California Governor Debate Turns Chaotic As Xavier Becerra Faces Steve Hilton At Pomona College

California’s crowded gubernatorial race turned chaotic Tuesday night at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium, where eight candidates clashed over affordability, housing, gas prices, and insurance in a 90-minute CBS News–hosted debate.

“California's affordability crisis, high gas prices and the future of healthcare funding were among the key issues addressed on Tuesday during the CBS California Governor's Debate, as candidates clashed over how to lower costs and who is to blame for the state's economic pressures”

CBS News

The Los Angeles Times described a “fiery exchange” as former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra faced persistent attacks while also going on the offensive, with Republican Steve Hilton leading recent polls.

CBS News

The debate was broadcast and livestreamed by CBS stations around the state, and hundreds of people watched from Pomona College’s “historic Bridges Auditorium,” a Renaissance Revival-style landmark with “Art Deco flourishes.”

The Hill and CNN both placed the event in Claremont, California, with CNN saying the candidates discussed plans to make the state more affordable and sought to gain ground in an unsettled field.

Washington Examiner similarly emphasized that the contenders at Pomona College took part in an energetic, at times chaotic, 90-minute debate where multiple moderators repeatedly warned they would cut microphones to keep order.

In that setting, the exchanges quickly centered on Becerra and Hilton, with Becerra referring to Trump as “Hilton’s daddy,” and Hilton responding by saying, “We can’t have a governor who doesn’t understand how the government works,” while Becerra hit back that “We don’t need a talking head from Fox News to tell us how the government works.”

Insurance and gas policy became the debate’s most persistent flashpoints, with Becerra and Hilton trading arguments over emergency powers and the mechanics of California’s insurance market.

The Los Angeles Times said Hilton attacked Becerra for promising to declare a state of emergency to address rising homeowner’s insurance rates, arguing the governor lacks that constitutional authority, and Hilton said, “We can’t have a governor who doesn’t understand how the government works.”

CNN

USA Today reported that Becerra promised to freeze insurance rates, and that he said he would declare a state of emergency due to high insurance prices and people losing their insurance coverage without explanation, while Hilton questioned whether Becerra had read the statute that lays out the governor’s emergency powers.

Washington Examiner added that Becerra told one moderator, “I’d be willing to go to court with you” in response to a question about holding insurance companies responsible for their actions against Californians.

On gas prices, USA Today said Hilton and others faced a question about suspending California’s gas tax, and it noted that the excise tax rate per gallon increased to 61.2 cents last year.

CBS News reported that Mahan renewed a promise to suspend the gas tax and called it “the most regressive tax in California,” while Becerra argued that cutting the gas tax would upend the state’s budget for infrastructure projects and said, “You have to fund it [all] somehow.”

Healthcare arguments quickly devolved into personal and partisan attacks, with Becerra and Hilton repeatedly returning to Trump and the federal government’s role in California’s insurance and health coverage.

“Eight candidates seeking to become California’s next governor met for an unwieldy debate Tuesday, where the candidates discussed their plans to make the state more affordable and sought to gain ground in an unsettled field”

CNN

CNN said Becerra criticized President Donald Trump and his endorsed candidate, Hilton, and quoted Becerra saying, “The first thing we have to do is stop Steve Hilton’s daddy,” adding that he said California needs someone who will fight Donald Trump, not agree with him.

USA Today similarly reported Becerra’s line, “stop Steve Hilton’s daddy,” and said he argued that California needs someone who will fight Trump, not agree with him, while Hilton responded that “There’s not enough competition in our health insurance system.”

The Los Angeles Times described Becerra’s defense against Hilton’s attacks, saying Becerra quickly defended himself by saying he knows the law better than Hilton does, and it quoted Becerra: “We don’t need a talking head from Fox News to tell us how the government works.”

Washington Examiner captured the same early sharp exchange, stating Becerra referred to the president as “Hilton’s daddy,” and Hilton replied, “My dad was goalie on the Hungarian national ice hockey team,” while also saying, “I don’t think he weighed in on this issue at all.”

Mahan’s healthcare posture was also a target, with CNN reporting that he told Hilton and Bianco that the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid are “cruel,” and he argued, “We don’t know how to pay for single-payer, and we see countries with single-payer struggling with long lines and cuts to care.”

Housing and affordability were framed as a test of whether candidates could deliver on promises despite California’s legislative complexity, with multiple outlets describing how the debate repeatedly returned to building, permitting, and assistance for first-time buyers.

The Los Angeles Times said almost all candidates vowed to accelerate home construction and that moderators set the theme for the first half-hour as “affordability,” while noting that there was “no shortage of ideas” but few specifics on how they would deliver.

Los Angeles Times

CBS News reported that Tony Thurmond said homeownership was “the American Dream,” and it quoted him saying, “We will build two million housing units using surplus property that school districts have in every single county in this state,” and “We will build two-point-three million units by the year 2030.”

CBS News also described Steyer’s housing approach as cutting permitting and construction costs, quoting him: “We need to work to shorten and reduce the cost of permitting,” and “We need to drop the cost of construction.”

It further reported that Antonio Villaraigosa suggested a first-time buyer assistance program offering a “$25 billion initiative, at no cost to the taxpayer,” and it quoted Katie Porter saying, “California has permitting delays, a lack of labor,” and “We need to innovate in housing to bring costs down.”

In the same affordability frame, CBS News said Hilton vowed to make the state “Califordable” by cutting utilities and making home-buying accessible to young people, though it noted he didn’t elaborate on specific policies.

The debate’s tone—crosstalk, interruptions, and moderator clashes—became part of the story in itself, with outlets describing candidates chasing breakout moments and struggling to stay on topic.

Washington Examiner said moderators tagged in every 30 minutes and repeatedly warned they would cut microphones to keep order, and it described candidates speaking over one another and griping about limited airtime.

The Desert Sun

The Hill quoted Pomona College student Ryan Kossarian saying, “Wow, that was a bit of a mess,” and it described how candidates struggled to break through after Eric Swalwell’s dramatic exit from the race amid sexual misconduct allegations.

CNN said the debate was one week before CNN hosts its debate in the governor’s race on May 5, and it framed Tuesday’s event as a chance for remaining candidates to carve out a lane after Swalwell’s exit earlier this month.

The Hill also reported that CBS Los Angeles’s Pat Harvey remarked, “You know what’s interesting? Everybody wants to talk at this debate,” and it described how Hilton and Becerra traded jabs about government competence and Fox News.

In one of the moderator confrontations, The Hill reported that CBS News’s Julie Watts clashed with Steyer over a question on oil refining, and it quoted Steyer threatening to “cut the mic if you don’t — if you’re not respectful.”