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(FOX40.COM) \u2014 Months of painstaking preparations for the highest-profile debate in the California gubernatorial race were nearly complete last week as the Inside California Politics team began to make its final plans.<\/p>\n
The debate stage was set, with all five eligible candidates committed to the event that would broadcast statewide on April 22, less than two weeks before Californians begin to receive mail ballots to nominate the state\u2019s next leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen a nuclear bomb dropped on the race,\u201d Pete Wilgoren, who has helped coordinate debate planning across Nexstar Media Group\u2019s California stations, said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
That explosion was the bombshell allegation of sexual assault levied against now-former Rep. Eric Swalwell. The East Bay Democrat\u2019s shocking scandal soon led to the suspension of his gubernatorial campaign \u2014 and shook up the closely-contested field.<\/p>\n
Nexstar has been focused on hosting a California gubernatorial debate \u201cfor the better part of a couple years,\u201d Chris Berg, the company\u2019s political content director, said this week. (FOX40 is a Nexstar affiliate and will broadcast the debate Wednesday at 7 p.m.)<\/p>\n
The debate will be the \u201cepicenter\u201d of the race\u2019s final sprint, Berg said. And the field for that sprint seemed to be set.<\/p>\n
\u2018In flux\u2019<\/p>\n
Conversations with candidates have been ongoing for years, according to Nikki Laurenzo. The FOX40 anchor and Inside California Politics host will moderate the debate alongside KTLA anchor Frank Buckley.<\/p>\n
Her first candidate interview this cycle came nearly two years ago when she sat down with Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just shows how in flux this race has been \u2014 because she\u2019s not even a candidate anymore,\u201d Laurenzo said.<\/p>\n
Discussion of potential debate dates started last December, according to Wilgoren, who serves as KTLA\u2019s managing director of content and coverage. The early work involved informal phone calls with every campaign to figure out which evening would fit into candidates\u2019 increasingly-busy schedules.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, we wanted to get as close to when ballots were going out to voters as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It took quite a while, including two or three different date changes, before an official \u201csave the date\u201d letter went out to campaigns two months ago. The memo included Nexstar\u2019s debate criteria, which noted that candidates must poll at or above 5% in a March poll to make the stage.<\/p>\n
That poll showed five candidates above that threshold: Swalwell, conservative commentator Steve Hilton, billionaire activist Tom Steyer, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Rep. Katie Porter. The Inside California Politics team then worked for weeks to make sure all five were confirmed to attend the debate.<\/p>\n
Then, of course, everything changed.<\/p>\n
A \u2018gamechanger\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t do that. We never re-poll,\u201d Berg said of the decision to re-survey the race. \u201cThis is the very first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swalwell led in the March poll with 17%, Emerson College Polling Director Spencer Kimball said, calling his withdrawal a \u201cgamechanger.\u201d And with a fractured field, those votes would have to go somewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo longer do we feel that the poll really represented the public opinion of where it is today,\u201d Kimball said. \u201cIt did three weeks ago, but things change\u2026 So it was appropriate to go back in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swalwell\u2019s Sunday evening announcement was followed by countless conversations, chats and long Teams meetings over the past week to figure out the best path forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the only right decision is the one we came up with, which was to re-poll the entire race,\u201d Wilgoren said.<\/p>\n
That new poll did indeed shake up the stage. Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra saw the biggest jump, rising to10%, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan\u2019s support also rose slightly to 5%. Both will now join Steyer, Hilton, Bianco and Porter at the KRON4 studios in San Francisco next Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u2018Must-see TV\u2019<\/p>\n
Re-polling the race didn\u2019t just mean adding two new candidates. It also meant fully reworking all preparation for the questions Laurenzo and Buckley will ask.<\/p>\n
Berg said the team\u2019s goal was to \u201cbe as fair as possible to everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t an easy decision,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the one thing that the Nexstar leadership team wants to stress is fairness, calling balls and strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thorough coverage of candidates is critical to the democratic process, Berg said, particularly in the country\u2019s largest state where more than 11% of Americans live. That doesn\u2019t start or end with just one debate \u2014 it includes forums like Inside California Politics and a commitment to Sacramento led by Capitol reporter Eytan Wallace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a commitment to covering California politics year round and in and out of cycle,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not just in it for the short haul. We\u2019re in it for the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, though, the table has been reset, Laurenzo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes the debate must-see TV.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Inside California Politics gubernatorial primary debate airs live at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 on KTLA in Los Angeles, KRON4 in San Francisco, KSWB in San Diego, KTXL in Sacramento, KSEE in Fresno and KGET in Bakersfield, as well as on NewsNation, Nexstar\u2019s cable news channel. It will also stream across local digital platforms and be available in Spanish.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n