<\/p>\n
From left: Matt\u00a0Mahan, Xavier Becerra, Chad Bianco, Steve Hilton, Tom Steyer and Katie Porter take part in a debate on April 22, 2026, in San Francisco.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jason Henry\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
The departure of ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell from the California governor\u2019s race has inspired some of the remaining candidates to reshape their campaigns in ways that were visible Wednesday night in the first major debate since his exit.<\/p>\n
Swalwell left the race on April 12 after the Chronicle reported<\/a> sexual assault allegations against him. He resigned from Congress days later.<\/p>\n Many eyes were trained throughout the 90-minute debate on the candidate who\u2019s emerged as Democrats\u2019 Next Great Hope: former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who has surged in the polls since Swalwell\u2019s departure. His campaign says 20,000 donations have poured in over the past 10 days, 97% of them from first-time donors. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas<\/a>, the Latino Legislative Caucus and a host of state legislators have endorsed Becerra in recent days.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n As Wednesday\u2019s debate, Becerra echoed a line from his newest ad\u00a0\u2014 \u201cthe governor\u2019s office is no place for on-the-job training\u201d\u00a0\u2014 a remark aimed at billionaire Tom Steyer, who is tied with Becerra in the most recent California Democratic Party poll and who has never held elective office.<\/p>\n Becerra also emphasized several times that he is a \u201cfighter,\u201d an echo of Swalwell\u2019s now cringey\u00a0promise to be a \u201cfighter and protector\u201d for the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Becerra pointed out that he sued the Trump administration 122 times when he served as attorney general during Trump\u2019s first term. He parried an attack from former Fox News host Steve Hilton by saying, \u201cIt\u2019s interesting to watch someone who has served as a talking head on a Fox News program telling us how government should run when he never has run any government in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n But Becerra fumbled a question about a comment he made during a recent CNN interview, in which he acknowledged \u201c\u200b\u200bmany of us heard the rumors\u201d about Swalwell. He declined to answer what the rumors were.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cYou hear rumors all the time about all sorts of things. Rumors are not facts and the \u2026 Democratic caucus is not a place that adjudicates those things. It\u2019s law enforcement that does. If someone had come forward, we could then have investigations,\u201d Becerra said.<\/p>\n A couple of times, Becerra wasn\u2019t ready for his close-up. When talking about the price of gasoline, he misspoke, calling the Iran War \u201cthe war in Iraq that Donald Trump started.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Former Rep. Katie Porter, who also is hoping to move up in the polls with\u00a0Swalwell\u2019s departure, similarly tried to take up the mantle of the biggest fighter in the race. She obliquely referred to Becerra by saying \u201canother candidate for nearly 40 years cashed corporate checks and lacked the courage to take them on. I\u2019m not like them. I have never taken corporate money.\u201d<\/p>\n Then she pointed out that she is the only female candidate remaining. \u201cThat\u2019s why I have always stood firm against Donald Trump and special interests. I\u2019m like you, a mom fighting for a better future for California,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Porter railed on the lack of specificity in Becerra\u2019s plans. \u201cMr. Becerra, you have all these lovely plans, but there are never any numbers, any revenue plan, any details, anything that pushes on the status quo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Becerra countered that it was \u201cvery rich to hear from someone who\u2019s never had to actually run a government. I have had to balance four budgets over the course of my time as secretary of Health and Human Services.\u201d Porter served three terms in the House.<\/p>\n All of the Democrats present took shots at\u00a0Steyer, who has spent $127 million on his campaign and has been gobbling up endorsements from progressive institutions\u00a0\u2014 including the nurses and teachers unions, the Bernie Sanders-inspired Our Revolution and Assembly Member Alex Lee, D-San Jose, chair<\/a> of the Legislative Progressive Caucus.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan mocked Steyer\u2019s housing plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe only housing Tom Steyer has built have been private prisons and ICE detention centers,\u201d he said, a reference to the investments that enriched Steyer when he was a hedge fund manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n