle\u201d primary, where the top two <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >vote-getters advance irrespective<\/a> of party. Polling after the most recent debate showed no clear front-runner: Hilton leads at 16% and Steyer follows at 15%, with Becerra at 13%. Large portions remain undecided, and candidates with low support (including Villaraigosa and Tony Thurmond) face pressure to drop out to affect the odds of which two-potentially both republicans-advance.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>Eight candidates in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/california\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"60\">California\u2019s<\/a> crowded gubernatorial race squared off Tuesday night, each hunting for a breakout moment just days <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"11675\">before ballots<\/a> begin landing in mailboxes.<\/p>\n<p>The contenders on the stage at Pomona College took part in an energetic, at times chaotic, 90-minute debate, with multiple moderators tagging in every 30 minutes and repeatedly warning they would cut microphones to keep order. Candidates often spoke over one another, griped about limited airtime, and struggled\u00a0to stay on topic.\u00a0The exchanges were notably more combative than in the previous debate, as hopefuls pressed harder to distinguish themselves and win over undecided voters.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4546496\/dc-mayor-candidate-file-complaint\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>DC mayoral candidates file complaints about each other as race turns personal<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4544367\/rick-jackson-burt-jones-gop-georgia-governor-poll\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Rick Jackson leads GOP candidates in new Georgia governor poll as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-graham-what-border-crisis-what-biden-fiasco\/\" title=\"Tim Graham: What Border Crisis? What Biden Fiasco?\">early voting kicks<\/a> off<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4541416\/xavier-becerra-momentum-california-governor-race\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Becerra gains momentum in California governor\u2019s race after Swalwell shake-up<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>The candidates on stage included <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/xavier-becerra\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1719\">Xavier Becerra<\/a>,\u00a0former Health and Human Services Secretary; former Fox host <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4542547\/newsom-dodges-endorsement-but-muddles-overall-message\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"4542547\">Steve Hilton<\/a>; San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan; former Orange County Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/katie-porter\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"10247\">Katie Porter<\/a>; billionaire hedge fund founder <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tom-steyer\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"2792\">Tom Steyer;<\/a> Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco; California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond; and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left, Tony Thurmond, Chad Bianco, Tom Steyer, Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra, Katie Porter, Matt Mahan and Antonio Villaraigosa participate in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-debate-plans-in-flux-in-battleground-arizona\/\" title=\"Senate ... plans in flux in battleground Arizona\">gubernatorial debate hosted<\/a> by CBS LA at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Becerra landed one of the first sharp exchanges of the night. In a back-and-forth over healthcare cuts under <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">President Donald Trump<\/a> \u2014 who has endorsed Hilton \u2014 Becerra referred to the president as \u201cHilton\u2019s daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hilton quickly seized on the remark.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy dad was goalie on the Hungarian national ice hockey team,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he weighed in on this issue at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Becerra, who has seen a poll bump following former Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/eric-swalwell\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"2345\">Eric Swalwell\u2019s<\/a> sudden exit from the race following allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, was much more animated during the debate than he had been during the first one. <\/p>\n<p>He told one moderator, \u201cI\u2019d be willing to go to court with you\u201d in response to a question about holding insurance companies responsible for their actions against Californians, and he mocked Mahan when he began to answer the question.\u00a0Becerra was California\u2019s attorney general and sued the first Trump administration 122 times. <\/p>\n<p>Becerra and Hilton butted heads after Hilton pressed him\u00a0about his proposal to require insurers to stand by customers and pay claims after major wildfires. Hilton challenged whether the governor even had the authority to impose such mandates, arguing that the state should focus on reducing the risk insurers face when writing policies, not on compelling coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Becerra countered that emergency declarations grant the state significant authority, insisting California cannot \u201cjust let the insurance companies run over us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hilton dismissed the response, scoffing that the state cannot have a governor \u201cwho doesn\u2019t understand how the government works.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Becerra responded that California didn\u2019t need\u00a0\u201ca talking head\u201d from Fox News to tell voters how the government works.<\/p>\n<p>At one point in the debate, Porter slammed Steyer for his past business ties to the energy sector.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were investing in them,\u201d she said, referencing his former hedge fund, which profited from fossil fuel holdings. She also accused him of paying the \u201clowest tax rate on this stage\u201d and arguing, \u201cYou made the billions that you\u2019re using to fund your campaign off fossil fuels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steyer\u2019s wealth has consistently come up throughout the race, with competitors accusing him of trying to buy his way into the governor\u2019s office. Mahan asked whether the billionaire would commit to ending his own \u201cself-funding\u201d campaign with the \u201cmillions\u201d he made from oil and coal.<\/p>\n<p>When it came to healthcare, Mahan took aim at virtually every rival on the stage, arguing that all sides were missing the mark. He called cuts to Medicaid under the Trump administration \u201ccruel,\u201d directing the criticism at Hilton and Bianco. But he also pushed back on Steyer and Porter\u2019s support for a government-run, single-payer system, saying, \u201cWe don\u2019t know how to pay for single-payer, and we see countries with single-payer struggling with long lines and cuts to care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He then turned his fire back on Becerra, revisiting his record as health secretary and citing his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the influx of migrant children and teenagers at the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe secretary has never met a crisis that he couldn\u2019t ignore,\u201d Mahan said.<\/p>\n<p>California\u2019s gubernatorial race is entering a critical stretch, and candidates spent the night looking to capitalize on sound bites and pithy quotes that could help break the contest wide open. They debated on affordability, health care, the gas tax, alternative fuel resources, oil production, housing, education, and homelessness. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the average viewer, I suspect this debate is mostly a bunch of fast-talking blah, blah, blah,\u201d veteran California-based political expert Garry South told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cToo many candidates on the stage, too little time for substantive answers.\u00a0Too much like Jeopardy for politics.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>South added that, unlike the first debate, where the candidates were on their best behavior, Tuesday\u2019s debate showcased a fiery side. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese debate formats need to allow some back-and-forth between the candidates themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cThe exchanges between and among the candidates, although partially showboating, of course, allow viewers and voters to observe and judge how those who would be governor deal with hostile questions about which they may not have rehearsed talking points.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has turned into a wide-open contest. The crowded field will compete in the state\u2019s June 2 nonpartisan primary. California uses a \u201cjungle primary\u201d that puts all candidates on the same ballot and ensures that the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election. <\/p>\n<p>Although Republicans have historically struggled in statewide contests in heavily Democratic California, a fractured Democratic field has divided voters, allowing the two GOP candidates to rise to the top of the polls. Trump\u2019s endorsement is expected to help unify Republican voters behind Hilton and make a same-party GOP runoff in November less likely, but Bianco isn\u2019t going without a fight. He received the most votes at this month\u2019s\u00a0California Republican Party convention, but did not earn an endorsement\u00a0because he fell short of the 60% threshold. <\/p>\n<p>Similarly, the California Democratic Party failed to secure a gubernatorial endorsement at its convention in February. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/beltway-confidential\/4544632\/california-democrats-will-try-sabotage-voter-id-ballot-proposition\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"4544632\">CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS WILL TRY TO SABOTAGE VOTER ID BALLOT PROPOSITION <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The latest CBS News\/YouGov poll, conducted April 23-27 (immediately after the last debate), showed little movement in the race and failed to show any true front-runner.\u00a0Hilton led the field with 16%, followed closely by Steyer at 15%.\u00a0Becerra is third at 13%, ahead of Bianco at 10%, Porter at 9%, Mahan at 4%, Villaraigosa at 4%, and Thurmond at 1%. Of the votes polled, 26% said they were undecided. <\/p>\n<p>Villaraigosa and Thurmond, who didn\u2019t make the cut at the previous debate because of their low numbers, have faced pressure to drop out so that Hilton and Bianco don\u2019t both move on to the general election. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eight California gubernatorial hopefuls debated Tuesday at Pomona College as votes approached, aiming for a breakout moment amid a chaotic, combative 90 minutes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2646,"featured_media":2596447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26119023951661.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4045,35561,51159,37043],"class_list":["post-2596446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-california","tag-election-coverage","tag-gubernatorial-election","tag-political-debate"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26119023951661.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2646"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2596446"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2596450,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596446\/revisions\/2596450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2596447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2596446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2596446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2596446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}