Candidates for California governor took the stage Tuesday evening at Pomona College’s auditorium, addressing key issues including housing affordability, health care, education and homelessness, ahead of the primary election.
Housing emerged early as a central concern, with Democratic candidate and State Superintendent Tony Thurmond proposing building 2 million homes and expanding down payment assistance.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer both called for streamlining permits and zoning reforms to speed construction.
Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said “home ownership used to be part of the American dream.”
“My mom struggled to make ends meet, and we rented for most of our life,” Becerra said. “I bought a home at 25 years old. Young people like the young people here at Pomona College can’t do that anymore, and so I’ve argued that we need to have first time buyer assistance.”
Homelessness and mental health policy prompted some of the most disagreement, particularly over whether individuals who refuse services should be mandated into treatment.
While most candidates including Villaraigosa and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan supported some form of mandated treatment for individuals refusing help, Porter stressed safeguards.
Bianco argued the crisis is driven primarily by drug use and mental illness, while Steyer emphasized faster placement into interim housing.
In response to being accused of trying to arrest his way out of the issue, Bianco said that as a drug cop he would, “take them to court and say, ‘Do you want to go to jail or do you want to go to rehab?’ And the vast majority of them picked rehab. That’s what we want.”
Health care sparked heated exchanges. Steyer and Porter both emphasized moving towards a single payer health care system in California.
“Health care is a right for every Californian, and long term, the only way we can afford that is a single payer health care system, a lot that will take at least three years to get if we start on day one,” Steyer said.
Porter followed with a statement on the current state of healthcare.
“Medicare spends about 2% of everything that we put into it on administrative costs, and private health insurance spends 17 or 18% on pushing paper and denying claims and telling you no and who you can and can’t go see as a doctor,” Porter said. “We have to get more administratively efficient with our health care.”
Republican candidate Steve Hilton called for increased competition among insurers, and Bianco rejected single-payer entirely.
“If you want socialism, go somewhere else, because single payer people come to America for the best medical coverage and care in the entire world,” Bianco said.
Despite the clashes, the forum highlighted clear policy contrasts as voters weigh their choices in the upcoming primary.
The primary election will take place on June 2. Mail-in ballots are expected to be mailed starting May 4, with drop-off locations opening May 5.
The two candidates that receive most votes during the primary election will advance to the November ballot.