By admin 
Democrat Xavier Becerra won the June primary for governor vowing to fight for working families, but he offered relatively few specifics about how he’d govern.
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Speaking at the Politico Summit in Sacramento Tuesday, the former attorney general said he’s keeping his agenda loose to avoid disappointing voters.
“I would prefer not to run on inflated promises that then I can’t deliver on,” Becerra told Politico California Bureau Chief Melanie Mason.
Becerra has kept a low profile since his June win in a closely contested and often bitter primary, with almost no public appearances. Even before then, the former U.S. secretary of health and human services preferred speaking in generalities rather than laying out a comprehensive policy vision for the state.
On Tuesday, Becerra cited building 3 million housing units — roughly similar to the 3.5 million Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged on the campaign trail eight years ago — as an example of an unrealistic campaign promise, though he later told reporters he wasn’t talking specifically about the governor and chose that number randomly.
A more realistic target, Becerra told reporters, was 200,000 homes a year, about double the current rate.
He did offer a few additional hints about his approach.
Becerra floated the idea of a two-hour “power hour” of free electricity for low-income residents, made possible by a midday surge in solar generation. The Democrat said he was open to keeping California’s 2035 zero-emissions vehicle mandate — so long as it didn’t compromise affordability.
And he reiterated his support for “fair share,” a policy of taxing corporations whose employees rely on Medi-Cal to help pay for looming federal cuts to the service pushed through by Congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump last year.
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Becerra also said those cuts could also be addressed by cutting wasteful spending, overbilling and other inefficiencies in the healthcare system.
Earlier in the afternoon, Becerra’s rival, Republican Steve Hilton, made the case that Democrats like Becerra were complacent in the face of rising costs and an exodus in residents.
“There’s a sense of inevitability about it,” said the former Fox News host.
Hilton has vowed to cut the price of gas to $3 a gallon and eliminate taxes for the first $150,000 of income. Both would be tall, if not impossible, orders in the face of a Democratic Legislative supermajority and geopolitical volatility.
Becerra said it was incorrect to assign blame solely to Democrats, who’ve led the state for the last two decades, likening the situation to parents dealing with a misbehaving child.
“Do you blame just one parent when things go awry with one of your children?” he asked. “We’re all in this together.”
Becerra told reporters he would debate Hilton, but didn’t commit to multiple meetings. The Democrat led Hilton, 61% to 36%, in a Public Policy Instute of California poll conducted in early July.
Hilton nodded to the odds in his opening remarks.
“I know I’m probably the only person in this room that actually thinks I can win this election, but I’m very happy to be invited,” he said.
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