{"id":2673941,"date":"2026-10-01T13:58:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T17:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-governor-debate-turns-into-trump-newsom-proxy-war\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T14:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T18:01:23","slug":"california-governor-debate-turns-into-trump-newsom-proxy-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-governor-debate-turns-into-trump-newsom-proxy-war\/","title":{"rendered":"California governor debate turns into Trump-Newsom proxy war"},"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\">16<\/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-governor-debate-turns-into-trump-newsom-proxy-war%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=2673941&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>California\u2019s gubernatorial candidates participated in their first televised debate ahead of teh November election. Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton faced off just days before ballots start to be mailed out. Polls show Becerra leading substantially,making Hilton\u2019s challenge to become California\u2019s first Republican governor as 2011 a tough task. The first televised debate between California\u2019s gubernatorial candidates,Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton,took place ahead of the November election,just days before ballots begin to be mailed. Polling indicates a substantial lead for Becerra, highlighting the challenge Hilton faces in unseating the Democrat and possibly becoming California\u2019s first Republican governor since 2011. The debate provided an early platform for both candidates to present their visions and strategies to voters amidst a competitive race.  <\/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 class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/california\/\">California\u2019s<\/a> gubernatorial candidates hurled verbal punches at each other on Tuesday evening in their first televised debate, as Republicans hope for a miracle at the ballot box in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2026-election\/\">November<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrat <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/xavier-becerra\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"1719\">Xavier Becerra<\/a> faced off against Republican Steve Hilton this week for what will likely be the pair\u2019s only debate before the Nov. 3 election. Their face-off, just days before voters begin receiving their ballots by mail, comes as polling indicates Beccera holds a massive lead, signaling a steep obstacle course for Hilton\u2019s ambitions to become California\u2019s first Republican governor since 2011.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<style>.explore-more-section { background: var(--wex-bg); border-top: 1px solid #ffffff; border-bottom: 1px solid #ffffff; margin: 24px 0; margin-top: -20px; }<\/style>\n<style id=\"mos-07190ddb-fc77-49b9-89a3-577e169b2c34-style\">@scope (#mos-07190ddb-fc77-49b9-89a3-577e169b2c34) { .we-meter {   --we-red: #DB3745;   --we-charcoal: #323E48;   --we-blue: #15BEF0;   --we-slate: #85A0AB;   --we-gold: #ECC270;   --we-text: #323E48;   --we-border: #85A0AB;    max-width: 800px;   margin: 0 auto;   padding: 1.5rem;   border: 1px solid rgba(33, 39, 42, 0.4);   border-radius: 12px;   background: #fff;   color: var(--we-text);   font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif !important; 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<\/script><\/p>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California gubernatorial candidates exchanged sharp words during their first televised debate on Tuesday evening, as Republicans desperately seek a surprise victory in November. Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton debated this week in what is expected to be their only face-off before the November 3rd election. With ballots already being mailed out, polling shows Becerra with a commanding lead, making Hilton\u2019s path to becoming California\u2019s first Republican governor since 2011 a challenging one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2673942,"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\/10\/AP26119058344469.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4045,34059,86555,37324,86556],"class_list":["post-2673941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-california","tag-election-2024","tag-governor-debate","tag-political-conflict","tag-trump-newsom"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/AP26119058344469.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2673941","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\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2673941"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2673941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2673945,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2673941\/revisions\/2673945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2673942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2673941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2673941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2673941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}