(Inside California Politics) — California is ready for a new generation of leadership, Ian Calderon told Inside California Politics host Nikki Laurenzo in a one-on-one interview this week.

Calderon, a millennial who served as the state’s youngest Assembly majority leader, is running for governor as a Democrat. He said his generation believes civic institutions have failed them and that the modern tendency toward political extremes is a form of “performative politics.”

“Why is it that our politics are trending towards the most extreme versions of ourselves?” Calderon said. “We all are suffering the same challenges; we all basically want the same thing.”

Californians want a serious governor who’s ready to do the job on day one, he said.

Laurenzo asked Calderon about the influence that special interest groups hold over Sacramento and whether they impede the ability to get things done.

“They’re doing their job. That’s what they’re supposed to do,” Calderon said. “They’re supposed to lobby the Legislature and create a certain set of circumstances that get a legislator to agree with them. But at the end of the day, if you’re the legislator or you’re the governor, it’s up to you to discern whether or not that argument holds water or not.”

It shouldn’t matter how much a group contributes or how large an organization is, Calderon said, adding that elected officials should prioritize people, not political relationships.

“Are there groups that hold a lot of influence? Yeah, there are,” he said. “But I think the problem and the frustration that voters have is, ‘Why is it that they win out and they get what they want and it always seems to land on my lap, on my shoulders — my expenses go up.”

Calderon said that what makes him different from his many rivals in the gubernatorial race is that he left office at the height of his power to be with family. The former lawmaker got married and had three of his four children while in office.

A generational shift in leadership is underway across the country, Calderon said, pointing to Zohran Mamdani’s victory over Andrew Cuomo in New York City.

“[Mamdani] was able to galvanize generations of people to believe that, yeah, we can work on affordability,” Calderon said. “We have the power to change these things, but it’s going to take a new generation of leadership to do it.”

Calderon told Laurenzo he supports fees on corporate-owned homes — similar to restrictions that Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump surprisingly agree on.

“I welcome them to this party. I started this party 10 years ago when I was in the Legislature.”

Read more: Newsom, Trump unlikely allies on corporate home-buying

The past few years have been a missed opportunity for a better relationship between Newsom and the Legislature, Calderon said.

“You can’t just be sitting at the top making all the decisions and expect to fix all the problems. Legislators are extremely frustrated right now, because they go back to their districts and they’re, rightfully, taking a lot of grief.”

Calderon discussed more planks in his campaign platform, including:

Cutting regulations that hurt small businesses

Auditing spending to make sure investments get intended results

Support for universal basic health care

Funding Prop 36 in a strategic way

You can watch Nikki Laurenzo’s full Inside California Politics interview with Ian Calderon at the top of the page.

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