{"id":248045,"date":"2026-04-02T06:21:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248045\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T06:21:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:21:37","slug":"meet-the-moderators-fresno-state-to-host-bipartisan-california-governor-candidate-forum-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248045\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the moderators; Fresno State to host bipartisan California governor candidate forum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Preparations are underway for a major bipartisan <a href=\"https:\/\/kmph.com\/news\/local\/fresno-to-host-gubernatorial-candidate-debate-on-april-1st\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">gubernatorial candidate forum set for Wednesday at Fresno State<\/a>, where several high-profile candidates for California governor will make their case to voters.<\/p>\n<p>The event is expected to spotlight issues impacting not only the Central Valley but also communities across the state, with a strong focus on affordability, agriculture, and water policy.<\/p>\n<p>Confirmed candidates scheduled to appear include:<\/p>\n<p>Xavier Becerra, attorney and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human ServicesChad Bianco, Riverside County sheriffSteve Hilton, author and Fox News contributorMatt Mahan, San Jose mayorKatie Porter, former U.S. representativeAntonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor<\/p>\n<p>The forum will be moderated by Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes and former State Assemblymember Kristin Olsen, who say their goal is to ensure Central Valley concerns remain front and center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are so many issues related to affordability right now, energy costs, housing costs, regulatory costs, even food prices,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cThese are real challenges affecting families, farmers, and farm workers in the Central Valley. We want to make sure candidates clearly explain how they\u2019ll address them if elected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moderators say they are prepared to press candidates for direct answers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat will be our challenge,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cWe\u2019ll clearly lay out expectations for candid responses, and if someone doesn\u2019t answer the question, we\u2019ll follow up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mendes emphasized the importance of water policy, a critical issue for the region\u2019s agricultural economy, noting that many statewide candidates may lack a full understanding of how California&#8217;s water systems operate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of candidates don\u2019t fully understand water movement in this state, how storage works, or the difference between surface water and groundwater,\u201d Mendes said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that keeping candidates focused may be one of the biggest challenges during the forum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe might have to stop them and remind them to answer the question instead of running out the clock,\u201d Mendes said.<\/p>\n<p><p>Meet the moderators; Fresno State to host bipartisan California governor candidate forum<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Mendes, who is a registered republican, and Olsen, who has since switched from republican to no party preference, have both moderated in the past, though this marks their first time moderating a gubernatorial forum.<\/p>\n<p> They stressed that their approach will be firm but nonpartisan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t about being partisan, it\u2019s about answering the questions,\u201d Mendes said.<\/p>\n<p>Organizers say hosting the forum in Fresno is intentional, aiming to elevate issues specific to the San Joaquin Valley \u2014 a region they say is often overlooked in statewide political discussions.<\/p>\n<p>The forum is scheduled to run from noon to 1:30 p.m. and is sponsored by 30 agricultural associations statewide. It will be streamed live on the FOX26 YouTube page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Preparations are underway for a major bipartisan gubernatorial candidate forum set for Wednesday at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-248045","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}