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California Democrats running for governor battled<\/a> Tuesday night over who would impose the most taxes and spend the most money as the state faces an affordability crisis and unprecedented budget deficit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In a televised CNN debate, Democrats \u2014 including former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Rep. Katie Porter, businessman Tom Steyer, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa \u2014pushed to break through a crowded field that still lacks a clear frontrunner.<\/span><\/p>\n Several Democratic candidates, led by billionaire Tom Steyer, endorsed taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a big job to get us to single payer, but the truth is, we don\u2019t have a choice,\u201d<\/span> Steyer said<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> \u201cThe truth of the matter is, immigrants built this state. Immigrants make this state run. The fact of the matter is, we had a broken immigration system, and now you want to victimize the people who are working here and making this state run.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n .@Elex_Michaelson<\/a> asks candidates beginning w\/ @TomSteyer<\/a> \u2013<\/p>\n In last year\u2019s budget, Gov. Newsom \u201ccut healthcare funding for undocumented immigrants to address a budget gap. As governor, would you restore that funding?\u201d@ChadBianco<\/a> , @katieporterca<\/a> and @XavierBecerra<\/a> weigh in. pic.twitter.com\/LPdfZMD1a5<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Story Is (@CNNTheStoryIs) May 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Former Orange County Congresswoman Katie Porter backed him up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t afford to have people who are sick who are making the rest of us sick,\u201d<\/span> Porter said<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> \u201cWhen anyone doesn\u2019t have care, the rest of us are at risk. When people don\u2019t get vaccinations, when they don\u2019t go to the doctor, they wind up in the emergency room, they cause longer lines for the rest of us, they make our healthcare system \u2014 they push it to the brink.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Amid a mass exodus out of California, Porter credited illegal immigrants for sustaining the state\u2019s population.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey are one of the only ways our state has been growing in recent years,\u201d <\/span>she said<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n .@Elex_Michaelson<\/a> asks candidates beginning w\/ @TomSteyer<\/a> \u2013<\/p>\n In last year\u2019s budget, Gov. Newsom \u201ccut healthcare funding for undocumented immigrants to address a budget gap. As governor, would you restore that funding?\u201d@ChadBianco<\/a> , @katieporterca<\/a> and @XavierBecerra<\/a> weigh in. pic.twitter.com\/LPdfZMD1a5<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Story Is (@CNNTheStoryIs) May 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Republican Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco fired back, saying illegal immigrants \u201cshouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Bianco said. \u201cWhen are we going to draw the line at any other crime? It\u2019s illegal. They entered the country illegally. We\u2019re not going to incentivize them to come here, to take more of the resources that regular Californians aren\u2019t getting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt makes absolutely no sense. And health care, no one is talking about, how about we try and make people healthy,\u201d Bianco added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Under California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Golden State faces a<\/span> $18 billion budget deficit<\/span><\/a> for the 2026-2027 year, which is $5 billion more than state officials expected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In a telling moment,<\/span><\/a> debate moderator Elex Michaelson asked all candidates to provide one word to describe Newsom\u2019s job performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Porter called him \u201cbold.\u201d Steyer hailed him as \u201cprogressive.\u201d For Becerra, Newsom has been \u201cgame-changing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Only two Democrats offered mild critiques \u2014 with Villaraigosa calling the likely presidential hopeful \u201cperformative\u201d and Mahan describing his governorship as \u201cincomplete.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Both Republican candidates called Newsom a failure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOne word you would use to describe Governor Newsom\u2019s performance as governor?\u201d \u2013@Elex_Michaelson<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cPerformative\u201d \u2014 The Story Is (@CNNTheStoryIs) May 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not Donald Trump who\u2019s given us gas prices $2 higher than the rest of the country. It\u2019s Democrat policies, which Antonio and all the Democrats here support,\u201d Republican Steve Hilton said. \u201cDonald Trump is the president in all the other states of America, where the cost of living is way lower than in California.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When asked about a controversial billionaire tax proposal \u2014 requiring Californians worth more than $1 billion to pay a one-time 5% tax on their assets \u2014 two Democratic candidates said it<\/span> doesn\u2019t go far enough<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis tax isn\u2019t going to fundamentally change California\u2019s economy in the way that young people and the working people of California need,\u201d Porter said. \u201cIt\u2019s a one-time tax. But we don\u2019t have one-time revenue needs.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Steyer said he would vote for the wealth tax, which has qualified for November\u2019s ballot, but he wants to tax the rich even more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBillionaires like me should pay more taxes, and the big corporations should pay more taxes,\u201d Steyer said. \u201cBut going forward, we do need to go further. This is a one-time tax, and it also doesn\u2019t spread the money across the government; everything else does.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For Bianco, the back-and-forth represents what\u2019s wrong with California.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo these Democrat policies of tax everybody to death and make them leave is how we started this program off to begin with. Everyone is leaving California, and it is because of their horrific policies,\u201d Bianco said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n See how the candidates hoping to be the next governor of California responded to a question over a proposed billionaire tax.<\/p>\n Watch the California Governor Primary Debate live now on CNN and the CNN app: https:\/\/t.co\/U59v8fS1nd<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Ryv7s31DAF<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\u201cBold\u201d
\u201cProgressive\u201d
\u201cFailed\u201d
\u201cFailure\u201d
\u201cGame changing\u201d
\u201cIncomplete\u201d@AVillaraigosa<\/a> @katieporterca<\/a> @TomSteyer<\/a> @SteveHiltonx<\/a> @ChadBianco<\/a> @XavierBecerra<\/a> @MattMahanSJ<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/98UBcQbMBW<\/a><\/p>\n\n