Becerra and Hilton clash over Trump, taxes and immigration in lone California governor debate

Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton met for the only televised debate of California's general election for governor on Wednesday night, trading sharp attacks over taxes, housing, artificial intelligence and immigration in an hour-long session that returned again and again to one name: Donald Trump. The CNN-hosted matchup, moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash at the network's Burbank studio, was the candidates' sole face-to-face encounter before mail ballots go out to voters across the state.

The debate capped a low-key general-election campaign in heavily Democratic California, where Becerra has made few public appearances since advancing from the June primary and had agreed to just this one televised matchup. For Hilton, a former Fox News commentator who has staked his candidacy on an alliance with President Trump, it was a chance to make his case directly to a statewide audience that polling suggests remains deeply skeptical of him.

Where the two candidates clashed

The sharpest exchanges came on tax policy and immigration. Hilton has proposed eliminating state income tax on the first $150,000 of earnings; Becerra argued the plan would disproportionately benefit wealthy Californians, telling Hilton he would "end up with Trump results" if voters followed his lead. On artificial intelligence, Hilton said he would wait before deciding whether California needs tougher regulation of AI companies, a position Becerra tied again to the White House, saying "if you listen closely, you can hear Donald Trump in that response."

Immigration produced the evening's most personal moment. Becerra, the son of Mexican immigrants, accused Hilton, who moved to California after years in British politics, of applying a double standard to Trump's deportation campaign.

"You seem to welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me," Becerra said, a line Hilton called "disgraceful" before saying he would rather "turn down the temperature" on questions about California's sanctuary-state protections.

Housing and cost of living also featured heavily. Hilton renewed his pitch to charter 10 new cities and open undeveloped land to construction, arguing "we have got so much space that we could be building in." Becerra pointed to a lawsuit he filed as attorney general forcing Huntington Beach to approve new housing, telling Hilton "no locality should have the right to try to stop all of our people in California from having the housing they need." Both men said they support expanding the state's film and television tax credit, while blaming each other's party for job losses in the industry.

The numbers behind the race

Becerra enters the final five weeks with a commanding lead. The latest Berkeley IGS Poll, released September 24 and conducted online September 15–20 among the state's likely voters, found Becerra ahead 58% to 33%, up from a 55%-to-37% lead in the institute's August survey. Becerra is viewed favorably by 48% of likely voters and unfavorably by 40%; Hilton's numbers are reversed, with 51% unfavorable against 35% favorable. Asked to name their top issues, 44% of respondents cited the cost of living, 37% cited opposition to Trump administration policies, and 24% cited reducing taxes. The poll found preferences breaking almost entirely along party lines, with Democrats backing Becerra 90% to 3% and Republicans backing Hilton by an identical margin; voters who identify with neither major party favored Becerra by 26 points, a sign of the headwinds facing any Republican statewide candidate in California.

Those numbers track the outcome of California's all-party primary on June 2, when Becerra finished first with 28% of the vote and Hilton edged out billionaire Tom Steyer for second place with 25%, according to the certified results of that race. No Republican has won statewide office in California since 2006, a streak Hilton is trying to break with the help of an endorsement President Trump issued in April, when he called Hilton "a truly fine man" and pledged federal cooperation if he wins.

How California got here

The race exists because Governor Gavin Newsom is barred by term limits from seeking a third term, triggering one of the most closely watched gubernatorial contests in the country this cycle. California's top-two primary system sent Becerra, a former U.S. House member, state attorney general and secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services under President Biden, into the fall alongside Hilton, a onetime adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron who built a national profile as a Fox News host before entering California politics. The Secretary of State's office certified the full candidate list for the November 3 ballot earlier this year, setting the Becerra-Hilton matchup alongside races for 52 U.S. House seats and dozens of state legislative and judicial offices.

Who is affected, and what happens next

The debate's timing was not incidental. Under the Secretary of State's election calendar, county officials must begin mailing ballots to all active registered voters by October 5, with drop-off locations opening the next day. Early in-person voting starts October 24 in counties that have adopted the state's Voter's Choice Act, expanding statewide by October 31. The deadline to register to vote is October 19, though same-day conditional registration remains available through Election Day. Polls close at 8 p.m. on November 3, and mailed ballots must be postmarked by that date.

That compressed calendar means many Californians will have cast their votes within days of watching Wednesday's debate, giving the single exchange outsized weight despite Becerra's wide polling lead. The themes the candidates raised on stage — affordability, housing supply and each man's relationship to the Trump administration — track the top concerns Californians have told pollsters will drive their vote, and neither campaign has scheduled another debate before ballots are finalized.

The governor's race also sits atop a ballot that will decide control of California's 52-seat U.S. House delegation, a bloc large enough to influence the national balance of power in Congress, along with 20 state Senate seats, 80 Assembly seats and judicial offices up and down the state. Turnout in a midterm year typically lags well behind presidential-year levels, which is part of why Wednesday's single debate, watched live on a major cable network, offered both candidates a rare chance to reach undecided and low-propensity voters directly rather than through paid advertising.