Claremont’s Bridges Auditorium was the setting for Tuesday’s highly anticipated and fast-paced televised gubernatorial debate between eight candidates — six Democrats and two Republicans — vying for the state’s top job.

CBS moderators Pat Harvey, Tony Lopez, Julie Watts, and Ryan Yamamoto, and Pomona College politics professor Sara Sadhwani questioned hopefuls on the cost of living, gas prices, housing, energy, education, mental health, disaster response, and immigration.

Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer takes questions from reporters following Tuesday’s debate at Bridges Auditorium. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

With just 90 minutes and a deep pool of topics and candidates, time was short. Contenders were limited to 30 seconds to one minute for their answers and talked over one another often. At one point, Democrat and former U.S. Representative Katie Porter said, “this is worse than my teenagers at dinner.”

The debate

Republican and former Fox News host Steve Hilton, who has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, got the debate going when moderators asked him to respond to a CBS poll that found 64% of Californians believe the cost of living is too high. He listed budget items that would make the state, as he put it, “Cal-affordable.”

“Three dollar gas, cut your electric bills in half, your first $100,000 tax free, and especially for young people a home that you can afford to buy so we can restore that California dream,” he said.

The candidates were asked how they would address the high cost of housing and homeowners insurance in a time where many providers are fleeing due to high costs.

(L-R) Tom Steyer enjoys a back and forth between Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra at Tuesday’s gubernatorial debate at Bridges Auditorium. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

“Reinsurance is a really important part of this, thinking about how to insure the insurers,” Porter said. “There are ways that we could put California state dollars at play to bring down the cost of reinsurance, which would help more people come back into this market and write more affordable policies.”

Democrats San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond agreed with Hilton and Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco that the state gas tax should be suspended during the ongoing war in Iran. The remaining candidates opposed the plan.

Former State Assemblymember and LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Porter, and Mahan argued for the importance of keeping oil refineries open. Billionaire Democratic businessman Tom Steyer said oil industry profits should be taxed at a higher rate.

Mahan touted the improvements he’s made to San Jose’s housing issues; Porter advocated for single payer healthcare and pushed back on Trump policies; Hilton sparred with Becerra; and Bianco repeatedly criticized Democrats for policies he said are at the crux the state’s high cost of living. 

Former Fox News host Steve Hilton takes questions from reporters after Tuesday’s debate. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Steyer was asked how he would advance the Insurance and Climate Recovery Act — a bill to allow the state’s attorney general to sue fossil fuel companies for “climate-attributable damage to recover losses suffered by the California FAIR Plan Association” — which recently failed to emerge from the Senate Insurance Committee.

“Let’s be clear,” Steyer said, “the oil companies have been polluting and knowingly polluting for 45 years. It has caused great damage to the people of California. In fact, it is a reason we’re getting warm and it is a reason we’ve had these fires that have dramatically hurt people.”

“So, they were causing great damage while you were investing in them,” Porter responded, provoking a roar of applause from the roughly 450 spectators inside Bridges.

Questions from Pomona College students capped each 30-minute round. One asked if candidates would support bringing charges against federal agents such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The six Democrats said yes while Bianco and Hilton said no.

(L-R) Tony Thurmond, Chad Bianco, Tom Steyer, and Steve Hilton at Tuesday’s gubernatorial debate at Bridges Auditorium. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The aftermath

Sadhwani described the debate as “fiery” and a good chance for voters to learn about the candidates.

“We have six Democrats on the stage and two Republicans, but it’s important for voters to be able to distinguish between,” Sadhwani said. “Everyone had a chance to get in, that’s not always easy with eight people on the stage. And certainly, we had some of those breakaway moments tonight that we didn’t necessarily have in prior debates. I’ll leave [winners and losers] for the voters to decide, but certainly it was an exciting night for everybody.”

Candidates took questions following the debate.

The Courier asked Thurmond and Bianco if they’ve considered working to get the endorsement of outgoing governor Gavin Newsom, who has opted to let the voters decide his replacement.

All eyes were on Claremont Tuesday when eight candidates for governor of California took part in a televised debate at Bridges Auditorium. The hopefuls included (L-R) Tony Thurmond, Chad Bianco, Tom Steyer, Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra, Katie Porter, Matt Mahan, and Antonio Villaraigosa. Also pictured right is CBS LA anchor Suzie Suh. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

“My guess is that he’s running for president,” Thurmond said. “What incentive does he have to endorse anybody in this race? Obviously, if he’s going to endorse, we’d love to have his endorsement. I’ve known the man for almost 30 years. He’s endorsed me in almost every race I’ve ever had before … But ultimately, I want the endorsement of the people of the state, the voters of California.”

Bianco quickly shot down the idea. “I would never in any life that I can think of want Gavin Newsom’s endorsement in this election,” he said.

Both shared their takeaways from Tuesday.

“I think for me, there were a lot of platitudes of people on stage and a sort of a dearth of specific ideas,” Thurmond said.

“I was very disappointed in the entire debate, that we let the kids down that were watching here,” Bianco said. “We had a roomful of college kids that are looking for hope and we just had a roomful of children that have broken California that have tried to convince them through lies and misleading stats and everything else that they’re the ones to fix it.”

Former United States Health and Human Services Secretary and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra answers questions from reporters after Tuesday’s debate. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco talks to the press after Tuesday’s debate. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan takes questions after Tuesday’s debate. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Former California State Assembly Speaker and LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaks with a reporter following Tuesday’s gubernatorial debate at Bridges Auditorium. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

(L-R) Pomona College politics professor Sara Sadhwani and CBS correspondents Julie Watts, Tony Lopez, Ryan Yamamoto, and Pat Harvey were moderators for Tuesday’s debate at Bridges Auditorium. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Dozens of news outlets attended Tuesday’s debate including the Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Reuters, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Sentinel, CalMatters, New Tang Dynasty News, Lead Stories, The Economist, LAMag, Zuma Press, Kids Scoop Media, student papers Claremont Independent and The Student Life, and the Claremont Courier.

The next California governor’s debate is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 5 on CNN. Democrats Becerra, Mahan, Porter, Steyer and Villaraigosa; Republicans Bianco and Hilton will participate, with Kaitlan Collins and Elex Michaelson moderating.

The debate was sponsored by Pomona College, CBS, and the nonprofit Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs.

Voters will decide the top two candidates in the June 2 primary, and decide who will be governor on November 3. Mail-in primary ballots are due in early May.