One of the many candidates running for California\u2019s governor\u2019s office made a stop in Fresno today, bringing his \u201cShared Prosperity\u201d town hall tour to the San Joaquin Valley.<\/p>\n
Democratic candidate Tom Steyer spent the evening hearing directly from Central Valley residents about their concerns, ranging from the rising cost of housing to high PG&E bills and about how to make California more affordable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to be here in Fresno,\u201d Steyer said as he arrived for the event.<\/p>\n
Steyer, one of dozens of names expected on the ballot this year, emphasized that affordability is a key focus of his campaign.<\/p>\n
Tom Steyer host town hall for voters, makes a stop in Fresno.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job is going to be to go after housing costs, to go after healthcare costs, to go after electricity, gasoline costs, and to go after food costs,\u201d he said. \u201cOur job is to make it possible for Californians to live here comfortably instead of at the end of the month, having to decide which bills to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a Q&A session, attendees raised questions about high utility bills, water storage, the ongoing housing crisis and more. <\/p>\n
Steyer responded to questions on water policy and how to manage it better by saying, “…using water wisely and carefully and fairly. That is the critical issue for the San Joaquin Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also addressed competition in the utility sector, affirming his commitment to addressing concerns about profit-driven utilities while exploring ways to protect consumers.<\/p>\n
Steyer is not currently considered a frontrunner in the race.<\/p>\n
Political analyst Paul Mitchell notes that early polling suggests a potential top-two scenario, with Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco leading the field, followed by Democrats Eric Swalwell and Tom Steyer.<\/p>\n
When asked how changes in other candidates\u2019 standings could affect or influence his campaign, Steyer said:<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is to make me go up in the polls and not have to think about other candidates. My job is really to speak, to meet as many Californians as I can, to listen to them, to talk to them. And honestly, to be the hardest working candidate and get out and see more people than anybody else, that\u2019s how I\u2019m going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steyer reflected on the town hall and his main takeaway. <\/p>\n
He said, \u201cThe point about the Central Valley is this, it’s very much an ag community, and this community needs a governor who understands agriculture and water and environmental justice. And that\u2019s me because I\u2019ve worked a lot in those areas over decades. This area needs to be a prosperous, sustainable agricultural community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several voters who attended the town hall said Steyer has earned their support in the election, citing his willingness to engage directly with voters and address the issues that matter most to them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the many candidates running for California\u2019s governor\u2019s office made a stop in Fresno today, bringing his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-257093","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\/257093","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=257093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}