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The California gubernatorial debate was supposed to be a chance for candidates to explain how they’d fix the state’s problems. Instead, it turned into a left-wing cage match, with Democrats attacking Democrats and giving Republicans a front-row seat. If you wanted clarity on policy, you didn’t get it. If you wanted a circus, you got a sold-out show.
Blue-on-blue warfare stole the show
Five Democrats and two Republicans took the stage and the Democrats spent most of the night trying to out-left each other. Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, businessman Tom Steyer, former Rep. Katie Porter, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa traded barbs, not plans. The point of the exercise seemed to be proving who was the truest progressive, rather than who could lead a state drowning in debt and high costs.
Big fights over gas, immigration, and Medi-Cal
The debate kept circling back to cost of living and immigration. Republicans hammered home claims that regulations and environmental rules push up gas prices, while Democrats blamed national issues and even President Trump for rising costs. On immigration, the Democrats agreed on one thing — bringing undocumented adults back into Medi-Cal — and some even cheered calls to abolish ICE. That reads as one-party theater: grand moral gestures with little attention to the consequences for everyday Californians who are squeezed by high prices and broken public services.
Republicans smiled and watched the mess
Here’s the hard truth for Democrats: when your candidates spend debate time attacking each other, you hand the argument to your opponents. Polls in the race are all over the map, so infighting matters. Republican Steve Hilton and Republican Chad Bianco looked sharp by comparison, and with mail-in voting already under way, Democrats can’t count on having time to fix the damage their candidates did to each other on stage.
What this means for the primary and voters
Voters want concrete ideas on lowering costs, fixing roads, and making cities safe. They don’t want spectacle. California faces real problems that bold talk won’t solve. This debate showed a fractured Democratic field chasing ideology, not votes. If Democrats keep fighting each other, Republicans could very well steal the message and the election. That would be poetic — the party that can’t govern a state full of problems loses it to the party that promises to stop the chaos. Either way, California voters deserve better than a reality show masquerading as a debate.
