Candidates for California governor took their gloves off at Tueday night’s nationally televised CNN debate in East Los Angeles.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher, with “Undecided” ahead in all polls leading up to the debate as ballots hit the mailboxes of 23 million Californians.
With less than a month of campaigning ahead of them, none of the seven candidates was spared tough questions, more from the other candidates than from CNN moderators Kaitlan Collins and Elex Michaelson. When it was over, there may have been no breakthroughs or knockouts, but plenty of bruises.
Polling trends dictated the candidates’ strategies in what could be the last major debate of the campaign: Higher polling numbers were magnets for debate barbs.
Heading into the debate, former state Attorney General and former Health and Human Resources Secretary Xavier Becerra had the wind at his back, soaring from 4% to 15% in the polls in less than a month. Each of his debate opponents, Republican and Democrat, went after Becerra. His name was mentioned nearly as often as the invisible GOP elephant in the room, President Donald Trump.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who was still polling at single digits last week, was spared most of the vitriol, but didn’t hesitate to criticize each of the other candidates at every opportunity.
His favorite target was Democratic frontrunner Becerra: “As fraud grew, Mr. Becerra did nothing.”
Becerra’s testy response? “That sounds like a MAGA talking point. …Learn the facts, Matt.”
Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco even repeated a line of attack against GOP frontrunner (and former Fox News anchor) Steve Hilton that he had called Hilton "unethical and dishonest" in an Atlantic interview before the debate.
Becerra tried to press Hilton for his support for – and endorsement by – Trump: “Trump is the real menace we have in California.”
Steyer, sticking to campaign talking points, repeatedly pressed higher taxes for corporations and the wealthy, including himself: “Billionaires like me should pay more taxes.”
Later, Bianco nearly stumbled, when he blurted out, “I’m an Oath Keeper, and I’m very proud of it.” This prompted an immediate comment from Villagairosa – “An Oath Keeper is not qualified to be governor” – and a quick followup from Collins: “Do you still consider yourself to be a member of that group?”
“No,” backtracked the sheriff.
Porter, after saying bluntly that “Donald Trump sucks,” asserted that “anyone supporting him has no business being governor.”
Mahan added that he heard first-hand from Angelenos that “Trump’s cruel and indiscriminate [immigration] enforcement has terrorized their community.”
After Becerra accused Bianco of breaking the law by seizing special election ballots in San Diego County last fall, Hilton saw an opportunity to deflect attention from his fellow GOP candidate.
He blasted fellow frontrunner Becerra for being “in the middle of a corruption scandal.”
This put the former attorney general on the defensive: “I was not involved in the actions of my staff member. If I had been involved, I would have been charged.”
Then he volleyed back at the leading GOP candidate: “What about Donald Trump’s violations of the law? What will you do about that, Steve?”
No response from Hilton.
Hilton was talking about Becerra's former chief of staff Sean McCluskie, who with lobbyist Greg Campbell pleaded guilty late last year to organizing a scheme to divert money from dormant Becerra campaign accounts to pay part of McCluskie’s salary. Dana Williamson, former campaign manager for Gov. Gavin Newsom, faces charges that are still pending that she assisted in the scheme. Becerra, who admitted to approving the transfers, was cleared of any wrongdoing.
As the debate drew to a close, the candidates were asked what set them apart from their opponents.
Villagairosa: “When I make a mistake, I’m accountable. I think character matters.”
Porter: “I have shown I am willing to make government better ... .We have to live our values.”
Steyer: “I am the person to take on corporations….I am the change agent.”
Hilton: “I absolutely hate bureaucracy and ridiculous rules and regulations.”
Bianco: “I’m the only one with 33 years of proven public service. I’m the only one that makes life and death decisions.”
Becerra: “I have the experience to take on the toughest challenges….I’ve proven that I know how to tackle a national state of emergency.”
Mahan: “I’m relentless about delivering results….and I’ll fight every day to make life better for Californians.”
Endorsements could have a big impact on the campaign this month, because of their ability to affect voter turnout.
President Trump endorsed Hilton.
There have been no endorsements from Newsom.
SEIU public employee unions have endorsed Becerra and Steyer.
The AFL CIO state Labor Federation has endorsed Villagairosa, Porter, and Porter.
Laborers and physicians have endorsed Becerra.
Nurses, teachers and environmentalists have endorsed Steyer.
The mailed ballots have to be returned to voting centers, ballot boxes, or by mail, and will be counted as long as they are postmarked by June 2.
The seven candidates returned to a debate stage the next night in Los Angeles.
On May 6, NBC stations in the Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno and San Diego joined with Telemundo stations in the Bay Area, Los Angeled, San Diego, Sacramento and Fresno for a one-hour debate in both English (the NBC stations) and Spanish (the Telemundo stations). The candidates' comments and moderators' questions were simultaneously translated into Spanish by Telemundo.
The debate was also available to stream on nbcla.com and telemundo52.com, as well as on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung TV Plus.
Mahan relentless about delivering results?
He voted to ban every third person in San Jose from attending Sharks games to coerce them to take experimental booster jabs that cause myocarditis, among other deadly side effects. And when the Sharks told him they would go out of business he and his city council colleagues reversed course within 30 days. Relentless indeed.
Mahan is a weak beta sociopath who did whatever Liccardo told him to do and didn’t care who he hurt in the process.