IVN Editorial Board
Our politics have become so negative that, more often than not, it’s difficult to know what any of the candidates are actually like. At IVN, we wondered, “What would the choices look like if each candidate simply made their best case for themselves? No attacks on opponents and no commentary from the peanut gallery.”
So, we combed the internet to present, in one place, each California gubernatorial candidate’s “best case,” absent all the attacks and without any editorial comment from us.
Matt Mahan
"I'm the results candidate. I'm the only Democrat in this race who has a track record of challenging the establishment within my own party to deliver meaningful change. We've led the state in reducing crime and made San Jose the safest big city in the country. We've reduced gun violence by 71%. We've reduced homelessness by one-third. We've sped up permitting, reduced fees, and we have thousands of homes under construction. I don't care if you're a Democrat, Republican, independent, Green Party — whatever your political affiliation is — you know that California can do better. We need better policies. We need more accountability from our government. And I'm the only Democrat in this race, the only candidate who shares California's values but understands that the best resistance is delivering results. And that starts with accountability in Sacramento, using our money more effectively. We have doubled in the polls in just the last two weeks. Our polling is very clear — when people hear our message, when they get to know my background, what I've done in San Jose and what I'll do as governor, we shoot up into the top two."
Tony Thurmond
“The state has done a lot for me as someone who is the son of immigrants who lost both my parents by the time I was 6 years old, raised by a stranger and growing up in a household where I depended on free lunches, food stamps, and government cheese, and all kinds of public assistance. I've always wanted to just give back to the state, and that's what my 18 years as an elected official has meant, and I can't think of a more crucial moment to be providing leadership to the state, and I hope that the voters of this state see it that way as well."
“California is doing more than any other state to help our kids bounce back from the pandemic. We give more tutoring, longer school days, we've secured $6 billion for broadband. It is heartbreaking to know that in the first days of the pandemic, I discovered that a million kids without access to a computer or the internet — how could they be connected? And so we've secured $6 billion for broadband. We're moving the state in the right direction. We're beginning to see improvements. We've added things that kids will need for their future, like personal finance, so they can learn how to avoid debt. We offer a free preschool for every single 4 year old, $4 billion for mental health, a billion dollars every year for arts. We're putting the tools in place."
Steve Hilton
"Well, the things that I'm putting forward in the campaign, they're really not ideological. They're almost not partisan. They're just common sense things. $3 gas. Cut your electric bills in half, your first hundred grand tax-free, a home you can afford to buy. I call it making our state affordable. That's the centerpiece of my campaign. I know that Democrats want that, too. We may disagree about some of the ways to get there, but I think that when I'm elected in November, take office in January — you know, we haven't had a Republican governor for 20 years. It's going to be a bit of a shock to the system. And I think, honestly, they will understand that the people voted for change. And so I will expect the legislature to work with me to enact at least some of that. But the real point is that the governor has executive power to do a lot of things through all the bureaucracy and the agencies, things like lowering gas prices you can do by opening up California oil production. So we're not shipping it in from halfway around the world. And that you can do without the legislature. So you can't do everything through executive orders, but a lot you can."
"We obviously need change in California. The system is not working. I'm the only one here who has never run for office before. I'm not part of this system. These Democrats can't get it done. My plan to make our state affordable is real and serious, and we can get it done if we just vote differently this year."
“The message to Democrats is this — and independents — 16 years now, we've had one party rule. Democrats running everything, all the statewide offices, the state legislature with a two thirds majority, all the big cities and the counties. It's not healthy to have one party rule for so long. It's good to have a bit of balance in the system.”
"To be endorsed by the president of the United States is a big deal. And so personally, I do feel proud. For Californians, what that means is that when I'm governor, I'll have a direct line to the White House to be able to get things done that help people on a daily basis in California.”
Katie Porter
"Affordability is not a political talking point for me. It's been my life's work. I've spent years studying families pushed into bankruptcy by medical debt. I helped write legislation long before I ever thought of running for political office to crack down on credit card fees. I spent years running the statewide foreclosure and eviction prevention program following the subprime mortgage crisis and of course went to Congress and held big pharmaceutical companies and big oil and others who are price gouging Californians to account. I'm a single mom of three kids. I push the shopping cart. I pay for the bills. I want to make sure that these kids can afford to live and stay in California. Anybody who's serious about affordability needs to tackle the biggest expenses families face. That means housing. That is taking the biggest bite out of most people's paycheck. I have a housing background and a proposal to help California build faster, which can take 20% off families' rents and mortgages. I'm also the only candidate who has rolled out a proposal to make child care free. If you've got kids in California, child care might be even bigger than your rent bill. And that's a really big expense. It's key to helping young people stay here in California and making sure people who want to start a family don't feel like they have to leave our state to do that. Child care today in California costs even more than our state tuition. But I have a plan for that, too — to provide for a tuition-free college degree. That's right, no tuition at our UCs, our CSUs, our Cal Polys. California used to have this and it was a major reason that people came to our state and a major reason that we saw mobility for families — that tuition-free degree. It's not enough to just work to reduce student debt or to give people more scholarships. We just need to invest in the people of California. And last but not least, I'm the only Democrat in this race who's talking about bringing down taxes for working families, eliminating California state income taxes for those earning less than $100,000. This would be a huge help to our seniors on fixed incomes, a big help to younger workers who are getting their first jobs, who are struggling to save, for example, for a down payment, and for all the working-class Californians — people who go to work, sometimes one and two jobs, to wind up making 50 or 60 or $70,000 in a lot of parts of California, really struggling to take care of their family on that. So, we have to be able and willing to have a governor who will actually reduce costs, not just talk about it, but has plans for the government to take action to reduce what families are paying to live here."
"California needs to make some changes. We have big problems coming at us from Donald Trump, but that does not mean that we don't have our own homegrown challenges. I'm worried about whether or not my kids and Californians generally are going to be able to continue to afford to live in this state. The status quo year after year in California has not made it affordable to live here. We need somebody who will push back on that status quo. I am the only candidate in this race that has not taken corporate contributions, who has a track record of standing up to the very special interests from big oil to insurance to pharmaceutical companies that have made life in California unaffordable. So, every other candidate in this race is running the same kind of race, counting contributions from corporations and going to Sacramento to think as much or more about them as they are about California families. I'm different. I am running a corporate-free campaign and that is because I want every Californian to understand who I will work for, which is the people of California."
Xavier Becerra
"My parents came to California with $12 in their pocket. They worked really hard. They never had a chance to go to college, but they gave my three sisters and I that very opportunity. And as a result, we got to live the California dream. But too many families today don't believe that California exists today for them. That's why I've been fighting all my public life to make sure that people get to experience what a construction worker and a clerical worker without a college degree had a chance to do. That's why I fought to protect the Affordable Care Act when Donald Trump tried to eliminate it the first time he was president, and I took him all the way to the Supreme Court and we beat him. That's why I had to go at him toe to toe over and over, more than 120 times when I was attorney general, and we beat him. Whether it was saving the DACA program or whether it was making sure that we protected our families against ICE, we fought and we won. We're going to do the same thing again because today it's housing. It's healthcare. People want a fighter. People want someone with experience. I hope to gain your vote."
Antonio Villaraigosa
"I could tell you I'm an adult in the room. I've said for some time — and 20 years ago, I said, 'Dream with me. We'd make LA the cleanest, greenest big city in the country.' Number one American city in reducing carbon emissions. Number five in the world. I said, 'Dream with me. We'd build a subway to the sea.' That subway, as you all read, just got opened up — the first leg. We had been working on it for 40 years. I said, 'Dream with me. We'd improve our schools.' One out of three schools were failing when I was mayor. By the time I left, a 60% increase in the graduation rate. I said, 'Dream with me. We'd make LA a safer big city.' It was the most violent big city in America when I started. By the time I left, it was the safest big city in America along with New York. We need a doer, a problem solver, someone who's willing to take on the other side, work with them, but also take on our side when they're wrong. I'd be honored to have your support."
Chad Bianco
"I'm the sheriff of Riverside County, Southern California. I'm the fourth largest sheriff's office in the entire country. 4,500 employees, five jails, contract cities. I have 17 of them. I'm the chief of police of 17 cities, 17 city councils, mayors, all of those things. So, I run a $1.3 billion budget per year in the black because I believe that government should not be spending more money than what it has. I am the only person on this stage that has 33 years of proven public service based on integrity, honesty, character, transparency, and most importantly, proven leadership. California does not deserve — nor should we have — another career politician promising you pie in the sky ideas. What we need is a proven problem solver, a leader who will combat the policies that have ruined most of your lives and make California the dream that we all had."
