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SACROMENTO – At a polite gathering of half a dozen of California’s top gubernatorial candidates, four Democrats and two Republicans agree that many residents are suffering due to the state’s affordable crisis, despite the nation boasting one of the world’s largest economies.
However, their strategies on how to improve the state’s economy largely embraced the diverse views of each political party as they discussed housing costs, high-speed rail, tariffs, climate change and homelessness on Wednesday evening at the first bipartisan event at the governor’s race in 2026.
“Californians are innovators. They are builders, designers, creators, and that’s why we have the fourth largest economy in the world,” said Katie Porter, a Democrat at Irvine.
Conservative Republican commentator Steve Hilton argued that state leaders need to end the “strapping” of unions, lawyers and climate activists in California’s policy.
“I’ve traveled through this state, these heartbreaking words I’ve got from every business I encounter wherever I go, and every family is in that kind of struggle in California,” he said.
The candidates spoke to about 800 people at a California Chamber of Commerce dinner during an 80-minute panel at the Sacramento Convention Center. The Chamber of Commerce’s decision on who would invite to the forum was based on which were polls and fundraising leaders. The cuts were former Senate Speaker Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, Hilton, Lieutenant Colonel Eleni Kunarakis, Porter and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villarigoza.
The most keen exchange of the evening was between Democrat Kunarakis and Republican Bianco.
After the candidate was asked about President Trump’s volatile tariff policy, Kunarakis cited his experience working for his father’s revival group as he criticized Bianco for insisting on waiting approaches on the president’s upheaval plans.
“You’re not a businessman, you’re a civil servant,” she told Bianco. “You have a pension, you’re trying to do well. Small businesses suffer from this, and it only gets worse, and it’s driven by Donald Trump’s vindictivity against countries he doesn’t like, countries he doesn’t like, countries he doesn’t like, or countries he doesn’t like, or people he doesn’t like.
Bianco countered that Kunarakis and other Democratic governor candidates are directly responsible for the economic pains facing Californians as they have a “surgent thirst” for the money to fund the liberal agenda.
“I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. I have a billionaire who says my 32 years of public service is OK for my retirement,” he said. “It’s taxes and regulations that drive everything in California. We pay the best taxes, the best gas, the best home, the best energy.”
Democrats on the stage are very much in agreement about policy, but have tried to distinguish themselves. The sharpest disparity was about whether to raise the minimum wage. On Monday, Los Angeles labor advocates proposed raising it in Los Angeles County.
Atkins said that although he wants to see the higher wages of workers, reflecting most of the views of her fellow Democrats, “Now is not time.” Villaraigosa believes the minimum wage is high, but he says, “We cannot continue to raise the minimum wage.”
However, Kounalakis said not to raise the minimum wage is inhumane.
“I think we should work for that number, yes, I will,” she said. “I want to throw the poor people under the bus.”
California’s high cost of living is an urgent concern among state voters, and the issue is expected to play a major role in the governor’s face in 2026.
A poll released in May, published by the UC Berkeley Government Institute co-hosted by The Times, shows that almost half of them are feeling unwell now compared to last year, and more than half feel less hopeful about their financial well-being.
Almost a year before next year’s gubernatorial primary, the event was the first time Democrats and Republican candidates had shared the stage. It was also the first time that GOP candidates Bianco and Hilton appeared together.
The state’s left-facing election leaning for Republicans to win the race, while the Californian last elected a GOP politician to the statewide office in 2006, while Bianco and Hilton are fighting to win one of the top two spots in next year’s primary.
The pair expressed similar views on widely ending liberal policies within the state, including halting state high-speed rail projects and reducing environmental restrictions, such as state climate change efforts that claim cost is increasing while also having a meaningful impact on fossil fuel consumption.
The key question is whether President Trump will fully support both Bianco and Hilton, and ultimately support one of the Republican candidates.
The governor candidates, some of whom have been running for over a year, have focused primarily on fundraising since entering the race. However, as seen in the California Democratic Treaty last weekend, contests to replace “Gov. Gavin Newsom” have become more common and intensified. Some of the party’s candidates ran around the Anaheim Convention Center, drawing contrasts with their rivals as they tried to curry favors with the state’s most liberal activists.
However, once Kamala Harris’ former vice president enters the race, the democratic field is partially frozen as there is a decision she is expected to make by the end of the summer. Harris’ name did not appear during the forum.
There were a handful of light moments.
When talking about the costs of living in the state, Porter expressed common concerns among state residents.
“What really keeps me up at night is why I run for governor and whether my kids can afford to live here, whether or not my kids get off my couch and have their own home,” she said.
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