{"id":315803,"date":"2026-05-14T19:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T19:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/315803\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T19:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T19:00:08","slug":"california-governor-candidates-to-spar-once-more-tonight-heres-how-to-watch-and-what-to-watch-for-the-press-democrat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/315803\/","title":{"rendered":"California governor candidates to spar once more tonight \u2014 here\u2019s how to watch and what to watch for \u2013 The Press Democrat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The leading candidates in California\u2019s unsettled race for governor will spar once more Thursday evening in San Francisco in what is expected to be the final debate before the June 2 primary election<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When and where is the debate?<\/p>\n

The debate will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, at San Francisco\u2019s Julia Morgan Ballroom.<\/p>\n

How can I watch?<\/p>\n

The debate will be broadcast on CBS News stations in San Francisco (KPIX<\/a>), Sacramento (KOVR<\/a>) and Los Angeles (KCBS\/KCAL<\/a>), and streamed on the stations\u2019 digital platforms.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s in the debate?<\/p>\n

Xavier Becerra, Democrat and former U.S. Health Secretary
\nSteve Hilton, Republican and former TV political commentator
\nTom Steyer, Democrat and philanthropist
\nChad Bianco, Republican and Riverside County Sheriff
\nKatie Porter, Democrat and former U.S. Representative
\nMatt Mahan, Democrat and San Jose Mayor
\nAntonio Villaraigosa, Democrat and former Los Angeles Mayor<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s hosting the debate?<\/p>\n

CBS News California will host the debate in partnership with the San Francisco Examiner. The moderators are CBS News Bay Area reporter Ryan Yamamoto, CBS News Los Angeles reporter Tom Wait and San Francisco Examiner editor-in-chief Schuyler Hudak Prionas.<\/p>\n

What are the topics and format?<\/p>\n

CBS said the debate will cover topics including affordability, housing, public safety, climate, education and healthcare.<\/p>\n

The candidates will be allowed to question one another directly, and the broadcast will feature segments on real-world challenges facing California voters, including a working single mother pursuing education, a couple struggling to achieve homeownership and a scientist warning of the long-term consequences of inaction on climate change.<\/p>\n

The network said the debate is intended to address concerns of undecided voters.<\/p>\n

How were the participants chosen?<\/p>\n

CBS said candidates were invited based on ballot qualification and a 1% polling threshold. Notably absent will be state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, a Democrat who has trailed behind the invited candidates in recent polls.<\/p>\n

What are the polls showing?<\/p>\n

The race remains competitive among a handful of candidates at or near the top of recent polls. Earlier this month, Hilton led the field, followed closely by Becerra and Steyer.<\/p>\n

The most recent poll this week by Emerson College<\/a> found Becerra in the lead among likely voters with 19%, with Hilton and Steyer close behind at 17%. Bianco followed with 11%, Porter with 10%, Mahan with 8% and Villaraigosa with 4%. The poll found 12% of voters remain undecided.<\/p>\n

What should I look for?<\/p>\n

What has been called the most wide-open California governor\u2019s race in decades has begun to tighten since<\/a>\u00a0ballots went out at the start of the month.<\/p>\n

Becerra has surged in polls since Rep. Eric Swalwell exited the race last month after sexual misconduct allegations, which he has denied. The latest Emerson College poll put Becerra narrowly ahead, though within the poll\u2019s margin of error, with Hilton and Steyer close behind.<\/p>\n

Steyer is Becerra\u2019s closest Democratic rival, while Hilton has maintained an edge over his chief Republican rival, Bianco, after receiving President Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement.<\/p>\n

For Bianco, Porter and Mahan, who are running behind the top tier, the debate offers one of their last chances to shift the race before primary voting ends. The front-runners meanwhile, will be trying to avoid a stumble as rivals sharpen their attacks in a contest that remains fluid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The leading candidates in California\u2019s unsettled race for governor will spar once more Thursday evening in San Francisco…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,400,28744,100,13],"class_list":["post-315803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-politics","tag-lunch-break","tag-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315803","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=315803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}