Overview
- The 90-minute forum in San Francisco, which aired Thursday on CBS-owned stations and YouTube, featured seven candidates and a format that let them question one another directly.
- An Emerson College survey released before the event put Xavier Becerra at 19% with Steve Hilton and Tom Steyer at 17%, reflecting a crowded race with a notable undecided bloc.
- Rivals hammered Becerra over a former aide’s guilty plea for stealing from his dormant campaign account, and he pointed to prosecutors saying no candidate in the race has been implicated.
- Policy splits were sharp on housing and rights, with Becerra backing an emergency push to speed homebuilding and Hilton rejecting penalties for slow-building cities, and with Republicans saying they would honor a Louisiana extradition request in an abortion-pill case as Democrats refused.
- With all-mail ballots already out and California’s top-two rules sending only the two highest vote-getters to November regardless of party, the debate targeted late-deciding voters who could shape which mix of parties makes the fall ballot.