Overview
- California’s CBS Governor’s Debate takes place Tuesday at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium, with eight candidates on stage and live coverage across CBS stations and streaming platforms.
- A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted April 23–27 shows Steve Hilton, who has the president’s endorsement, at 16%, Tom Steyer at 15%, Xavier Becerra at 13%, and Chad Bianco at 10%, with 26% of likely voters still undecided.
- Affordability dominates voter concerns, with 70% calling the cost of living unmanageable and many citing housing, taxes, and gas prices as priorities for the next governor.
- California uses a nonpartisan top-two primary that advances the two highest vote-getters regardless of party, which has Democrats worried a split field could let two Republicans move on to November.
- The next forum is CNN’s May 5 debate in the Los Angeles area, which set a 3% polling threshold and a $1 million fundraising bar and has seven qualifiers: Becerra, Bianco, Hilton, Mahan, Porter, Steyer, and Villaraigosa.