Hilton, the only candidate with the same polling numbers as Becerra, said single-pay is a disaster.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/69d41a67bbaac.image.png\")
<\/p>\n
Steve Hilton speaks at the 2024 AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, December 20, 2024. Hilton, a Republican, is running for governor in California.\u00a0Photo: Gage Skidmore \/ Flickr \/ CC BY-SA 2.0 \/ Cropped from Original.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m the only person here with actual experience of single-payer healthcare, both as a patient\u00a0and as a policymaker,\u201d said Hilton, who was born in London before moving to the U.S. and becoming an American citizen in 2021. Like others in Britain, he lived with a singer-payer healthcare system.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a patient, it nearly killed me.\u00a0That’s another story we don’t have time for,” said Hilton, a former Fox News Channel host. “As a policymaker, you end up with the worst patient satisfaction, costs that you can’t\u00a0afford, and taxes sky high to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Hilton, the actual way to deal with healthcare in California is to \u201cat least stop spending $20 billion a year on free\u00a0healthcare\u00a0for illegal immigrants who should not be in this country in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County whose platform involves restoring law and order to California, agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow about we try to make people healthy?\u201d asked Bianco.<\/p>\n
Porter, who formerly represented parts of Southern California’s Orange County in the U.S. House, said the direction that got people into this healthcare \u201cmess\u201d is Democrats catering to big pharmaceutical and big insurance companies, companies that Porter said Becerra took $2 million from during his career. Still, Porter said California cannot afford to have people who are sick making other people sick.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69f11663ddec8.image.png\")
<\/p>\n
Former Rep. Katie Porter, D-Orange County, and candidate for California governor, speaks at Irvine Valley Community College, Oct. 14, 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen anyone doesn’t have care, the rest of us are at risk,\u201d said Porter. \u201cWhen people don’t get vaccinations, when they don’t go to the doctor,\u00a0they wind up in the emergency room. They cause longer lines for the rest of us. They push our healthcare system to the brink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mahan, who is not supportive of single-pay insurance, said no one fighting for it knows how to pay for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is our healthcare system is broken,\u201d said Mahan, the mayor of San Jose. \u201cThirty percent of the cost in California is an administrative cost. We can use technology to bring down those costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mahan said California is not incentivizing health. He explained that the state should reward doctors and health systems for making people healthier.<\/p>\n
Steyer, who was opposed to single-pay insurance when he ran for president in 2020, is now pushing for single-pay as governor. In Tuesday\u2019s debate, Steyer said that it would benefit California financially.<\/p>\n
\u201cSingle-payer healthcare systems cost half as much as the system in total that we have now,” said\u00a0Steyer. \u201cYes, it’s going to be a big job to get us to single-payer, but we don’t have a choice because right now, people are suffering, and you need somebody who’s going to fight for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/68eee23874472.image.png\")
<\/p>\n
Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer speaks during an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 15, 2020. Photo: Gage Skidmore \/ Flickr<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a> \/ Cropped from Original<\/p>\n Other issues of affordability were also debated Tuesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cI built more market-rate affordable workforce and homeless housing in eight years in the middle of a recession than they did in the 12 years before me,\u201d Villaraigosa told Mahan.<\/p>\n “So you\u2019re not the only one on stage that has done that,” Villaraigosa said, referring to Mahan’s accomplishments as mayor of San Jose.<\/p>\n Villaraigosa \u2013 who made similar comments\u00a0last week during a CBS debate –\u00a0 served as mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013.<\/p>\n Hilton blamed Democrats’ policies for Californians struggling today. He promised to eliminate the \u201cbureaucracy and ridiculous, pointless rules and regulations that crush the life out of people and businesses.”<\/p>\n \u201cI will be relentless,\u201d said Hilton. \u201cI will not rest until we have restored sanity to our beautiful state of California.\u201d<\/p>\n Hilton has also promised to build more homes, which is another issue plaguing Californians. Many people cannot afford to buy a home. Others lack homes to buy because supplies are limited depending on where they live, he said.<\/p>\n Mahan, who has also promised to attack taxes, red tape and other things driving up housing costs, highlighted his efforts to combat homelessness in San Jose.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than half of the candidates on this stage have visited San Jose to see our success in interim housing,\u201d said Mahan. \u201cWe’ve added thousands of units,\u00a0moved thousands of people indoors, and just in the three years that I have been mayor,\u00a0we have graduated about 30% of those people to permanent housing.\u201d<\/p>\n Bianco dismissed Mahan\u2019s achievements, saying they came as he was preparing a run for governor.<\/p>\n Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is a Republican gubernatorial candidate in California. Photo: Riverside County Sheriff’s Office \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ Public Domain<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Bianco walked back comments he made about an interview in The Atlantic. Reading from the article, CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins said Bianco called Hilton \u201cunethical and dishonest\u201d and said that Hilton is trying to \u201cmanipulate Californians\u201d and \u201cswindled his way into the Republican side.\u201d<\/p>\n Bianco denied using the word “swindled.” When pressed by Collins, Bianco later conceded he \u201cprobably did say that.\u201d<\/p>\n Collins also asked Porter about a new campaign\u00a0ad\u00a0where she gives a nod to a viral clip of her in recent years yelling at a then-House staffer for getting in her camera shot during a recording.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ad is about showing Californians what they’ve had a chance to see on this stage\u00a0tonight and in every other debate stage that we’ve had,\u00a0which is that I’m able to take responsibility,\u201d said Porter. \u201cI’m able to follow the rules. I’m able to say I’m sorry, and I’m able to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69d41b75839a2.image.png\")
<\/p>\n