By admin 
Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton faced off Tuesday night in Burbank in their first — and possibly only — debate in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom hosted by CNN. Hilton, who polls show down 20% or more, said Sacramento Democrats were at fault for California’s high prices and middling outcomes on issues like homelessness. Becerra repeatedly connected Hilton to his most prominent endorser, President Donald Trump, and said Hilton would remain beholden to the president if he were elected.
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FULL STORY: In first — and maybe only — debate, Becerra and Hilton turn to familiar villains
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Here are four key takeaways:
- Housing and taxes: Hilton proposed cutting taxes on the first $150,000 of income, paid for by eliminating high-speed rail funding, and floated building 10 new cities. Becerra said he would expand down payment assistance, cut red tape and force local governments to comply with state housing law — and warned Hilton’s tax plan contained loopholes benefiting millionaires and billionaires.
- Artificial intelligence: Hilton said his goals were safety, protecting jobs and pausing AI in classrooms, but said it was too soon to decide on broader regulation, pointing to industry self-regulation pledges made to President Donald Trump. Becerra argued he had already taken on tech companies through lawsuits as state attorney general; Hilton countered that Anthropic, its employees and OpenAI were major Becerra donors.
- Immigration: Hilton said California’s law limiting local cooperation with federal immigration officials wasn’t being enforced and left dangerous immigrants free to commit crimes, though he said his aim was to “lower the temperature” of the debate over immigration. Becerra accused Hilton of welcoming ICE “mercenaries” and noted Hilton called Trump’s deportation efforts “perfect” in a 2025 Fox News interview.
- Vaccines: Hilton said he would “follow the law” and was “pro-vaccine,” but criticized an “over-prescriptive attitude” and blamed Becerra’s past masking and vaccination guidance for discouraging parents from vaccinating their children. Becerra said the policies were backed by science and blamed Trump administration vaccine skepticism for a surge in measles cases.
This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence based on our own originally reported, written and published content. Before publishing, journalists reviewed this content in compliance with McClatchy Media’s AI policy.
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This story was originally published October 1, 2026 at 12:01 PM.