NBC4/KNBC and Telemundo 52/KVEA announced the candidates who have qualified to participate in their live, one‑hour debates for California’s 2026 gubernatorial race and the Los Angeles mayoral primary election on May 6, 2026, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

To qualify for the debate stage, a candidate must have met or exceeded five percent (5%) in at least two reliable polls that met NBC News standards for reporting by May 1, 2026. The polls must have been conducted in 2026. An organization’s polls were deemed reliable based on methodology, accuracy in past performance, and transparency. The pollster behind the qualifying surveys must also be nonpartisan, or the poll must have been conducted on behalf of a nonpartisan organization.

Following a final review by the NBC News Decision Desk on the May 1, 2026 deadline, the following candidates met the qualification criteria:

Los Angeles Mayoral Debate

(Candidates listed in alphabetical order)

Karen Bass

Spencer Pratt

Nithya Raman

California Gubernatorial Debate

(Candidates listed in alphabetical order)

Xavier Becerra

Chad Bianco

Steve Hilton

Matt Mahan

Katie Porter

Tom Steyer

Antonio Villaraigosa

The debates will air back-to-back, beginning with the Los Angeles mayoral debate at 5 p.m. PT, followed by the statewide broadcast of the California gubernatorial debate at 7 p.m. PT. As part of the stations’ commitment to informing Southern California audiences, the debates will be presented commercial-free in English and Spanish.

The gubernatorial debate will be presented live across the state on NBC-owned stations NBC Bay Area/KNTV and NBC 7 San Diego/KNSD, and Telemundo-owned stations Telemundo 48 Area de la Bahía/KSTS, Telemundo 20 San Diego/KUAN, Telemundo 33 Sacramento/KSCO, and Telemundo 51 Fresno/KNSO, as well as on NBC affiliates KCRA in Sacramento and KSBW in Monterey.

NBC4 News Anchor Colleen Williams, NBC4 Chief Political Reporter Conan Nolan and Noticiero Telemundo 52 News Anchor Enrique Chiabra, will moderate the debates, which will cover a wide range of critical issues impacting Los Angeles, California, and the region. 

The debates are being held in partnership with Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and the Skirball Cultural Center, which will serve as the venue for both debates.

In addition to being available on the broadcast channels, the live events will stream on nbcla.com, telemundo52.com, on the free NBCLA and Telemundo 52 mobile apps and on the stations’ free 24/7 local news streaming channels NBC Los Angeles News and Noticias Telemundo California which are accessible on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and Samsung TV Plus. 

For more information, visit nbcla.com and telemundo52.com and follow on social media @NBCLA and @Telemundo52. 

MEDIA USEAGE GUIDELINES FOR ALL NEWSPAPER, BLOG/WEB, SOCIAL MEDIA, RADIO AND TELEVISION GUIDELINES

NBC4 and Telemundo 52 are exclusively producing this live debate, and no other media will be permitted to carry any live video or audio of the debate until it concludes with no modifications allowed to the original content.  Content is embargoed until 8:01 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6. No photography or screen captures are permissible during the debate for use on social media or other platforms. After the live debate has concluded at 8:00 p.m., media may make use of debate excerpts to report on, comment on or analyze with credit to NBC4 and Telemundo 52. For TV, on-screen credit “NBC4 and Telemundo 52” must appear and remain on screen during any debate excerpt.  For online, a less-than-one-minute excerpt must stream with credit as described above. For radio, each excerpt must be introduced with an audio credit to NBC4 and Telemundo 52.