Six California gubernatorial candidates squared off on April 22 on a televised debate stage that at times turned into a battleground in the political proxy war between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump.

Two Republicans—political commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco—and four Democrats—billionaire activist Tom Steyer, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, former Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan—ran the gamut of issues, including high gas prices, housing costs, and homelessness.

The top two vote-getters in California’s June 2 jungle primaries will advance to the Nov. 3 general election regardless of party affiliation, which could mean two Republicans or two Democrats on the Nov. 3 ballot.

A recent Emerson College Polling survey conducted after disgraced Congressman Eric Swalwell resigned and dropped out of the gubernatorial race shows Hilton leading with 17 percent, followed by Bianco and Steyer tied at 14 percent, Becerra and Porter tied at 10 percent, and Matt Mahan with 5 percent.

Nikki Laurenzo, Inside California Politics co-host and FOX40 anchor, and KTLA anchor Frank Buckley moderated the 90-minute debate in San Francisco.

High gas prices

Candidates had mixed responses to questions about suspending gas taxes or imposing a mileage tax on electric vehicles.

Becerra defended the gas tax, saying it’s needed for road repairs and public transit.

Porter said the higher taxes help pay for cleaner fuels, noting most Californians aren’t breathing clean air. She suggested moving away from fossil fuels and replacing the gas tax with a “general fund tax.”

Mahan said he supports suspending the gas tax and pushing reforms to ensure working people who commute aren’t paying an unfair share of the cost to maintain infrastructure.

Steyer defended the gas tax and blamed the high cost of gas on what he called Trump’s “insane war” in Iran. He also called for a “windfall profit” tax on oil companies.

Bianco said he would scrap the gas tax entirely and pay for road repairs with savings from reducing government “waste, fraud and abuse.”

When asked about his plan to cut the gas tax in half and eliminate carbon climate policies, Hilton said Californians are being crushed by gas prices.

“We have the highest gas tax in the country for the worst roads in the country,” Hilton said.

He blamed high gas prices on Democratic policies that hinder in-state oil production while importing oil from Iraq.

The Homeless Crisis

Considering about 187,000 people are homeless in the state, according to a recent Inside California Politics poll, and that 86 percent of those surveyed believe the homeless problem has gotten worse or stayed the same, candidates were asked to grade Newsom’s performance on the issue and what they would do differently to remedy the problem.

Becerra gave Newsom an A, Porter a B, Steyer a B-, and Mahan a B in some areas and a D in others, while Bianco and Hilton both gave him a failing grade.

Bianco said the crisis has little to do with housing costs and everything to do with people suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness.

“It is an absolute dismal failure, and anyone that says it’s not is fooling themselves or trying to fool voters. We are not dealing with homeless, so stop calling it homeless. It has nothing to do with homes. This is drug and alcohol induced psychosis,” he said.

To ignore people suffering from drug and alcohol addictions and mental illness shows a lack of compassion, he said.

“If that’s what you’re going to do, you’re just a part of the failure of government. We are going to deal with this for what it is. It is not homes,” Bianco said.

He promised to cut off all funding to nonprofit groups paid to deal with homelessness and redirect “a small portion” of those funds to pay for drug-and-alcohol and mental health treatment centers.

Hilton said “nothing will change” under another Democratic governor and highlighted his plan on homelessness.

“It is illegal to live and camp on the streets. We need to enforce the law,” he said.

Hilton also advocated for mandatory drug treatment and mental health care “instead of the barbaric situation we have right now where the main place … we’re treating people with mental health problems is jail,” he said.

Porter blamed homelessness on the state’s lack of affordable housing but defended Newsom.

“I don’t think this has been an easy problem to solve, but I do give him a lot of credit for calling attention to the problem,” she said. “We’re not going to solve homelessness without bringing down the cost of housing.”

Becerra said he would focus on accountability for the billions of dollars given to counties and communities to remedy the homeless problem.

“We need to see results, and results are what you see on the streets,” he said. “We need to pull folks up, help get them back on their feet.”

Racial Profiling or Public Safety?

Moderators showed a short video clip of a California Highway Patrol officer giving a roadside English proficiency test to a commercial truck driver, questioning whether the driver understood the traffic signs.

Becerra warned against possible racial profiling when asked whether police should conduct such tests.

“Is that officer asking everyone he pulls over to explain those road signs, or is he asking only people who look like me? And, if he’s doing that, then he’s violating the law,” he said.

“As far as I know, the academy does not train CHP officers to be giving English proficiency exams, so that officer has some explaining to do.”

Bianco said that without seeing the whole video, it would be difficult to put the scene into context.

“We also have seen several horrific accidents that were attributed to people that did not understand English or ... could not comprehend the road signs,” he said.

“And, let’s stop with this whole racism thing, and racial profiling, and all of this garbage. We have to get over this,” Bianco said. “You either violated the law, or you didn’t. End of story. Consequences for bad behavior.”

Steyer agreed that the video lacked context but said “racial profiling is illegal” and pivoted to his campaign promise to prosecute Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Newsom Terming Out

Newsom’s second and final four-year term expires on Jan. 4, 2027. He is ineligible to run again due to term limits imposed by voters via Proposition 140 in 1990. The California Constitution stipulates a governor can serve a maximum of two four-year terms—not necessarily consecutive—in their lifetime.

Newsom was first elected governor on Nov. 6, 2018, defeating Republican candidate John Cox to succeed former Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat.

While he hasn’t offically announced a 2028 presidential run, when asked about the possibility last fall, Newsom told CBS News he would give it some serious thought after the 2026 midterms.

“Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise,” Newsom said, indicating he was interested in running for president. “I’d just be lying, and I’m not—I can’t do that.”