{"id":268749,"date":"2026-04-15T07:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268749\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T07:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:52:13","slug":"crowded-governors-race-moves-forward-without-swalwell-as-candidates-face-off-in-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268749\/","title":{"rendered":"Crowded governor\u2019s race moves forward without Swalwell as candidates face off in Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Crowded Crowded Governor\u2019s race moves forward without Swalwell as candidates face off in Sacramento<\/a> <\/p>\n

The race for California governor is moving ahead without Eric Swalwell, as a crowded field of Democratic contenders gathered for the Nuestra Voz 26 Forum in Sacramento Tuesday night.\u00a0Despite his official resignation from Congress just hours before the event, Swalwell\u2019s name was not mentioned during the discussion. Instead, candidates stayed focused on issues impacting California\u2019s Latino community, the central theme of the forum.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The race for California governor is moving ahead without Eric Swalwell<\/a>, as a crowded field of Democratic contenders gathered for the Nuestra Voz ’26 Forum in Sacramento Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Despite his official resignation from Congress just hours before the event, Swalwell\u2019s name was not mentioned during the discussion. Instead, candidates stayed focused on issues impacting California\u2019s Latino community, the central theme of the forum.<\/p>\n

More than half a dozen candidates remain in the race, many now looking to attract voters who may have previously supported the former congressman.<\/p>\n

Immigration and Federal Authority <\/p>\n

Candidates were pressed on where they would draw the line between cooperating with federal authorities and protecting Californians\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that line begins with the Constitution.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ll draw the line on the Constitution\u2026you gotta have a warrant going into homes, workplaces, hospitals, and schools,” said Villraigosa. \u00a0<\/p>\n

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond sharply criticized federal immigration policies.<\/p>\n

“This reckless immigration policy isn\u2019t doing anything\u2026it\u2019s not keeping us safe,” said Thurmond.<\/p>\n

Voting Rights and Democracy <\/p>\n

Protecting voting access also emerged as a key issue.<\/p>\n

Former California U.S. Representative Katie Porter emphasized the need to safeguard elections.<\/p>\n

“We have to protect our democracy in California\u2026it doesn\u2019t belong to Donald Trump,” said Porter.<\/p>\n

San Jose<\/a> Mayor Matt Mahan added that California must use every available tool, including the courts and media, to push back against federal threats.<\/p>\n

Housing Affordability <\/p>\n

The state\u2019s housing crisis was another major focus.<\/p>\n

Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Javier Becerra called for expanded homeownership programs and rent protections.<\/p>\n

“We will make sure we expand homeownership\u2026and stabilize rents, so people aren\u2019t gouged,” said Becerra.<\/p>\n

Artificial Intelligence and the Future Workforce <\/p>\n

Candidates were also asked how they would prepare younger generations for an AI-driven economy.<\/p>\n

Billionaire entrepreneur Tom Steyer proposed taxing artificial intelligence systems to fund job retraining.<\/p>\n

“We need to tax artificial intelligence\u2026 and use that money for retraining,” said Steyer.<\/p>\n

Former State Controller Betty Yee highlighted early education.<\/p>\n

“We should make sure young people are exposed to digital and technology education as early as possible,” said Yee.<\/p>\n

Republicans Absent from Debate <\/p>\n

On the Republican side, conservative commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco did not appear at the evening forum.<\/p>\n

Hilton did participate in a separate event earlier in the day hosted by the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

California Politics<\/a>Election<\/a>News<\/a>San Jose<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crowded Governor\u2019s race moves forward without Swalwell as candidates face off in Sacramento The race for California governor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[1184,5713,204,100,13,121,123,122,88,198,1181],"class_list":{"0":"post-268749","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-ca-politics","10":"tag-election","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-politics","13":"tag-sacramento","14":"tag-sacramento-headlines","15":"tag-sacramento-news","16":"tag-san-jose","17":"tag-santa-clara-county","18":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268749","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=268749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}