(The Center Square) – New frontrunner Xavier Becerra found himself the target of criticism from six other gubernatorial candidates during a CNN debate Tuesday night.
Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco said Becerra is among the Democrats who have made life difficult in California.
Democrats Katie Porter, Matt Mahan, Tom Steyer and Antonio Villaraigosa all took issue with Becerra for not being clear on his position on issues such as a single-payer healthcare insurance system.
Becerra, a former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, California attorney general and U.S. representative, denied and dismissed attacks.
“I continue to be for Medicare for all,” said Becerra, who gained support in polling in recent weeks after frontrunner Eric Swalwell’s abrupt departure from the race and the U.S. House after sex abuse allegations. Becerra is now the Democrat with the highest poll numbers.
Hilton, the only candidate with the same polling numbers as Becerra, said single-pay is a disaster.
“I’m the only person here with actual experience of single-payer healthcare, both as a patient and as a policymaker,” said Hilton, who was born in London before moving to the U.S. and becoming an American citizen in 2021. Like others in Britain, he lived with a singer-payer healthcare system.
“As a patient, it nearly killed me. That’s another story we don’t have time for,” said Hilton, a former Fox News Channel host. “As a policymaker, you end up with the worst patient satisfaction, costs that you can’t afford, and taxes sky high to pay for it.”
According to Hilton, the actual way to deal with healthcare in California is to “at least stop spending $20 billion a year on free healthcare for illegal immigrants who should not be in this country in the first place.”
Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County whose platform involves restoring law and order to California, agreed.
“How about we try to make people healthy?” asked Bianco.
Porter, who formerly represented parts of Southern California’s Orange County in the U.S. House, said the direction that got people into this healthcare “mess” is Democrats catering to big pharmaceutical and big insurance companies, companies that Porter said Becerra took $2 million from during his career. Still, Porter said California cannot afford to have people who are sick making other people sick.
“When anyone doesn’t have care, the rest of us are at risk,” said Porter. “When people don’t get vaccinations, when they don’t go to the doctor, they wind up in the emergency room. They cause longer lines for the rest of us. They push our healthcare system to the brink.”
Mahan, who is not supportive of single-pay insurance, said no one fighting for it knows how to pay for it.
“The reality is our healthcare system is broken,” said Mahan, the mayor of San Jose. “Thirty percent of the cost in California is an administrative cost. We can use technology to bring down those costs.”
Mahan said California is not incentivizing health. He explained that the state should reward doctors and health systems for making people healthier.
Steyer, who was opposed to single-pay insurance when he ran for president in 2020, is now pushing for single-pay as governor. In Tuesday’s debate, Steyer said that it would benefit California financially.
“Single-payer healthcare systems cost half as much as the system in total that we have now,” said Steyer. “Yes, it’s going to be a big job to get us to single-payer, but we don’t have a choice because right now, people are suffering, and you need somebody who’s going to fight for it.”
Other issues of affordability were also debated Tuesday night.
“I built more market-rate affordable workforce and homeless housing in eight years in the middle of a recession than they did in the 12 years before me,” Villaraigosa told Mahan.
“So you’re not the only one on stage that has done that,” Villaraigosa said, referring to Mahan’s accomplishments as mayor of San Jose.
Villaraigosa – who made similar comments last week during a CBS debate – served as mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013.
Hilton blamed Democrats’ policies for Californians struggling today. He promised to eliminate the “bureaucracy and ridiculous, pointless rules and regulations that crush the life out of people and businesses.”
“I will be relentless,” said Hilton. “I will not rest until we have restored sanity to our beautiful state of California.”
Hilton has also promised to build more homes, which is another issue plaguing Californians. Many people cannot afford to buy a home. Others lack homes to buy because supplies are limited depending on where they live, he said.
Mahan, who has also promised to attack taxes, red tape and other things driving up housing costs, highlighted his efforts to combat homelessness in San Jose.
“More than half of the candidates on this stage have visited San Jose to see our success in interim housing,” said Mahan. “We’ve added thousands of units, moved thousands of people indoors, and just in the three years that I have been mayor, we have graduated about 30% of those people to permanent housing.”
Bianco dismissed Mahan’s achievements, saying they came as he was preparing a run for governor.
Meanwhile, Bianco walked back comments he made about an interview in The Atlantic. Reading from the article, CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins said Bianco called Hilton “unethical and dishonest” and said that Hilton is trying to “manipulate Californians” and “swindled his way into the Republican side.”
Bianco denied using the word “swindled.” When pressed by Collins, Bianco later conceded he “probably did say that.”
Collins also asked Porter about a new campaign ad where she gives a nod to a viral clip of her in recent years yelling at a then-House staffer for getting in her camera shot during a recording.
“The ad is about showing Californians what they’ve had a chance to see on this stage tonight and in every other debate stage that we’ve had, which is that I’m able to take responsibility,” said Porter. “I’m able to follow the rules. I’m able to say I’m sorry, and I’m able to do better.”
Porter said she apologized to that staffer, and they continued to work together for four more years. Porter also said she appeared on stage last week during a CBS debate with moderator Julie Watts, which The Center Square covered. It was during an October 2025 interview with Watts that Porter cut short because of her questions.
“Californians can decide for themselves about my temperament based on what they’ve seen here tonight, and if these bullies, these boys bullying and bickering, haven’t been enough to raise questions about their temperament, I would really challenge that.”
CNN moderator Elex Michaelson asked each of the candidates to describe Gov. Gavin Newsom’s time in office in one word.
Villaraigosa described Newsom’s tenure as “performative.” Other Democratic candidates praised him, with Becerra calling his two terms “game-changing” and Porter, “bold.” But one Democrat, Mahan, described Newsom’s time in office as “incomplete.”
The two Republicans, Bianco and Hilton, described Newsom’s tenure as “failed.”
Not appearing Tuesday night was Tony Thurmond. The state superintendent of public instruction did not meet CNN’s threshold for polling numbers to get a spot on stage.
