This story is fifth and final in a series on California gubernatorial candidates. See our previous story on Tom Steyer here.
California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra has vowed to ease the housing crisis by declaring a statewide emergency on day one.
During a May 27 American Community Media (ACoM) briefing, he said he would demand cities and counties do a better job providing relief for unhoused people. “Upon taking office, I will declare a state of emergency when it comes to housing,” he told reporters. “There are 40,000 housing units shovel-ready that need financing.”
Becerra said he would freeze electric rates and insurance premiums during the housing emergency.
A former state attorney general and secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden, Becerra vowed to expand services for unhoused people. It is important to keep people from losing their homes, he said, noting it costs less to prevent homelessness than to get people off the streets.
He said he would boost scrutiny of local governments’ use of state funds for homeless aid programs, and noted that the state distributes billions of dollars to local governments for that purpose. He vowed to close unsuccessful local programs and scale up funding for those that document successful outcomes.
A couple of the most recent polls show Becerra in first place, with a tight race between Tom Steyer and Steve Hilton for second place.
Pushback on health care, campaign financing
The candidate refuted reports that he has backed away from full support of single payer health care.
“Everywhere I’ve gone I’ve increased access to care to get us closer to universal care, and I’ve been consistent,” he said, calling accusations he doesn’t support single payer “lies” and “a distortion that some of my opponents have been peddling for some time.”
Critics, however, say the California Medical Association (CMA) endorsement of Becerra’s candidacy indicates he has softened his stance. The CMA “has long opposed efforts to establish a single-payer system in the state,” KQED reports.
Tom Steyer, meanwhile, Becerra’s top Democratic opponent, is endorsed by the California Nurses Association, a strong advocate of single payer health care.
At the news briefing, Becerra cited his work as a co-sponsor of Medicare for All when he was a congressman in 1993, and his defense of the Affordable Care Act before the Supreme Court in 2018 when he was California’s attorney general, to show that he supports single payer.
He also said he would also fight to restore recent cuts to Medi-Cal funding. “It isn’t just a moral thing to do, it’s also the fiscally responsible thing to do.”
Expensive campaign
Campaign spending is an issue in the race, according to a Cal Matters May 28 report that states, “billionaires, Big Oil and other interests are spending big to influence the California governor’s race, making for the most expensive primary campaign in the state’s history.”
Becerra denied he is beholden to special interests.
“I’m totally independent of them because I have no relationship to those independent committees,” he stated. “When I was attorney general, I sued the fossil fuel industry. I went after the Trump Administration when they tried to undo some of our environmental protections. I was the attorney general who protected the clean car standards that allow California to have clean-burning engines in the cars that we buy. I was the one who protected the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act.
“It’s very rich, no pun intended, to hear Tom Steyer criticize me for money I have nothing to do with while he is using his profits from those very industries to run his campaign.”
Becerra said the average donation to his campaign is about $59. “It’s not a billionaire writing himself a check. Its people like teachers, nurses, and union workers,” he said.
In addition to a myriad of endorsements by state, local and national government officials and Democratic clubs, Becerra’s website lists endorsements from the Asian American Victory Fund and the Latino Victory Fund.
Success defending immigrants
He defended his record protecting immigrants, noting that when he was California’s attorney general, the state did not bow to the federal government’s demand that local law enforcement participate in ICE immigration raids.
“They sued us, we beat them in court and, when we beat them in court, Donald Trump decided to take away $57 million in resources from our law enforcement agencies because they would not participate,” he said. “We took them to court and we got our $57 million back.”
Becerra said he could repeat his previous success in fighting the Trump Administration’s “illegal conduct like what we see with his ICE mercenary force.”
“I’ll do it not just because I’ve done it as attorney general, but because I know what it feels like as the son of immigrants when your rights are not respected,” he said.
Becerra also promised to make the immigrant green card process easier. Recent federal changes making that process more difficult, he said, “just prove that Donald Trump never intended to go after only the criminals and the people who were doing harm in California. He’s after anyone who is an immigrant.”
He said that while he is against having private detention centers in California – something the state cannot prevent – he would make sure federal facilities here meet California standards.
“We will continue to resist the efforts of the federal government to lock up families who have not been committing crimes,” he added.
No training wheels needed
“I won’t need training wheels when I become governor,” said Becerra, the only one of the top three candidates who has previously held an elected office.
In closing comments, he promised to deliver on the “California Dream.”
“You won’t get that from someone who has never taken the tough votes, who’s never had to run a government agency [with a budget] as large as the State of California, who’s never had to declare a state of emergency,” Becerra said, noting that as secretary of Health and Human Services he had that experience.
The final Emerson College Polling conducted May 27 and 28, reported Becerra’s lead grew considerably in the last week before the election, jumping from 19% in mid-May support to 28%.
Meanwhile, support for Steyer grew from 17% to 22%, and Hilton from 17% to 21%.
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