California gubernatorial candidates struggled to break through on the debate stage Tuesday, as Democrats look to capitalize on former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) dramatic exit from the crowded field.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, billionaire Tom Steyer, former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and five other rivals, including Trump-backed Republican Steve Hilton, fought for standout moments in the 90-minute program at Pomona College in the unique, nonpartisan contest.
Faced with questions about affordability, housing and other crises facing the Golden State, the candidates clashed in crosstalk, interruptions and squabbles with moderators just a week after a more muted showdown. Becerra jabbed that Trump is “Hilton’s daddy,” while Porter said her colleagues’ back-and-forth was “worse than my teenagers at dinner.”
Despite the debate’s high energy, it remains to be seen whether the showing was enough to propel candidates forward in the scrambled field after Swalwell, seen as a Democratic frontrunner, dropped his bid amid over sexual misconduct allegations earlier this month.
“Wow, that was a bit of a mess,” said Pomona College student Ryan Kossarian as he stood to ask a question at the debate, hosted by CBS News at the university in Claremont, Calif.
In recent days, Steyer has taken aim at Becerra, who surged in the polls and racked up endorsements after Swalwell left the race The duo are seen as Democrats’ front runner candidates, as they jostle for Swalwell’s previous endorsements.
The billionaire has ripped the former Biden health official for accepting funds from Chevron, and blasted him as a career politician. Becerra, meanwhile, has criticized Steyer’s wealth, stating “we will not let billionaires buy their way into office.”
Steyer was the leading Democrat in a CBS News/YouGov poll released ahead of the debate on Monday, with 15 percent backing behind Hilton’s 16 percent support. Becerra and Bianco were the only two other candidates to garner double digit support.
In polling from Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics, Becerra had been stuck in single digits before Swalwell’s exit, but surged 7 points ahead of last week’s debate hosted by Nexstar, The Hill’s parent company.
Heading into Tuesday’s debate, the stakes were high for Steyer and Becerra — and their fellow Democrats in spitting distance of frontrunner status — to score a breakout moment that could boost candidacy, with ballots set to go out to voters next week.
Porter took aim at Steyer’s money moves on Tuesday, when he talked about oil companies causing damage through pollution.
“So they were causing great damage while you were investing in them?” Porter interrupted.
At another point, Porter stepped in to “summarize the squabbling for everybody,” drawing attention to the back-and-forth chaos throughout the evening.
Several candidates also tussled with the program’s moderators as the eight contenders fought for airtime.
CBS News’s Julie Watts clashed with Steyer over a question on oil refining, directing the audience to her outlet’s website to crosscheck the billionaire’s prior remarks on the matter. Steyer then protested when Watts moved on to Porter, threatening to “cut the mic if you don’t — if you’re not respectful.”
Becerra told Watts that he’d “be willing to go to court” with her when she pushed back on his plan for a proposed state of emergency to freeze insurance rates. It was one example of a more animated showing for the former Biden administration official compared to last week’s debate.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan also sought out opportunities for the spotlight, jumping in when some of his rivals complained about their allotted time.
State superintendent Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa were also on stage Tuesday, after failing to meet the polling threshold for last week’s debate. They’re among the candidates under scrutiny as Democrats fret about candidate viability in the crowded field.
“You know what’s interesting? Everybody wants to talk at this debate,” CBS Los Angeles’s Pat Harvey remarked at one point.
Some of the night’s most notable shots, though, were taken across the aisle.
“We can’t have a governor who doesn’t understand how the government works,” Hilton said in a jab at Becerra.
“And we don’t need a talking head from Fox News to tell us how the government works,” the former Health and Human Services secretary hit back.
Asked how he would ease Californians’ healthcare affordability woes, Becerra said that “the first thing we have to do is stop Steve Hilton’s daddy, who has endorsed him,” pointing to the president’s support for the leading GOP candidate.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R) also bashed California’s Democratic leadership and the party’s contenders on the debate stage, an overarching message of his pitch to voters. He also complained of a lack of airtime after one moderator pledged to go to him next after he interrupted one of Porter’s answers.
“I wasn’t sure I was even up here any more,” Bianco said.
The sparring comes as Democrats fret over the race’s frontrunner, so they can coalesce support and avoid the possibility of a Republican-on-Republican general election.
Though experts say the possibility is increasingly unlikely in the blue stronghold, it’s a longshot outcome under California’s unique primary system, in which the top two vote-getters will advance from the June 2 primary, regardless of political party.
Steyer and Becerra were tied at 13 percent each in polling shared by the California Democratic Party last week, leading fellow Democrats but trailing the two top Republicans. The state party Chair Rusty Hicks said last week that candidates struggling in the single digits should “give serious consideration to stepping back.”
Even if candidates do drop out at this point, though, their names — like Swalwell’s —- will appear on the primary ballot. Counties start sending mail ballots to voters on May 4.
Californians will also be weighing in this summer on critical House contests across the state in the wake of Proposition 50, which approved a map that gives Democrats several new pickup opportunities in the national battle for control of Congress.
The candidates will meet again next Tuesday in a debate hosted by CNN.
