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<\/a><\/p>\nFormer Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, displayed a softer image than when her campaign started. Once the front-runner, she fell in the polls after videos surfaced of her verbally abusing a staffer and arguing with a TV news reporter.<\/p>\n
She said her grandfather and father were farmers, but she was not.<\/p>\n
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, D-Sacramento, cited their experience as their top attribute.<\/p>\n
The debate focused on agricultural issues such as water, energy, and housing. Immigration was not discussed. Even President Donald Trump was not a central topic. Porter was the only candidate to mention him by name, twice in passing during her closing remarks.<\/p>\n
After the event, Becerra gave his thoughts on lowering gas prices.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s not get involved in foreign wars, especially in reckless or unconstitutional ways. Today, the price of gasoline has gone up a dollar, two dollars simply because Donald Trump started a war in Iran. We have to be smart. We don\u2019t have the luxury of using our treasury, billions of dollars every day, and our resources, our human beings, our soldiers, in a way that puts not just our people at risk, but puts our economy at risk. And now we\u2019re paying the price of high gas prices because we\u2019ve seen this insane war begun in Iran,\u201d Becerra said.<\/p>\n Becerra opts for an \u201call of the above\u201d energy policy, including oil and green energy.<\/p>\n Hilton blamed high gas prices on the lack of drilling and on overregulation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to end these insane regulations. My goal is to get to $3 per gallon gas in California,\u201d Hilton said.<\/p>\n Villaraigosa also mentioned an \u201call of the above\u201d approach for energy, housing, and farming. He called for CEQA reform \u2014 the state environmental law requiring complicated reviews for building projects. He mentioned several CEQA reforms such as suspending the infill building requirement, aligning it with federal policy and limiting lawsuits that could delay projects.<\/p>\n Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, R-Woodcrest, called for removing \u201cevery single regulation on the oil industry.\u201d He also called for building more refineries, which would allow California to have the lowest gas prices in the nation.<\/p>\n Bianco is satisfied with federal regulations on the oil industry.<\/p>\n San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, D-San Jose, called for a suspension of the gas tax.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a policy decision that is forcing working families into an impossible situation. Having to choose between rent, food on the table, gas in the car. We can provide immediate relief. If this was a natural disaster, we would do that, but it\u2019s a man-made disaster, and we ought to provide that immediate relief to working families,\u201d Mahan said. He also called for electric vehicle owners to \u201cpay their fair share.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahan also echoed the need for CEQA reform to enable more housing.<\/p>\n Sex Offender Nearly Paroled to Fresno<\/p>\n In February, convicted sex offender David Funston was nearly paroled to Fresno. Granted parole under the state\u2019s elderly early release program, Funston was immediately arrested for crimes from decades ago that did not proceed to trial. During his hearing, Funston \u2014 convicted of kidnapping and molestation in 1999 in Sacramento County \u2014 said he planned to live in a program in Fresno if released.<\/p>\n Funston\u2019s release riled state Republicans, who demanded a change in the early release law and the governor remove the Board of Parole members who granted the release. The 2017 law allowed parole consideration for inmates age 60 or older serving at least 25 years. A 2020 amendment changed the criteria to age 50 and serving 20 years.<\/p>\n Hilton called the situation \u201cdisgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got this monster, this evil child rapist being released early according to the parole board because of a law that Democrats passed, a law Gavin Newsom signed, shamefully, for elderly early release, elderly. It\u2019s 50 years. Who thinks that\u2019s elderly? Every single part of this is completely unacceptable and I will not accept it. Any parole board member who made this decision will be immediately fired by me,\u201d Hilton said.<\/p>\n While Newsom signed the amended law, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed the original 2017 early release bill. Funston was already past 60 during his parole hearing and had served longer than 25 years.<\/p>\n Mahan objected to Funston\u2019s release.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very disturbing that in cases where you have someone who has repeatedly harmed children, we are allowing them to be put back into the community, putting people at risk, and I absolutely think that we need a different approach,\u201d Mahan said.<\/p>\n Porter did not have a comment, as she has \u201cnot studied that particular situation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cParole decisions are really difficult. We want people who have changed their behavior and are going to be able to live safely in our communities to do that. We want the people who are going to continue to offend or hurt people \u2014we want to keep them behind bars and keep our communities safe. The parole board has a difficult job.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have to make those decisions based on the evidence and information they have,\u201d Porter said. \u201cI will tell you that there\u2019s no more important job that a governor has than keeping everybody safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Bianco Explains Ballot Seizure<\/p>\n Bianco made waves by initiating an investigation into Riverside County votes in last year\u2019s Proposition 50 special election. Voters approved an initiative to change congressional maps four years ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n After allegations that votes did not match up, Bianco investigated. California Attorney General Rob Bonta instructed Bianco to stop, calling the investigation improper. Bonta went so far as to go to court, but a judge sided with Bianco.<\/p>\n Bianco explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an allegation of a crime. We started investigating that crime. The attorney general didn\u2019t want that investigation to happen, so he went to court to get it to stop. So he\u2019s trying to cover up and stop that crime,\u201d Bianco said.<\/p>\n Bianco said the court appointed a special master to oversee the investigation. Other groups sued, and Bianco backed down.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of those lawsuits, the Superior Court judge that issued that order to appoint that special master and for us to start counting, refused to do it. So those court cases are going to have to be adjudicated. And the sad thing is, our embarrassment of an attorney general knows that,\u201d Bianco said.<\/p>\n He called the lawsuits, filed by the UCLA Voting Rights Project and other groups, \u201cfrivolous\u201d and \u201cpolitical lawfare\u00a0using taxpayer money.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople should be outraged, outraged at what\u2019s happening, what the attorney general is doing in this case,\u201d Bianco said.<\/p>\n With eight prominent Democrats running, there is a possibility the two prominent Republican candidates could finish first and second in the June 2 primary. Under California\u2019s election system, the top two candidates, regardless of political party, advance to the Nov. 3 general election.<\/p>\n Polling suggests<\/a> Hilton and Bianco could finish as the top two. Even a poll commissioned by the California Democratic Party<\/a> last week showed Hilton and Bianco on top, with three other Democrats \u2014 Porter, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Livermore, and billionaire businessperson Tom Steyer, D-San Francisco \u2014 at 10%, or four points behind Bianco. Swalwell and Steyer did not participate in the Fresno State debate.<\/p>\n California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks has called for some of the lower-polling Democrats to suspend their campaigns. Candidates ignored his suggestion. Three of the lower-polling candidates at Wednesday\u2019s debate said they are in the race until the end.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the course of the next few weeks, I think you\u2019re going to begin to see that competition give us the best candidates moving forward. I intend to be among those and so I hope what we find is that with the voters paying attention, they\u2019ll start making the selection, and we will find that the best two people for this governor\u2019s race will end up being those out of June,\u201d Becerra said. He is averaging 4.2%.<\/p>\n Villaraigosa, averaging 3.8%, is not going anywhere. He\u2019s not concerned about two Republicans advancing to the general election.<\/p>\n \u201cNeither one of them are getting elected. Not with those policies, \u201d Villaraigosa said about Hilton and Bianco, who he believes go too far with their calls for deregulation.<\/p>\n Villaraigosa points out that a plurality of voters are undecided.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think that it will be a Democrat and a Republican in this race,\u201d Villaraigosa said. \u201cAt the end of the day, a Democrat will win, because it\u2019s a heavily blue state.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahan, averaging 3%, said his numbers will rise as he campaigns more.<\/p>\n \u201cI just jumped into this race to offer people a message of pragmatism, of a government that\u2019s more accountable for results,\u201d Mahan said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been making a lot of progress in San Jose, and I want to take our reform movements statewide to make life better for all Californians.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Katie-Porter-answers-a-question-during-the-April-1-gubernatorial-debate-at-Fresno-State.-Steve-Hilto.jpeg\")
<\/a>Katie Porter answers a question during the April 1 gubernatorial debate at Fresno State. Steve Hilton (left) and Matt Mahan look on. (GV Wire\/Jahz Tello)
\nFixing Gas Prices<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/The-top-two-Republican-candidates-for-governor-Chad-Bianco-left-and-Steve-Hilton-appeared-at-an-Apri.jpeg\")
<\/a>The top two Republican candidates for governor, Chad Bianco (left) and Steve Hilton, appeared at an April 1 debate at Fresno State. (GV Wire\/Jahz Tello)
\nBecerra, Villaraigosa, Mahan Not Backing Down<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/San-Jose-Mayor-Matt-Mahan-D-San-Jose-explained-how-he-would-make-gas-and-housing-prices-more-afforda.jpeg\")
<\/a>San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, D-San Jose, explained how he would make gas and housing prices more affordable while speaking to GV Wire. (GV Wire\/Jahz Tello)