california governor's racecalifornia governor's race
Xavier Becerra Says He Will Fight for California. Who Did He Fight for as AG?
Former Newsom Campaign Manager on the State of the Governor's Race
Chad Bianco Wants Changes in Sacramento in Run for Governor
Here’s How the Candidates for Governor Would Make California More Affordable
Gubernatorial Candidate Katie Porter Fields Questions on Schools, Housing, Gas Prices at KQED Town Hall
Governor and LA Mayor Hopefuls Face Off in a Week of Fiery Debates
Porter Focuses on California Housing Costs, AI Plans at KQED Town Hall
Inside California’s Billionaire Tax Fight and the Wide-Open Governor’s Race
Xavier Becerra Backpedals on Single Payer as He Woos Powerful Doctors’ Lobby
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"content": "\u003cp>As California’s attorney general during the first Trump presidency, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/xavier-becerra\">Xavier Becerra\u003c/a> made headlines as a hero of the Democratic resistance, suing the Trump administration more than 120 times to defend key progressive policies, including the Affordable Care Act, the environment and immigrant and workers rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as Becerra rises to the top of the Democratic field for governor, critics say that on some issues closer to home, he sided with powerful interest groups, including law enforcement and fossil fuel companies — and that on housing, he was as likely to use his power as attorney general to block development as to push for more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As attorney general, Becerra declined to investigate oil companies accused of misleading investors and the public on climate change. And perhaps most notably, Becerra’s office went to court to fight against the release of police misconduct records following California’s passage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11695714/new-state-laws-reduce-secrecy-around-police-misconduct-shootings\">a landmark transparency law\u003c/a> — and once threatened journalists with criminal charges for possessing records his office had sent them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Xavier Becerra just seems to reflexively have been against any of these measures to improve transparency into police records,” said Jason Paladino, one of the reporters threatened by Becerra’s office. “When you look at the fact that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2019/02/xavier-becerra-police-accountability-progressives/\">one of his major backers throughout his campaigns has been the police unions\u003c/a>, it’s hard to not make that connection that he’s got this powerful constituency in the state, which he feels somewhat beholden to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a characterization that Becerra and his supporters reject. Jonathan Underland, a spokesperson for his campaign, said Becerra has “always made decisions based on protecting Californians and defending the law, not on politics or who supported his campaigns.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12082334 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Murphy, center left, and friend Kimberley J. Rodler, hold handmade signs in support of Xavier Becerra’s gubernatorial bid during a campaign event at Mount Diablo High School in Concord on April 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those close to Becerra when he was attorney general paint a picture of a hardworking, principled leader who came into office prepared to push back on President Donald Trump and protect Californians — and whose views on issues including the environment and housing were shaped by his upbringing as the son of working-class immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not everyone was aggressive in those early days [of Trump],” said Amanda Renteria, who served as Becerra’s chief operating officer for his first year as attorney general. “He really was like, nope, we know what’s coming at us and we’re gonna be ready … from the first conversation I had, he had a real insight about what it meant to have a Trump administration and be in the state of California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra surged in the polls after the exit of former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who suspended his campaign in April \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079502/rep-eric-swalwell-candidate-for-california-governor-is-accused-of-sexual-assault\">amid sexual assault allegations\u003c/a> he has denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A complicated record in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The attorney general’s office has launched three California governors and is perhaps the position in state government most analogous to the top job: attorneys general confront many of the same policy challenges a governor faces, from housing and homelessness to public safety and the environment, and they oversee a staff of more than 5,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The record Becerra built in Sacramento, particularly on three issues where California’s next governor will face immediate tests — police accountability; climate and the oil industry; and housing — offers the clearest window into how he might actually govern, and whose interests he would protect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet much of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/us/politics/xavier-becerra-migrant-children.html\">the scrutiny of Becerra’s record\u003c/a> since he surged in the crowded field has centered on his time leading the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11779670\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11779670 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra in August announcing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s so-called “public charge” rule. A federal judge in California sided with them on Friday.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra in August 2019 announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s so-called “public charge” rule. A federal judge in California sided with them. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As California continues to face hostility from a second Trump administration, those federal fights he took on as attorney general are newly relevant — and Becerra has framed himself as the best person to wage them. But on other issues, critics say Becerra struck a cautious tone and was unwilling to buck the status quo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes environmentalists’ critiques of how he handled the fossil fuel industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His time as attorney general was a story of what he didn’t do,” said Kassie Siegel, climate political director at the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund. “He did sue the Trump administration 120 times, but he didn’t do the things his successor did that were needed and that he was called on to do.”[aside label=\"From the 2026 Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/governor,Learn about the California Governor Election' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2026/04/Aside-California-Governor-2026-Primary-Election-1200x1200@2x.png]Melanie Fontes Rainer spent nine years working for Becerra, first in the attorney general’s office and then when he was the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Fontes Rainer, who led a healthcare unit as an assistant attorney general, said Becerra had the foresight when he was appointed attorney general to create that new unit, which focused exclusively on healthcare policy and was able to lead California’s fight against Trump’s attacks on the Affordable Care Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At that point, nobody had sued the president in this manner and had necessarily taken on this national role in protecting, whether it was national civil rights or national healthcare,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The expertise in that healthcare unit allowed California to be a leader in other areas, Fontes Rainer said, such as successful actions \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-announces-573-million-nationwide-settlement-mckinsey\">against companies involved in the opioid crisis\u003c/a>. She said Becerra was eager to take on important, progressive issues: \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-applauds-landmark-supreme-court-decision-daca\">winning on behalf of DACA recipients\u003c/a> at the U.S. Supreme Court; \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-state-unions-employers-and-workers-reach-settlement\">suing Sutter Health\u003c/a> on behalf of patients and workers; \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-takes-action-defend-women%E2%80%99s-constitutional-reproductive\">protecting abortion\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-joins-multistate-coalition-defending-civil-rights-lgbt\"> LGBTQ rights.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He expects you to work your ass off, because he works his ass off,” she said, adding that Becerra is willing to take on powerful interests if the moment calls for it. “He is never gonna be the leader who is all about himself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics, though, say there were clearly some groups that Becerra didn’t want to challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A fight over transparency\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Becerra received heat for several incidents involving law enforcement, including his \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/ag-xavier-becerra-vallejo-shooting-investigation/\">refusal\u003c/a> to investigate a police shooting in Vallejo — a case his successor \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/13/us/california-attorney-general-sean-monterrosa-shooting\">later pursued\u003c/a> — and his failure to \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-jail-snitch-becerra-20190427-story.html\">probe\u003c/a> a jailhouse informant scandal in Orange County that led to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-civil-rights-violations-orange-county-california-district-attorney-s\">federal investigation\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1384331/dl\">settlement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it was his legal battle against \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1421\">Senate Bill 1421\u003c/a> that drew the sharpest criticism from within his own party. The state law, passed in 2018 after years of advocacy by civil liberties groups and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/calif-ag-wont-release-police-records-despite-court-ruling-gets-into-testy-exchange-with-senator\">Democratic lawmakers\u003c/a>, made public for the first time the disciplinary records of police officers accused of sexual assault, use of force and other serious misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the law took effect, the attorney general’s office didn’t just \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11723281/california-attorney-general-refuses-to-release-police-misconduct-files-despite-new-law\">refuse to release its own records \u003c/a>— questioning whether the law applied to records created before the law’s passage — it also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11724499/cities-use-state-attorney-general-letter-to-fight-release-of-police-misconduct-files\">sent guidance to law enforcement agencies that critics say gave police departments across California cover to refuse compliance, too.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082916\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12082916 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2274719112-scaled-e1778887506369.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1316\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California gubernatorial candidates former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, businessman Tom Steyer, businessman Steve Hilton, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and San José Mayor Matt Mahan look on during a CNN California Governor Primary Debate at East Los Angeles College on May 5, 2026, in Monterey Park, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/video/article/california-governor-election-xavier-becerra-22240445.php\">recent interviews,\u003c/a> Becerra has continued to defend how he handled the case, saying he didn’t fight for secrecy but rather clarity to ensure his office was following the law. But even after an appeals court ruled against him, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/calif-ag-wont-release-police-records-despite-court-ruling-gets-into-testy-exchange-with-senator\">his office continued to resist\u003c/a>, and the lawsuits dragged on for six years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just an extreme position to take,” said David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, which successfully sued Becerra and other police agencies, along with media organizations including KQED. “That office really fought tooth and nail to keep many of the records under lock and key.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra’s office shocked legal experts again when it \u003ca href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-attorney-general-threatens-reporters-legal-action-over-public-record/\">sent a letter to two journalists\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program ordering them to destroy a list of 12,000 current and former police officers and applicants who had been convicted of crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The list was provided to the reporters by Becerra’s own office and another state agency in response to a public records request. In the letter, the attorney general argued that even possessing the records was a criminal act.[aside label=\"2026 California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide,Learn everything you need to cast an informed ballot for the 2026 primary election' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2026/04/Aside-California-Voter-Guide-2026-Primary-Election-1200x1200@2x.png]“It’s either clear ignorance of a core First Amendment principle, or it’s willful disregard of it. Neither of those, I think reflect very well,” Snyder said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attorney general never made good on his threats, even after the reporters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11728957/california-keeps-a-secret-list-of-criminal-cops-but-says-you-cant-have-it\">published their story\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Paladino, one of those reporters, said the letter was concerning for numerous reasons: He argued it showed a hostility toward a free press, a misunderstanding of basic First Amendment law, and a willingness to kowtow to law enforcement groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The legal letter was just completely wrong in its interpretation of the law. And it had real implications for press freedom,” he said. “He was given a bunch of chances to sort of be like, oh, in hindsight, we shouldn’t have sent that letter. And at every turn, he has doubled down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article315566424.html\">a recent interview with the \u003cem>Sacramento Bee\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Becerra again insisted that he was following the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I simply repeated what the law says. If you are in possession of information that is confidential and you disclose and you make that information public, or you disclose it, you are subject to action for violation of privacy laws,” Becerra said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian Marvel, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), one of the state’s top law enforcement lobbying groups, rejected the notion that Becerra took positions in order to score political points with police groups. On the records fight, Marvel said, Becerra simply wanted to make sure the law was on his side before releasing information that could harm an officer’s career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once the cat’s out of the bag, whether the information is accurate or not, it’s out of the bag,” said Marvel, whose group represents more than 85,000 rank-and-file police officers in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PORAC endorsed two of Becerra’s opponents in the governor’s race, Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Democratic former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. But Marvel said he believes law enforcement would have a positive relationship with a Becerra as governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say he’s pro-cop, I’d say he’s pro-public safety,” Marvel said. “If ultimately Xavier Becerra becomes governor, I think I absolutely would have an open door.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Friend or foe of Big Oil?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Becerra touts his environmental work as attorney general, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/01/19/california-attorney-general-files-nine-lawsuits-in-one-day-as-trump-leaves-office/\">lawsuits\u003c/a> targeting Trump’s moves to neuter greenhouse gas emission regulations, to undermine the Endangered Species Act, to roll back vehicle emission standards and expand offshore oil drilling. He also \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-establishes-bureau-environmental-justice\">created an office of environmental justice\u003c/a> to protect vulnerable communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the governor’s race, though, he’s been hit by opponents over his ties to oil companies, with billionaire Tom Steyer in particular \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/TomSteyer/status/2048909407577407797\">attacking\u003c/a> Becerra for accepting donations from the industry, including Chevron’s $39,200 donation to his gubernatorial campaign, the maximum allowed by law. In response, Underland pushed back on Steyer, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/us/tom-steyer-california-governor-coal.html\">invested in fossil fuel companies\u003c/a> decades ago as a hedge fund manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Xavier Becerra spent his time as attorney general actually fighting the fossil fuel companies in court — and winning. Unlike Tom Steyer, Becerra didn’t write them checks. He took them to court and won,” Underland said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069982\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12069982 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/OilDrillingGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/OilDrillingGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/OilDrillingGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/OilDrillingGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An oil pumpjack stands idle near homes as people walk with dogs on Feb. 9, 2023, in Signal Hill, California. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the questions about Becerra’s relationship with oil companies are unlikely to wane. Last week, the oil drilling company California Resources Corporation \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1490885&view=late1\">contributed $500,000 to an independent expenditure committee \u003c/a>that is supporting Becerra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier, as attorney general, Becerra angered environmental activists when he \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-becerra-exxonmobil-climate-change-schneiderman-20170530-story.html\">stayed mum\u003c/a> on an investigation into ExxonMobil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra’s predecessor, Kamala Harris, reportedly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11304131/bay-area-reps-call-on-state-ag-to-investigate-exxonmobil-oil-industry-over-climate-change\">launched\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-exxon-global-warming-20160120-story.html\">investigation\u003c/a> into whether the company lied to investors about the links between fossil fuels and global warming. Becerra never addressed the investigation when he was attorney general, and did not file suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Becerra’s successor, Attorney General Rob Bonta, did \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-lawsuit-against-oil-and-gas-companies\">sue ExxonMobil and four other oil companies\u003c/a> on similar grounds. That \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/FINAL%209-15%20COMPLAINT.pdf\">suit\u003c/a> alleges that the oil companies have known for decades about the risks of fossil fuels but denied or downplayed those issues, and seeks to make them pay into a fund to help mitigate the effects of climate change in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s one of three dozen lawsuits like it filed by cities, counties and states in recent years, said Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076853\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12076853 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2265237194-scaled-e1778026995886.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1211\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">High gas prices are listed at a Chevron gas station in Los Angeles on March 9, 2026, as gasoline prices surge amid the ongoing war with Iran. \u003ccite>(Frederic J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When he was attorney general, Becerra’s office did \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-files-brief-support-lawsuit-oakland-and-san-francisco\">support\u003c/a> some of those local lawsuits, but Siegel said he should have gone further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Center for Biological Diversity gave Becerra a C+ on its environmental scorecard, noting campaign contributions from oil companies and his opposition to a proposed state law that would make fossil fuel companies pay for the effects of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Siegel also pointed to Becerra’s answer in a recent debate, where he said he \u003ca href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/california/2026/05/07/becerra-villaraigosa-spar-in-debate-on-migrants/89972962007/\">would support opening up oil drilling again in Kern County \u003c/a>— something he had \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-slams-trump-administration-plan-sell-seven-oil-and-gas\">opposed as attorney general\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to put all the pieces together,” she said. “The environmental consequences of more oil drilling in California would be massive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra didn’t shy away from the issue when \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/6doKjDbdjQk?t=3688s\">asked by KQED’s Scott Shafer\u003c/a> why he accepted donations from Chevron and whether he would hold big companies like them accountable as governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082062\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Xavier Becerra, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, speaks during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. California will hold its primary election on June 2, where the top two finishers advance to the general election in November regardless of party affiliation. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg Pool via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Becerra noted that there were several lawsuits he \u003cspan style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">\u003ca href=\"https://stateimpactcenter.org/ag-work/ag-actions/four-ags-filed-lawsuit-challenging-restart-federal-coal-leasing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filed\u003c/a>\u003c/span> or \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-joins-lawsuit-block-blm-offering-fossil-fuel-industries\">joined\u003c/a> as attorney general against fossil fuel companies. He also talked about how many people companies like Chevron employ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chevron — that’s the problem with politics — they’re not the bad guy,” Becerra said. “Does everybody here drive an electric vehicle? You need Chevron, I need Chevron, my people of the state of California need Chevron.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Renteria said voters shouldn’t assume that just because her former boss isn’t writing off big corporations that he won’t fight for the little guy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By nature, he’s like this protector,” she said, adding that he has a natural aversion to anyone “bullying or taking advantage” of people, and will do everything he can to fight on their behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Building less, blocking more\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But on one of the biggest issues facing the state — the need for more housing — critics say Becerra didn’t show that type of aggression as attorney general, instead seeming more interested in blocking housing developments than helping push market-rate development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, for example, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-18/ag-becerra-challenges-housing-projects-in-wildfire-areas\">joined two lawsuits\u003c/a> to halt developments in San Diego County, saying they were in wildfire zones and didn’t include enough affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier, in 2019, Becerra \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2019/01/25/california-sues-huntington-beach-using-new-housing-law/\">sued Huntington Beach\u003c/a> for refusing to add state-mandated low-income housing to its local housing plan, and in 2020, he \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-files-intervene-lawsuit-protect-california%E2%80%99s-affordable\">joined a lawsuit\u003c/a> to ensure that cities comply with state affordable housing laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving St. in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Becerra points to those lawsuits as evidence of his commitment to ensuring local governments both built more housing in general and affordable housing in particular — and that they complied with state laws mandating more construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the campaign trail this year, Becerra has stressed the state’s housing shortage as a key driver of affordability and promised to use the governor’s office to eliminate hurdles — including aggressively going after cities and counties that aren’t building enough. He has also pledged to declare a state of emergency around housing and embed his own housing experts in agencies across the state government to help remove obstacles to building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laura Foote, executive director of the pro-housing group YIMBY Action, said she gives Becerra credit for appearing more interested in the issue as a candidate than he did as attorney general, a shift that matches the state’s overall political evolution on the issue.[aside postID=news_12083839 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3319_1_qed.jpg']“I think that now there’s sort of a greater recognition that the overall housing shortage is damaging everyone, not just low-income people. He has made that pivot,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But her group, YIMBY Action, which endorsed Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer in the governor’s race, gave Becerra a “C” grade on housing. It noted that when asked about holding cities accountable as attorney general, “he took the opportunity to brag about using CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act), one of the most potent and abused tools of the anti-housing movement, to block a housing development in San Diego.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those lawsuits were successful: After Becerra left the attorney general’s office, Bonta negotiated settlements that led one of the projects to be scrapped entirely; the site, now owned by the state, will be \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-permanent-conservation-san-diego-wildlands\">permanently conserved as open space\u003c/a>. The other proposed project will move forward \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-otay-ranch-village-13-project-settlement-will-reduce\">under a separate settlement\u003c/a>, with thousands of housing units slated for a smaller area than the initial proposal, which will reduce wildfire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, Foote said, Becerra seemed to focus almost exclusively on affordable housing as attorney general, like in the Huntington Beach case, which Huntington Beach settled in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a good case for them to weigh in, but I think it did reveal in that administration a preference to be really focused on subsidized affordable housing and pushing back on explicit discriminatory things as opposed to getting involved in the larger housing supply issue overall,” Foote said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044985\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044985\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-20-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-20-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-20-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-20-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mockup sits near the stage during a groundbreaking ceremony at 750 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco on June 18, 2025, to mark the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But she added that Becerra didn’t have as many tools at his disposal as the current attorney general does, and that he’s promised to focus on accountability if he’s elected governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He has already committed to doing a greater degree of enforcement than we have had under the Gavin Newsom administration. … Is it as much improvement as some of the other candidates have committed to? No, but I think he is already promising to do better than we have done over the last eight years,” Foote said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Becerra leans into his resume on the campaign trail, his opponents are trying to frame that experience as a liability. His campaign is pushing back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The record speaks for itself,” Underland said. “Xavier Becerra took on oil companies, fought cities blocking affordable housing, challenged the Trump administration over environmental rollbacks, and held powerful interests accountable in court.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Xavier Becerra built his national reputation by suing the Trump administration. But as he runs for governor, critics say his record as California’s attorney general is less progressive on policing, Big Oil and housing.",
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"title": "Xavier Becerra Says He Will Fight for California. Who Did He Fight for as AG? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As California’s attorney general during the first Trump presidency, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/xavier-becerra\">Xavier Becerra\u003c/a> made headlines as a hero of the Democratic resistance, suing the Trump administration more than 120 times to defend key progressive policies, including the Affordable Care Act, the environment and immigrant and workers rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as Becerra rises to the top of the Democratic field for governor, critics say that on some issues closer to home, he sided with powerful interest groups, including law enforcement and fossil fuel companies — and that on housing, he was as likely to use his power as attorney general to block development as to push for more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As attorney general, Becerra declined to investigate oil companies accused of misleading investors and the public on climate change. And perhaps most notably, Becerra’s office went to court to fight against the release of police misconduct records following California’s passage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11695714/new-state-laws-reduce-secrecy-around-police-misconduct-shootings\">a landmark transparency law\u003c/a> — and once threatened journalists with criminal charges for possessing records his office had sent them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Xavier Becerra just seems to reflexively have been against any of these measures to improve transparency into police records,” said Jason Paladino, one of the reporters threatened by Becerra’s office. “When you look at the fact that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2019/02/xavier-becerra-police-accountability-progressives/\">one of his major backers throughout his campaigns has been the police unions\u003c/a>, it’s hard to not make that connection that he’s got this powerful constituency in the state, which he feels somewhat beholden to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a characterization that Becerra and his supporters reject. Jonathan Underland, a spokesperson for his campaign, said Becerra has “always made decisions based on protecting Californians and defending the law, not on politics or who supported his campaigns.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12082334 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Murphy, center left, and friend Kimberley J. Rodler, hold handmade signs in support of Xavier Becerra’s gubernatorial bid during a campaign event at Mount Diablo High School in Concord on April 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those close to Becerra when he was attorney general paint a picture of a hardworking, principled leader who came into office prepared to push back on President Donald Trump and protect Californians — and whose views on issues including the environment and housing were shaped by his upbringing as the son of working-class immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not everyone was aggressive in those early days [of Trump],” said Amanda Renteria, who served as Becerra’s chief operating officer for his first year as attorney general. “He really was like, nope, we know what’s coming at us and we’re gonna be ready … from the first conversation I had, he had a real insight about what it meant to have a Trump administration and be in the state of California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra surged in the polls after the exit of former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who suspended his campaign in April \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079502/rep-eric-swalwell-candidate-for-california-governor-is-accused-of-sexual-assault\">amid sexual assault allegations\u003c/a> he has denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A complicated record in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The attorney general’s office has launched three California governors and is perhaps the position in state government most analogous to the top job: attorneys general confront many of the same policy challenges a governor faces, from housing and homelessness to public safety and the environment, and they oversee a staff of more than 5,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The record Becerra built in Sacramento, particularly on three issues where California’s next governor will face immediate tests — police accountability; climate and the oil industry; and housing — offers the clearest window into how he might actually govern, and whose interests he would protect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet much of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/us/politics/xavier-becerra-migrant-children.html\">the scrutiny of Becerra’s record\u003c/a> since he surged in the crowded field has centered on his time leading the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11779670\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11779670 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra in August announcing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s so-called “public charge” rule. A federal judge in California sided with them on Friday.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/10/RS38601_GettyImages-1168450763-qut-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra in August 2019 announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s so-called “public charge” rule. A federal judge in California sided with them. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As California continues to face hostility from a second Trump administration, those federal fights he took on as attorney general are newly relevant — and Becerra has framed himself as the best person to wage them. But on other issues, critics say Becerra struck a cautious tone and was unwilling to buck the status quo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes environmentalists’ critiques of how he handled the fossil fuel industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His time as attorney general was a story of what he didn’t do,” said Kassie Siegel, climate political director at the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund. “He did sue the Trump administration 120 times, but he didn’t do the things his successor did that were needed and that he was called on to do.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Melanie Fontes Rainer spent nine years working for Becerra, first in the attorney general’s office and then when he was the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Fontes Rainer, who led a healthcare unit as an assistant attorney general, said Becerra had the foresight when he was appointed attorney general to create that new unit, which focused exclusively on healthcare policy and was able to lead California’s fight against Trump’s attacks on the Affordable Care Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At that point, nobody had sued the president in this manner and had necessarily taken on this national role in protecting, whether it was national civil rights or national healthcare,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The expertise in that healthcare unit allowed California to be a leader in other areas, Fontes Rainer said, such as successful actions \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-announces-573-million-nationwide-settlement-mckinsey\">against companies involved in the opioid crisis\u003c/a>. She said Becerra was eager to take on important, progressive issues: \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-applauds-landmark-supreme-court-decision-daca\">winning on behalf of DACA recipients\u003c/a> at the U.S. Supreme Court; \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-state-unions-employers-and-workers-reach-settlement\">suing Sutter Health\u003c/a> on behalf of patients and workers; \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-takes-action-defend-women%E2%80%99s-constitutional-reproductive\">protecting abortion\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-joins-multistate-coalition-defending-civil-rights-lgbt\"> LGBTQ rights.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He expects you to work your ass off, because he works his ass off,” she said, adding that Becerra is willing to take on powerful interests if the moment calls for it. “He is never gonna be the leader who is all about himself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics, though, say there were clearly some groups that Becerra didn’t want to challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A fight over transparency\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Becerra received heat for several incidents involving law enforcement, including his \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/ag-xavier-becerra-vallejo-shooting-investigation/\">refusal\u003c/a> to investigate a police shooting in Vallejo — a case his successor \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/13/us/california-attorney-general-sean-monterrosa-shooting\">later pursued\u003c/a> — and his failure to \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-jail-snitch-becerra-20190427-story.html\">probe\u003c/a> a jailhouse informant scandal in Orange County that led to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-civil-rights-violations-orange-county-california-district-attorney-s\">federal investigation\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1384331/dl\">settlement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it was his legal battle against \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1421\">Senate Bill 1421\u003c/a> that drew the sharpest criticism from within his own party. The state law, passed in 2018 after years of advocacy by civil liberties groups and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/calif-ag-wont-release-police-records-despite-court-ruling-gets-into-testy-exchange-with-senator\">Democratic lawmakers\u003c/a>, made public for the first time the disciplinary records of police officers accused of sexual assault, use of force and other serious misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the law took effect, the attorney general’s office didn’t just \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11723281/california-attorney-general-refuses-to-release-police-misconduct-files-despite-new-law\">refuse to release its own records \u003c/a>— questioning whether the law applied to records created before the law’s passage — it also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11724499/cities-use-state-attorney-general-letter-to-fight-release-of-police-misconduct-files\">sent guidance to law enforcement agencies that critics say gave police departments across California cover to refuse compliance, too.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082916\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12082916 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2274719112-scaled-e1778887506369.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1316\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California gubernatorial candidates former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, businessman Tom Steyer, businessman Steve Hilton, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and San José Mayor Matt Mahan look on during a CNN California Governor Primary Debate at East Los Angeles College on May 5, 2026, in Monterey Park, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/video/article/california-governor-election-xavier-becerra-22240445.php\">recent interviews,\u003c/a> Becerra has continued to defend how he handled the case, saying he didn’t fight for secrecy but rather clarity to ensure his office was following the law. But even after an appeals court ruled against him, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/calif-ag-wont-release-police-records-despite-court-ruling-gets-into-testy-exchange-with-senator\">his office continued to resist\u003c/a>, and the lawsuits dragged on for six years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just an extreme position to take,” said David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, which successfully sued Becerra and other police agencies, along with media organizations including KQED. “That office really fought tooth and nail to keep many of the records under lock and key.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra’s office shocked legal experts again when it \u003ca href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-attorney-general-threatens-reporters-legal-action-over-public-record/\">sent a letter to two journalists\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program ordering them to destroy a list of 12,000 current and former police officers and applicants who had been convicted of crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The list was provided to the reporters by Becerra’s own office and another state agency in response to a public records request. In the letter, the attorney general argued that even possessing the records was a criminal act.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s either clear ignorance of a core First Amendment principle, or it’s willful disregard of it. Neither of those, I think reflect very well,” Snyder said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attorney general never made good on his threats, even after the reporters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11728957/california-keeps-a-secret-list-of-criminal-cops-but-says-you-cant-have-it\">published their story\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Paladino, one of those reporters, said the letter was concerning for numerous reasons: He argued it showed a hostility toward a free press, a misunderstanding of basic First Amendment law, and a willingness to kowtow to law enforcement groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The legal letter was just completely wrong in its interpretation of the law. And it had real implications for press freedom,” he said. “He was given a bunch of chances to sort of be like, oh, in hindsight, we shouldn’t have sent that letter. And at every turn, he has doubled down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article315566424.html\">a recent interview with the \u003cem>Sacramento Bee\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Becerra again insisted that he was following the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I simply repeated what the law says. If you are in possession of information that is confidential and you disclose and you make that information public, or you disclose it, you are subject to action for violation of privacy laws,” Becerra said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian Marvel, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), one of the state’s top law enforcement lobbying groups, rejected the notion that Becerra took positions in order to score political points with police groups. On the records fight, Marvel said, Becerra simply wanted to make sure the law was on his side before releasing information that could harm an officer’s career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once the cat’s out of the bag, whether the information is accurate or not, it’s out of the bag,” said Marvel, whose group represents more than 85,000 rank-and-file police officers in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PORAC endorsed two of Becerra’s opponents in the governor’s race, Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Democratic former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. But Marvel said he believes law enforcement would have a positive relationship with a Becerra as governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t say he’s pro-cop, I’d say he’s pro-public safety,” Marvel said. “If ultimately Xavier Becerra becomes governor, I think I absolutely would have an open door.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Friend or foe of Big Oil?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Becerra touts his environmental work as attorney general, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/01/19/california-attorney-general-files-nine-lawsuits-in-one-day-as-trump-leaves-office/\">lawsuits\u003c/a> targeting Trump’s moves to neuter greenhouse gas emission regulations, to undermine the Endangered Species Act, to roll back vehicle emission standards and expand offshore oil drilling. He also \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-establishes-bureau-environmental-justice\">created an office of environmental justice\u003c/a> to protect vulnerable communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the governor’s race, though, he’s been hit by opponents over his ties to oil companies, with billionaire Tom Steyer in particular \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/TomSteyer/status/2048909407577407797\">attacking\u003c/a> Becerra for accepting donations from the industry, including Chevron’s $39,200 donation to his gubernatorial campaign, the maximum allowed by law. In response, Underland pushed back on Steyer, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/us/tom-steyer-california-governor-coal.html\">invested in fossil fuel companies\u003c/a> decades ago as a hedge fund manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Xavier Becerra spent his time as attorney general actually fighting the fossil fuel companies in court — and winning. Unlike Tom Steyer, Becerra didn’t write them checks. He took them to court and won,” Underland said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069982\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12069982 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/OilDrillingGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/OilDrillingGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/OilDrillingGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/OilDrillingGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An oil pumpjack stands idle near homes as people walk with dogs on Feb. 9, 2023, in Signal Hill, California. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the questions about Becerra’s relationship with oil companies are unlikely to wane. Last week, the oil drilling company California Resources Corporation \u003ca href=\"https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1490885&view=late1\">contributed $500,000 to an independent expenditure committee \u003c/a>that is supporting Becerra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier, as attorney general, Becerra angered environmental activists when he \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-becerra-exxonmobil-climate-change-schneiderman-20170530-story.html\">stayed mum\u003c/a> on an investigation into ExxonMobil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra’s predecessor, Kamala Harris, reportedly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11304131/bay-area-reps-call-on-state-ag-to-investigate-exxonmobil-oil-industry-over-climate-change\">launched\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-exxon-global-warming-20160120-story.html\">investigation\u003c/a> into whether the company lied to investors about the links between fossil fuels and global warming. Becerra never addressed the investigation when he was attorney general, and did not file suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Becerra’s successor, Attorney General Rob Bonta, did \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-lawsuit-against-oil-and-gas-companies\">sue ExxonMobil and four other oil companies\u003c/a> on similar grounds. That \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/FINAL%209-15%20COMPLAINT.pdf\">suit\u003c/a> alleges that the oil companies have known for decades about the risks of fossil fuels but denied or downplayed those issues, and seeks to make them pay into a fund to help mitigate the effects of climate change in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s one of three dozen lawsuits like it filed by cities, counties and states in recent years, said Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076853\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12076853 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2265237194-scaled-e1778026995886.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1211\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">High gas prices are listed at a Chevron gas station in Los Angeles on March 9, 2026, as gasoline prices surge amid the ongoing war with Iran. \u003ccite>(Frederic J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When he was attorney general, Becerra’s office did \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-files-brief-support-lawsuit-oakland-and-san-francisco\">support\u003c/a> some of those local lawsuits, but Siegel said he should have gone further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Center for Biological Diversity gave Becerra a C+ on its environmental scorecard, noting campaign contributions from oil companies and his opposition to a proposed state law that would make fossil fuel companies pay for the effects of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Siegel also pointed to Becerra’s answer in a recent debate, where he said he \u003ca href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/california/2026/05/07/becerra-villaraigosa-spar-in-debate-on-migrants/89972962007/\">would support opening up oil drilling again in Kern County \u003c/a>— something he had \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-slams-trump-administration-plan-sell-seven-oil-and-gas\">opposed as attorney general\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to put all the pieces together,” she said. “The environmental consequences of more oil drilling in California would be massive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra didn’t shy away from the issue when \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/6doKjDbdjQk?t=3688s\">asked by KQED’s Scott Shafer\u003c/a> why he accepted donations from Chevron and whether he would hold big companies like them accountable as governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082062\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/XavierBecerra-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Xavier Becerra, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, speaks during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. California will hold its primary election on June 2, where the top two finishers advance to the general election in November regardless of party affiliation. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg Pool via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Becerra noted that there were several lawsuits he \u003cspan style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">\u003ca href=\"https://stateimpactcenter.org/ag-work/ag-actions/four-ags-filed-lawsuit-challenging-restart-federal-coal-leasing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filed\u003c/a>\u003c/span> or \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-joins-lawsuit-block-blm-offering-fossil-fuel-industries\">joined\u003c/a> as attorney general against fossil fuel companies. He also talked about how many people companies like Chevron employ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chevron — that’s the problem with politics — they’re not the bad guy,” Becerra said. “Does everybody here drive an electric vehicle? You need Chevron, I need Chevron, my people of the state of California need Chevron.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Renteria said voters shouldn’t assume that just because her former boss isn’t writing off big corporations that he won’t fight for the little guy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By nature, he’s like this protector,” she said, adding that he has a natural aversion to anyone “bullying or taking advantage” of people, and will do everything he can to fight on their behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Building less, blocking more\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But on one of the biggest issues facing the state — the need for more housing — critics say Becerra didn’t show that type of aggression as attorney general, instead seeming more interested in blocking housing developments than helping push market-rate development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, for example, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-18/ag-becerra-challenges-housing-projects-in-wildfire-areas\">joined two lawsuits\u003c/a> to halt developments in San Diego County, saying they were in wildfire zones and didn’t include enough affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier, in 2019, Becerra \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2019/01/25/california-sues-huntington-beach-using-new-housing-law/\">sued Huntington Beach\u003c/a> for refusing to add state-mandated low-income housing to its local housing plan, and in 2020, he \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-files-intervene-lawsuit-protect-california%E2%80%99s-affordable\">joined a lawsuit\u003c/a> to ensure that cities comply with state affordable housing laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving St. in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Becerra points to those lawsuits as evidence of his commitment to ensuring local governments both built more housing in general and affordable housing in particular — and that they complied with state laws mandating more construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the campaign trail this year, Becerra has stressed the state’s housing shortage as a key driver of affordability and promised to use the governor’s office to eliminate hurdles — including aggressively going after cities and counties that aren’t building enough. He has also pledged to declare a state of emergency around housing and embed his own housing experts in agencies across the state government to help remove obstacles to building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laura Foote, executive director of the pro-housing group YIMBY Action, said she gives Becerra credit for appearing more interested in the issue as a candidate than he did as attorney general, a shift that matches the state’s overall political evolution on the issue.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think that now there’s sort of a greater recognition that the overall housing shortage is damaging everyone, not just low-income people. He has made that pivot,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But her group, YIMBY Action, which endorsed Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer in the governor’s race, gave Becerra a “C” grade on housing. It noted that when asked about holding cities accountable as attorney general, “he took the opportunity to brag about using CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act), one of the most potent and abused tools of the anti-housing movement, to block a housing development in San Diego.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those lawsuits were successful: After Becerra left the attorney general’s office, Bonta negotiated settlements that led one of the projects to be scrapped entirely; the site, now owned by the state, will be \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-permanent-conservation-san-diego-wildlands\">permanently conserved as open space\u003c/a>. The other proposed project will move forward \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-otay-ranch-village-13-project-settlement-will-reduce\">under a separate settlement\u003c/a>, with thousands of housing units slated for a smaller area than the initial proposal, which will reduce wildfire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, Foote said, Becerra seemed to focus almost exclusively on affordable housing as attorney general, like in the Huntington Beach case, which Huntington Beach settled in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a good case for them to weigh in, but I think it did reveal in that administration a preference to be really focused on subsidized affordable housing and pushing back on explicit discriminatory things as opposed to getting involved in the larger housing supply issue overall,” Foote said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044985\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044985\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-20-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-20-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-20-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-20-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mockup sits near the stage during a groundbreaking ceremony at 750 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco on June 18, 2025, to mark the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But she added that Becerra didn’t have as many tools at his disposal as the current attorney general does, and that he’s promised to focus on accountability if he’s elected governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He has already committed to doing a greater degree of enforcement than we have had under the Gavin Newsom administration. … Is it as much improvement as some of the other candidates have committed to? No, but I think he is already promising to do better than we have done over the last eight years,” Foote said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Becerra leans into his resume on the campaign trail, his opponents are trying to frame that experience as a liability. His campaign is pushing back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The record speaks for itself,” Underland said. “Xavier Becerra took on oil companies, fought cities blocking affordable housing, challenged the Trump administration over environmental rollbacks, and held powerful interests accountable in court.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>With the June primary now just 18 days away, the California governor’s race has been completely transformed, reshaped by scandal, rapidly changing poll numbers and bruising debates. Marisa and Guy sit down with Democratic political consultant Addisu Demissie, who worked on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign. They size up the remaining field and discuss how the candidates are performing on the debate stage, in polls and in voters’ eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more information on the races and ballot measures in California’s June 2 primary election, check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results\">KQED’s Voter Guide\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Join us for a town hall at KQED with Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a top Republican in the race for governor. Bianco will be talking with KQED’s Marisa Lagos and taking audience questions on Monday, May 18 at 7:00pm at KQED headquarters in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can register for the event at \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KQED.org/events.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/political-breakdown\">Political Breakdown’s weekly newsletter\u003c/a>, delivered straight to your inbox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With the June primary now just 18 days away, the California governor’s race has been completely transformed, reshaped by scandal, rapidly changing poll numbers and bruising debates. Marisa and Guy sit down with Democratic political consultant Addisu Demissie, who worked on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign. They size up the remaining field and discuss how the candidates are performing on the debate stage, in polls and in voters’ eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more information on the races and ballot measures in California’s June 2 primary election, check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results\">KQED’s Voter Guide\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Join us for a town hall at KQED with Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a top Republican in the race for governor. Bianco will be talking with KQED’s Marisa Lagos and taking audience questions on Monday, May 18 at 7:00pm at KQED headquarters in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can register for the event at \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KQED.org/events.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/political-breakdown\">Political Breakdown’s weekly newsletter\u003c/a>, delivered straight to your inbox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, May 13, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the crowded field of mostly Democratic candidates vying to be California’s next governor, one MAGA Republican has had surprising staying power. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081096/riverside-county-sheriff-chad-bianco-on-his-faith-cutting-taxes-and-ballot-seizure\">Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.\u003c/a> He’s recently been in national headlines for seizing hundreds of thousands of ballots, among other controversies. Bianco has built his profile on bashing the state’s Democrats and Governor Gavin Newsom. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The World Cup is officially one month away. And \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/los-angeles-activities/world-cup-la-advocates-say-human-rights-are-an-afterthought\">some LA advocates\u003c/a> aren’t happy about how organizers plan to address human rights. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Riverside County Sheriff stays consistent in attack on Democrats as race for governor winds down\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Riverside County Sheriff \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081096/riverside-county-sheriff-chad-bianco-on-his-faith-cutting-taxes-and-ballot-seizure\">Chad Bianco\u003c/a> has consistently polled in the top 4-5 candidates since he entered the race for California governor. In the final month before the June primary, he continues his attacks on Democrats in Sacramento and Governor Gavin Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want government out of the way of growth in California so we can once again finally prosper. It’s going to be like California will be more prosperous than at any time in its history, and I will liken it to the Gold Rush years,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco blames Democrats for ruining the state he said he fell in love with as a kid visiting from Utah. “Our businesses are leaving. Our workers are leaving. Our kids can’t afford to live here. There’s nothing good coming from the current Democrat Party,” Bianco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco’s campaign has not been without controversy. He’s an ardent supporter of President Trump and recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvcrnews.org/local-news/2026-03-20/riverside-sheriff-says-ag-is-interfering-in-election-investigation\">seized hundreds of thousands of ballots\u003c/a> from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, based on a tip from a citizens group that alleged election fraud. Election officials have said the claims are baseless, but Bianco said he has to investigate crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco said one of his top priorities as governor would be to kill the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. He’d also get rid of the Coastal Commission and the California Air Resources Board. Those are some of the state’s bedrock environmental protections.\u003cbr>\n“Those are the issues that cause our cost of living to go up,” Bianco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArticlePage-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/los-angeles-activities/world-cup-la-advocates-say-human-rights-are-an-afterthought\">\u003cstrong>A month out from World Cup, LA advocates say human rights are an afterthought\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles World Cup host committee has quietly posted its guidance on human rights after months of speculation over where the plan was and when it would be published.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates had pushed the committee, an arm of the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, to produce its plan. But now that it’s out, they’re not satisfied with what they’re seeing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The human rights guidance\u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/nx-s1-5787871/world-cup-cities-slow-to-reveal-fifa-required-human-rights-protection-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">\u003cu> is required by FIFA\u003c/u>\u003c/a> and outlined on \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://losangelesfwc26.com/human-rights/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">\u003cu>the host committee’s website\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. It includes a list of online resources including where to file complaints with various local and state level agencies and a summary of local, state and federal laws protecting human and civil rights. The committee is also touting a partnership with L.A. County in which people can \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://211la.org/humanrights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">\u003cu>call 211 to report a concern during the tournament\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. “Los Angeles is weeks away from hosting one of the largest sporting events in the world, and yet what has been posted is not a plan,” Stephanie Richard, director of the Sunita Jain Anti‑Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School, said in a statement. “It is a list of laws and hotline numbers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The human rights document also skirts fears around ICE and its potential presence at the tournament and surrounding celebrations. Todd Lyons, the agency’s head, said earlier this year that ICE’s investigatory branch \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/ice-confirms-at-world-cup-la-advocates-raise-alarm-over-human-rights\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">\u003cu>will play a key role in security for the tournament. \u003c/u>\u003c/a>But ICE and immigration enforcement aren’t mentioned on the host committee’s web page on human rights or in its outline of its approach to human rights. “Immigration status” only gets a mention in the list of existing anti-discrimination laws. “It certainly could have been much stronger,” Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, said of the plan. She added that her organization participated in a roundtable on the plan, and she was disappointed ICE and recent immigration sweeps weren’t mentioned in the resulting document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LAist reached out to spokespeople for the host committee for comment via email, phone and text, but did not hear back in time for publication. FIFA’s press team also did not respond to an email from LAist. According to the host committee’s website, the human rights plan is the result of coordination with the city and county of Los Angeles, the city of Inglewood, and 14 roundtable discussions held in the fall of 2025.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, May 13, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the crowded field of mostly Democratic candidates vying to be California’s next governor, one MAGA Republican has had surprising staying power. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081096/riverside-county-sheriff-chad-bianco-on-his-faith-cutting-taxes-and-ballot-seizure\">Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.\u003c/a> He’s recently been in national headlines for seizing hundreds of thousands of ballots, among other controversies. Bianco has built his profile on bashing the state’s Democrats and Governor Gavin Newsom. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The World Cup is officially one month away. And \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/los-angeles-activities/world-cup-la-advocates-say-human-rights-are-an-afterthought\">some LA advocates\u003c/a> aren’t happy about how organizers plan to address human rights. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Riverside County Sheriff stays consistent in attack on Democrats as race for governor winds down\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Riverside County Sheriff \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081096/riverside-county-sheriff-chad-bianco-on-his-faith-cutting-taxes-and-ballot-seizure\">Chad Bianco\u003c/a> has consistently polled in the top 4-5 candidates since he entered the race for California governor. In the final month before the June primary, he continues his attacks on Democrats in Sacramento and Governor Gavin Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want government out of the way of growth in California so we can once again finally prosper. It’s going to be like California will be more prosperous than at any time in its history, and I will liken it to the Gold Rush years,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco blames Democrats for ruining the state he said he fell in love with as a kid visiting from Utah. “Our businesses are leaving. Our workers are leaving. Our kids can’t afford to live here. There’s nothing good coming from the current Democrat Party,” Bianco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco’s campaign has not been without controversy. He’s an ardent supporter of President Trump and recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvcrnews.org/local-news/2026-03-20/riverside-sheriff-says-ag-is-interfering-in-election-investigation\">seized hundreds of thousands of ballots\u003c/a> from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, based on a tip from a citizens group that alleged election fraud. Election officials have said the claims are baseless, but Bianco said he has to investigate crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco said one of his top priorities as governor would be to kill the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. He’d also get rid of the Coastal Commission and the California Air Resources Board. Those are some of the state’s bedrock environmental protections.\u003cbr>\n“Those are the issues that cause our cost of living to go up,” Bianco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArticlePage-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/los-angeles-activities/world-cup-la-advocates-say-human-rights-are-an-afterthought\">\u003cstrong>A month out from World Cup, LA advocates say human rights are an afterthought\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles World Cup host committee has quietly posted its guidance on human rights after months of speculation over where the plan was and when it would be published.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates had pushed the committee, an arm of the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, to produce its plan. But now that it’s out, they’re not satisfied with what they’re seeing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The human rights guidance\u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/nx-s1-5787871/world-cup-cities-slow-to-reveal-fifa-required-human-rights-protection-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">\u003cu> is required by FIFA\u003c/u>\u003c/a> and outlined on \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://losangelesfwc26.com/human-rights/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">\u003cu>the host committee’s website\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. It includes a list of online resources including where to file complaints with various local and state level agencies and a summary of local, state and federal laws protecting human and civil rights. The committee is also touting a partnership with L.A. County in which people can \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://211la.org/humanrights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">\u003cu>call 211 to report a concern during the tournament\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. “Los Angeles is weeks away from hosting one of the largest sporting events in the world, and yet what has been posted is not a plan,” Stephanie Richard, director of the Sunita Jain Anti‑Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School, said in a statement. “It is a list of laws and hotline numbers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The human rights document also skirts fears around ICE and its potential presence at the tournament and surrounding celebrations. Todd Lyons, the agency’s head, said earlier this year that ICE’s investigatory branch \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/ice-confirms-at-world-cup-la-advocates-raise-alarm-over-human-rights\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">\u003cu>will play a key role in security for the tournament. \u003c/u>\u003c/a>But ICE and immigration enforcement aren’t mentioned on the host committee’s web page on human rights or in its outline of its approach to human rights. “Immigration status” only gets a mention in the list of existing anti-discrimination laws. “It certainly could have been much stronger,” Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, said of the plan. She added that her organization participated in a roundtable on the plan, and she was disappointed ICE and recent immigration sweeps weren’t mentioned in the resulting document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LAist reached out to spokespeople for the host committee for comment via email, phone and text, but did not hear back in time for publication. FIFA’s press team also did not respond to an email from LAist. According to the host committee’s website, the human rights plan is the result of coordination with the city and county of Los Angeles, the city of Inglewood, and 14 roundtable discussions held in the fall of 2025.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "heres-how-the-candidates-for-governor-would-make-california-more-affordable",
"title": "Here’s How the Candidates for Governor Would Make California More Affordable",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>How We Get By\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s next governor will inherit an affordability crisis that defies easy fixes: housing costs that have outpaced incomes for years, electricity rates among the highest in the nation, and gas prices nearly $2 above the national average — all in a state whose economy remains the envy of the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074132/xavier-becerra-on-why-his-upbringing-and-career-give-him-an-edge-over-other-gubernatorial-candidates\">Xavier Becerra\u003c/a>, the former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and a Democratic candidate for governor, rattled off some of the biggest cost pressures as he spoke to more than 300 people in a high school gym in Concord last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The cost of affording a home, your health care, groceries, gasoline,” he said. “That cost of living crisis that we face here — it becomes existential.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The price of housing and energy has been unaffordable for Californians long before a post-pandemic surge in inflation made the cost of living the top concern for voters across America — and a potent political cudgel for politicians from President Donald Trump to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s no surprise that, in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082125/inside-californias-billionaire-tax-fight-and-the-wide-open-governors-race\">most competitive primary\u003c/a> for California governor in a generation, candidates from both parties are making affordability central to their campaigns, vowing to ease a cost crunch fueled in part by the state’s top-heavy economy, strict land-use policies and complicated transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is often leading the nation — most of the time, that’s for good,” said Neale Mahoney, director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. “But on some of these issues, we’ve been the canary in the coal mine for some of the problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12082334 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Murphy, center-left, and friend Kimberley J. Rodler, hold handmade signs in support of Xavier Becerra’s gubernatorial bid during a campaign event at Mount Diablo High School in Concord on Thursday, April 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The challenge: affordability has come to encompass such a wide range of cost pressures that the next governor could struggle to even define success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While leading candidates in both parties agree that housing costs are the greatest strain on residents’ budgets, other affordability proposals run the gamut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the Democrats, Becerra is vowing to freeze utility rates and home insurance premiums; investor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075769/tom-steyer-lays-out-vision-for-a-more-affordable-california-in-run-for-governor\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a> wants to return windfall oil profits to residents; San José Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075490/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-positions-himself-as-a-change-candidate-in-governors-race\">Matt Mahan\u003c/a> would pause the gas tax, and former congressmember \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078450/katie-porters-run-for-governor-centers-tax-cuts-corporate-accountability\">Katie Porter\u003c/a> is promising free child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Republican side, former Fox News commentator \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071133/former-fox-news-host-steve-hilton-lays-out-vision-for-california-governorship\">Steve Hilton\u003c/a> wants to cut taxes and car registration fees, while Riverside County Sheriff \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081096/riverside-county-sheriff-chad-bianco-on-his-faith-cutting-taxes-and-ballot-seizure\">Chad Bianco\u003c/a> vows to bring down gas prices by encouraging oil production in the state.[aside label=\"From the 2026 Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/governor,Learn about the California Governor Election' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2026/04/Aside-California-Governor-2026-Primary-Election-1200x1200@2x.png]The specifics may differ, but the political upside of running a campaign focused on affordability is undeniable. Trump hammered former Vice President Kamala Harris over inflation on his way to victory in 2024. The following year, Mamdani made the cost of rent and transit a centerpiece of his successful campaign for mayor — while fellow Democrats won governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia on affordability platforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the California governor’s race, candidates have leaned into their own personal histories as they attempt to connect with voters struggling with rising costs. Becerra has shared stories of his immigrant parents saving up to buy a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan has recounted his working-class upbringing in the farming town of Watsonville. Hilton has pointed to his humble beginnings as the son of Hungarian refugees in London, and Porter has openly discussed the struggle of raising a family in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m the single mom of three teenagers who believe they will not be able to buy houses here in California,” Porter said at a debate hosted by CBS in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voters like Luis Hernandez, who attended Becerra’s event in Concord, are looking for more than just campaign rhetoric. Hernandez is self-employed and buys health insurance through the Covered California exchange. He bemoaned rising premiums that are eating into his earnings and wants to know how the former attorney general plans to lower costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Home insurance, car insurance and the worst is health insurance,” Hernandez said. “Everything is going up, so it’s tough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traditional metrics for measuring affordability don’t neatly capture voter angst about cost pressures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082354\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082354\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1307\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED-1536x1004.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter (D) speaks during a town hall at KQED on May 4, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A longstanding gauge of purchasing power is real income, which measures pay after taking into account price increases. Real personal income \u003ca href=\"https://www.bea.gov/data/income-saving/real-personal-income-states\">increased by\u003c/a> 5.5% in California between 2023 and 2024 — the largest jump in the nation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. And real income for the median household in the state has \u003ca href=\"https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSCAA672N\">risen to new highs\u003c/a> after a post-pandemic decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies \u003ca href=\"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8dj134w8\">survey\u003c/a> last month found a whopping 40% of likely voters picked “reducing the cost of living” as a top priority of California’s next governor. No other issue came close — and voters also prioritized specific cost-related solutions, such as building affordable housing (12%), lowering gas prices (10%), reducing health care costs (7%) and cutting utility rates (4%).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What the macroeconomic statistics miss is that the most acute price pressures are on essential goods and services that are hardest for Californians to substitute, Mahoney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe the price of a flat screen TV has decreased, and that’s great,” Mahoney said. “But the price for health care, the price for housing … these are really essentials and price increases there hit in a really inescapable way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081062\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3852_1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3852_1_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3852_1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3852_1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chad Bianco, Republican gubernatorial candidate for California, speaks during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco, California, US, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. California will hold its primary election on June 2, where the top two finishers advance to the general election in November regardless of party affiliation. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nowhere is that more evident than the cost of housing. The median home value in California is more than twice the national average, putting homeownership, long a key pathway to middle-class financial security, increasingly out of reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/793\">new report\u003c/a> from the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office found that a mid-tier home in California (a house with a value in the 35th to 65th percentile) costs about $775,000. Since 2020, the income needed to qualify for a mortgage on a mid-tier home has increased far more quickly than median household income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While home prices have stabilized, housing has become less affordable for most Californians in recent years,” the report found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The leading contenders for governor share a focus on the supply side of the housing equation: finding ways to increase development and construction by streamlining or removing regulations and easing local zoning restrictions.[aside label=\"2026 California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide,Learn everything you need to cast an informed ballot for the 2026 primary election' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2026/04/Aside-California-Voter-Guide-2026-Primary-Election-1200x1200@2x.png]While Democrats Becerra, Porter and Steyer said they will focus their efforts on promoting denser housing near transit, Republicans Bianco and Hilton have argued for extending the growth of single-family neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do not have a land problem in California,” Bianco said in an April debate hosted by Nexstar. “We have a management problem, we have a government problem that we absolutely must take away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But affordability concerns in the state extend beyond the price of renting or buying a home, said Evan White, executive director of the California Policy Lab at the University of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On average, Californians pay about twice as much for housing as the average American, they pay 60% more for utilities than the average American, they pay 40% more for gas than the average American, they pay 11% more for groceries than the average American,” he said. “We’re the most expensive state by far.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those cost pressures reflect California’s perilous position in the midst of a complicated transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. Californians are being hit with the costs of damaging wildfires fueled by years of climate pollution, while the state’s carbon-intensive oil and gas industry faces an uncertain future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas prices in the state currently average $6.16 a gallon, per AAA — the highest in the nation. The gap between California and the national average is due in part to the cost of state fuel blend requirements, environmental regulations and what UC Berkeley professor Severin Borenstein has \u003ca href=\"https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2023/01/09/whats-the-matter-with-californias-gasoline-prices/\">dubbed\u003c/a> the “mystery gasoline surcharge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco has proposed eliminating the state’s 61-cent-per-gallon gas tax, which funds road repair and transit. Hilton wants to reduce the gas tax and suspend the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which adds about eight to 10 cents per gallon. Steyer, by contrast, said he would seek to impose a cap on refinery profits and return any profits above the cap to residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there are electricity prices, which have increased dramatically in recent years — in large part due to investments made by investor-owned utilities to prevent future wildfires. The costs of those mitigation measures, such as undergrounding wires and trimming trees, were passed along to customers of PG&E, SoCal Edison and SDG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082331\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12082331 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_007-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_007-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_007-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_007-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer speaks during a town hall event on April 30, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Steyer has proposed cutting the utilities’ guaranteed rate of return for capital projects and making it easier for cities and counties to form publicly owned power providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have a different rule at the Public Utilities Commission about how they get paid,” Steyer told KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjXvKfldFlI&t=346s\">Political Breakdown\u003c/a>. “And we’re going to introduce local competition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilton is also a supporter of locally-owned utilities. He is proposing to reclassify hydropower from large dams as “renewable energy,” which he argues will reduce what utilities need to spend on wind and solar power to meet the state’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the next governor has the ability to make progress on reducing these cost burdens, White cautioned that the challenges won’t be fixed overnight — or alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078808\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078808\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/SteveHiltonAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/SteveHiltonAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/SteveHiltonAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/SteveHiltonAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Hilton speaks during the California gubernatorial candidate debate on Feb. 3, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Laure Andrillon/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The governor could do a lot to improve not only housing costs, but utility costs and other high costs in the state,” he said. “But they do need to be able to work with the Legislature effectively to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even before polls close in the June 2 primary, many Californians struggling to afford life in the state have already voted with their feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White \u003ca href=\"https://capolicylab.org/priced-out-relocation-amidst-californias-affordability-crisis/\">studied the migration trends\u003c/a> of California households over the past decade. Forty-two states send fewer people to California than they did 10 years ago. And families who decided to leave California are improving their financial conditions and becoming more likely to own a home in the years after their relocation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s clear that when they move,” White said. “They’re moving to much, much, much more affordable places.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "With the cost of living ranking high on the list of concerns for Californians heading into the June 2 primary, gubernatorial candidates from both parties are centering their campaigns on affordability.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>How We Get By\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s next governor will inherit an affordability crisis that defies easy fixes: housing costs that have outpaced incomes for years, electricity rates among the highest in the nation, and gas prices nearly $2 above the national average — all in a state whose economy remains the envy of the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074132/xavier-becerra-on-why-his-upbringing-and-career-give-him-an-edge-over-other-gubernatorial-candidates\">Xavier Becerra\u003c/a>, the former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and a Democratic candidate for governor, rattled off some of the biggest cost pressures as he spoke to more than 300 people in a high school gym in Concord last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The cost of affording a home, your health care, groceries, gasoline,” he said. “That cost of living crisis that we face here — it becomes existential.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The price of housing and energy has been unaffordable for Californians long before a post-pandemic surge in inflation made the cost of living the top concern for voters across America — and a potent political cudgel for politicians from President Donald Trump to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s no surprise that, in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12082125/inside-californias-billionaire-tax-fight-and-the-wide-open-governors-race\">most competitive primary\u003c/a> for California governor in a generation, candidates from both parties are making affordability central to their campaigns, vowing to ease a cost crunch fueled in part by the state’s top-heavy economy, strict land-use policies and complicated transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is often leading the nation — most of the time, that’s for good,” said Neale Mahoney, director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. “But on some of these issues, we’ve been the canary in the coal mine for some of the problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12082334 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260423_-XAVIERBECERRA_EG_004-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Murphy, center-left, and friend Kimberley J. Rodler, hold handmade signs in support of Xavier Becerra’s gubernatorial bid during a campaign event at Mount Diablo High School in Concord on Thursday, April 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The challenge: affordability has come to encompass such a wide range of cost pressures that the next governor could struggle to even define success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While leading candidates in both parties agree that housing costs are the greatest strain on residents’ budgets, other affordability proposals run the gamut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the Democrats, Becerra is vowing to freeze utility rates and home insurance premiums; investor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075769/tom-steyer-lays-out-vision-for-a-more-affordable-california-in-run-for-governor\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a> wants to return windfall oil profits to residents; San José Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12075490/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-positions-himself-as-a-change-candidate-in-governors-race\">Matt Mahan\u003c/a> would pause the gas tax, and former congressmember \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078450/katie-porters-run-for-governor-centers-tax-cuts-corporate-accountability\">Katie Porter\u003c/a> is promising free child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the Republican side, former Fox News commentator \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071133/former-fox-news-host-steve-hilton-lays-out-vision-for-california-governorship\">Steve Hilton\u003c/a> wants to cut taxes and car registration fees, while Riverside County Sheriff \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081096/riverside-county-sheriff-chad-bianco-on-his-faith-cutting-taxes-and-ballot-seizure\">Chad Bianco\u003c/a> vows to bring down gas prices by encouraging oil production in the state.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The specifics may differ, but the political upside of running a campaign focused on affordability is undeniable. Trump hammered former Vice President Kamala Harris over inflation on his way to victory in 2024. The following year, Mamdani made the cost of rent and transit a centerpiece of his successful campaign for mayor — while fellow Democrats won governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia on affordability platforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the California governor’s race, candidates have leaned into their own personal histories as they attempt to connect with voters struggling with rising costs. Becerra has shared stories of his immigrant parents saving up to buy a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan has recounted his working-class upbringing in the farming town of Watsonville. Hilton has pointed to his humble beginnings as the son of Hungarian refugees in London, and Porter has openly discussed the struggle of raising a family in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m the single mom of three teenagers who believe they will not be able to buy houses here in California,” Porter said at a debate hosted by CBS in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voters like Luis Hernandez, who attended Becerra’s event in Concord, are looking for more than just campaign rhetoric. Hernandez is self-employed and buys health insurance through the Covered California exchange. He bemoaned rising premiums that are eating into his earnings and wants to know how the former attorney general plans to lower costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Home insurance, car insurance and the worst is health insurance,” Hernandez said. “Everything is going up, so it’s tough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traditional metrics for measuring affordability don’t neatly capture voter angst about cost pressures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082354\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082354\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1307\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED-1536x1004.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter (D) speaks during a town hall at KQED on May 4, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A longstanding gauge of purchasing power is real income, which measures pay after taking into account price increases. Real personal income \u003ca href=\"https://www.bea.gov/data/income-saving/real-personal-income-states\">increased by\u003c/a> 5.5% in California between 2023 and 2024 — the largest jump in the nation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. And real income for the median household in the state has \u003ca href=\"https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSCAA672N\">risen to new highs\u003c/a> after a post-pandemic decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies \u003ca href=\"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8dj134w8\">survey\u003c/a> last month found a whopping 40% of likely voters picked “reducing the cost of living” as a top priority of California’s next governor. No other issue came close — and voters also prioritized specific cost-related solutions, such as building affordable housing (12%), lowering gas prices (10%), reducing health care costs (7%) and cutting utility rates (4%).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What the macroeconomic statistics miss is that the most acute price pressures are on essential goods and services that are hardest for Californians to substitute, Mahoney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe the price of a flat screen TV has decreased, and that’s great,” Mahoney said. “But the price for health care, the price for housing … these are really essentials and price increases there hit in a really inescapable way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081062\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3852_1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3852_1_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3852_1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3852_1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chad Bianco, Republican gubernatorial candidate for California, speaks during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco, California, US, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. California will hold its primary election on June 2, where the top two finishers advance to the general election in November regardless of party affiliation. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nowhere is that more evident than the cost of housing. The median home value in California is more than twice the national average, putting homeownership, long a key pathway to middle-class financial security, increasingly out of reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/793\">new report\u003c/a> from the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office found that a mid-tier home in California (a house with a value in the 35th to 65th percentile) costs about $775,000. Since 2020, the income needed to qualify for a mortgage on a mid-tier home has increased far more quickly than median household income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While home prices have stabilized, housing has become less affordable for most Californians in recent years,” the report found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The leading contenders for governor share a focus on the supply side of the housing equation: finding ways to increase development and construction by streamlining or removing regulations and easing local zoning restrictions.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While Democrats Becerra, Porter and Steyer said they will focus their efforts on promoting denser housing near transit, Republicans Bianco and Hilton have argued for extending the growth of single-family neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do not have a land problem in California,” Bianco said in an April debate hosted by Nexstar. “We have a management problem, we have a government problem that we absolutely must take away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But affordability concerns in the state extend beyond the price of renting or buying a home, said Evan White, executive director of the California Policy Lab at the University of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On average, Californians pay about twice as much for housing as the average American, they pay 60% more for utilities than the average American, they pay 40% more for gas than the average American, they pay 11% more for groceries than the average American,” he said. “We’re the most expensive state by far.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those cost pressures reflect California’s perilous position in the midst of a complicated transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. Californians are being hit with the costs of damaging wildfires fueled by years of climate pollution, while the state’s carbon-intensive oil and gas industry faces an uncertain future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas prices in the state currently average $6.16 a gallon, per AAA — the highest in the nation. The gap between California and the national average is due in part to the cost of state fuel blend requirements, environmental regulations and what UC Berkeley professor Severin Borenstein has \u003ca href=\"https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2023/01/09/whats-the-matter-with-californias-gasoline-prices/\">dubbed\u003c/a> the “mystery gasoline surcharge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bianco has proposed eliminating the state’s 61-cent-per-gallon gas tax, which funds road repair and transit. Hilton wants to reduce the gas tax and suspend the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which adds about eight to 10 cents per gallon. Steyer, by contrast, said he would seek to impose a cap on refinery profits and return any profits above the cap to residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there are electricity prices, which have increased dramatically in recent years — in large part due to investments made by investor-owned utilities to prevent future wildfires. The costs of those mitigation measures, such as undergrounding wires and trimming trees, were passed along to customers of PG&E, SoCal Edison and SDG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082331\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12082331 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_007-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_007-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_007-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/043006TOMSTEYER_GH_007-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer speaks during a town hall event on April 30, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Steyer has proposed cutting the utilities’ guaranteed rate of return for capital projects and making it easier for cities and counties to form publicly owned power providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have a different rule at the Public Utilities Commission about how they get paid,” Steyer told KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjXvKfldFlI&t=346s\">Political Breakdown\u003c/a>. “And we’re going to introduce local competition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilton is also a supporter of locally-owned utilities. He is proposing to reclassify hydropower from large dams as “renewable energy,” which he argues will reduce what utilities need to spend on wind and solar power to meet the state’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the next governor has the ability to make progress on reducing these cost burdens, White cautioned that the challenges won’t be fixed overnight — or alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078808\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078808\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/SteveHiltonAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/SteveHiltonAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/SteveHiltonAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/SteveHiltonAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Hilton speaks during the California gubernatorial candidate debate on Feb. 3, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Laure Andrillon/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The governor could do a lot to improve not only housing costs, but utility costs and other high costs in the state,” he said. “But they do need to be able to work with the Legislature effectively to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even before polls close in the June 2 primary, many Californians struggling to afford life in the state have already voted with their feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White \u003ca href=\"https://capolicylab.org/priced-out-relocation-amidst-californias-affordability-crisis/\">studied the migration trends\u003c/a> of California households over the past decade. Forty-two states send fewer people to California than they did 10 years ago. And families who decided to leave California are improving their financial conditions and becoming more likely to own a home in the years after their relocation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s clear that when they move,” White said. “They’re moving to much, much, much more affordable places.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Gubernatorial Candidate Katie Porter Fields Questions on Schools, Housing, Gas Prices at KQED Town Hall",
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"content": "\u003cp class=\"e-10223-text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\">Former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter is aiming to make history as the first woman elected governor of California. She’s known for flipping a House seat blue in 2018 and for grilling CEOs with her signature whiteboard. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"e-10223-text\" style=\"padding-block-end: 8px\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\">\u003cspan data-slate-node=\"text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\">After leaving Congress to run for the U.S. Senate in 2024 and losing, Porter is back on the campaign trail, leaning into her identity as a single mom in a minivan who’s focused on the affordability of things like housing, childcare, groceries and healthcare. \u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"e-10223-text\" style=\"padding-block-end: 8px\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\" data-slate-fragment=\"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\">\u003cspan data-slate-node=\"text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\">She took questions from a \u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003cspan data-slate-node=\"text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\">live audience\u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003cspan data-slate-node=\"text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\"> at KQED’s town hall gathering earlier this week. \u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igIMT5ZSfKc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more information on the races and ballot measures in California’s June 2 primary election, check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results\">KQED’s Voter Guide\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"e-10223-text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\">Former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter is aiming to make history as the first woman elected governor of California. She’s known for flipping a House seat blue in 2018 and for grilling CEOs with her signature whiteboard. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"e-10223-text\" style=\"padding-block-end: 8px\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\">\u003cspan data-slate-node=\"text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\">After leaving Congress to run for the U.S. Senate in 2024 and losing, Porter is back on the campaign trail, leaning into her identity as a single mom in a minivan who’s focused on the affordability of things like housing, childcare, groceries and healthcare. \u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"e-10223-text\" style=\"padding-block-end: 8px\" data-encore-id=\"text\" data-slate-node=\"element\" data-slate-fragment=\"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\">\u003cspan data-slate-node=\"text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\">She took questions from a \u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003cspan data-slate-node=\"text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\">live audience\u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003cspan data-slate-node=\"text\">\u003cspan class=\"sc-hhobiw\"> at KQED’s town hall gathering earlier this week. \u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/igIMT5ZSfKc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/igIMT5ZSfKc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>For more information on the races and ballot measures in California’s June 2 primary election, check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results\">KQED’s Voter Guide\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Ballots have arrived and voters are now weighing their options in the races for California governor and Los Angeles mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After two spirited and fiery debates this week, the gubernatorial candidates have given voters no shortage of material to think about as they decide who will replace Governor Gavin Newsom. Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss how the Democratic and Republican contenders are making their case to voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the three leading mayoral candidates faced off in their first televised debate this week. The field includes embattled incumbent Karen Bass, Republican reality TV star Spencer Pratt who lost his home in the Palisades fire and progressive L.A. City Council member Nithya Raman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more information on the races and ballot measures in California’s June 2 primary election, check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results\">KQED’s Voter Guide\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/political-breakdown\">Political Breakdown’s weekly newsletter\u003c/a>, delivered straight to your inbox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Former Orange County Rep. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078450/katie-porters-run-for-governor-centers-tax-cuts-corporate-accountability\">Katie Porter\u003c/a> laid out plans to lower housing costs and regulate Silicon Valley in a KQED town hall on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to make change in California and we have to do it in a smart way, we can’t do it in a reckless way, we can’t do it in a way that’s just about catering to donors,” Porter said. “But we really have to make change because it’s coming, it’s not a choice — AI is coming and the changes are going to be tremendous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porter answered questions from Bay Area residents about education, technology, gas prices and rent in a wide-ranging event moderated by KQED’s Scott Shafer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are three takeaways from the conversation:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Temperament\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Porter \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030710/former-southern-california-rep-katie-porter-enters-governors-race\">entered the race\u003c/a> last year as a Democratic frontrunner, after three terms in the House and a third-place finish in the 2024 primary for U.S. Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059961/katie-porter-apologizes-for-behavior-in-viral-videos-at-first-public-forum20member%20asks%20U.S.,understand%20that%20I%20value%20them.%E2%80%9D\">campaign drew scrutiny in October\u003c/a> when a video uncovered by POLITICO showed Porter telling a staffer to “get out of my f—ing shot” as they walked behind her during a video conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porter said she apologized to the staffer that day and remains on good terms with her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igIMT5ZSfKc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are all better than our worst moments — I give that grace to everybody I’ve ever worked with, every staffer who has made a mistake who has kept working the next day,” Porter said. “I’m asking for some of that grace from others.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also contrasted questions about her demeanor with the early support that many state interest groups showered on former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079746/rep-eric-swalwell-says-he-is-resigning-from-congress-amid-sexual-assault-allegations\">ended his campaign and later resigned\u003c/a> from Congress amid sexual assault allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The California establishment, including Sacramento, was very, very quick to hop on board [with] that, and unwilling to believe that Eric Swalwell could have been the kind of person with a bad ‘temperament’ that led him to sexually assault people,” Porter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>It all comes back to housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Throughout the conversation, Porter repeatedly returned to housing, calling it “the biggest priority” for the next governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Margarita Mendez, a public school teacher, asked Porter how she planned to help educators “afford to live in the communities they teach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porter recounted a conversation with a rideshare driver earlier in the day, who commuted to the Bay Area from Modesto every day to drop his daughter off at the school she teaches at in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082354\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082354\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1307\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED-1536x1004.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter speaks during a KQED town hall on May 4, 2026, where she pressed housing affordability plans. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That is really, really wrong,” Porter said. “And that is the status quo in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to a question on housing affordability from Susan Mallon, a San Francisco renter, Porter threw her support behind a down payment assistance bond that would lower the upfront costs for first-time homebuyers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s just no research behind a 20% down payment,” she said. “That is creating a huge class of people who can never get to homeownership.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Porter Leans Into AI Regulation\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Porter was blunt when San Francisco resident Tom Tripp asked about regulating artificial intelligence and its potential impact on wealth inequality and jobs.[aside postID=news_12078450 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260326-KATIE-PORTER-ON-PB-MD-03-KQED.jpg']“We only have a year to two before we are going to suffer a lot of job disruption and job loss because of AI,” Porter said. “We have already — on the job piece — waited too long in my opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porter floated the idea of restrictions on autonomous semitrucks and school buses. And she dismissed the idea that regulations on the burgeoning technology should be left exclusively to Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California governors and California gubernatorial candidates cannot have it both ways. They try, because they are men, but they can’t have it both ways,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They cannot pat themselves on the back and say ‘we’re the fourth largest economy in the world,’ and then turn around and say ‘What could we do? We’re only the fourth-largest economy in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Temperament\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Porter \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030710/former-southern-california-rep-katie-porter-enters-governors-race\">entered the race\u003c/a> last year as a Democratic frontrunner, after three terms in the House and a third-place finish in the 2024 primary for U.S. Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059961/katie-porter-apologizes-for-behavior-in-viral-videos-at-first-public-forum20member%20asks%20U.S.,understand%20that%20I%20value%20them.%E2%80%9D\">campaign drew scrutiny in October\u003c/a> when a video uncovered by POLITICO showed Porter telling a staffer to “get out of my f—ing shot” as they walked behind her during a video conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porter said she apologized to the staffer that day and remains on good terms with her.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/igIMT5ZSfKc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/igIMT5ZSfKc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“We are all better than our worst moments — I give that grace to everybody I’ve ever worked with, every staffer who has made a mistake who has kept working the next day,” Porter said. “I’m asking for some of that grace from others.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also contrasted questions about her demeanor with the early support that many state interest groups showered on former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079746/rep-eric-swalwell-says-he-is-resigning-from-congress-amid-sexual-assault-allegations\">ended his campaign and later resigned\u003c/a> from Congress amid sexual assault allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The California establishment, including Sacramento, was very, very quick to hop on board [with] that, and unwilling to believe that Eric Swalwell could have been the kind of person with a bad ‘temperament’ that led him to sexually assault people,” Porter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>It all comes back to housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Throughout the conversation, Porter repeatedly returned to housing, calling it “the biggest priority” for the next governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Margarita Mendez, a public school teacher, asked Porter how she planned to help educators “afford to live in the communities they teach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porter recounted a conversation with a rideshare driver earlier in the day, who commuted to the Bay Area from Modesto every day to drop his daughter off at the school she teaches at in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082354\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082354\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1307\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/20260504_KATIEPORTERTOWNHALL_GC-11-KQED-1536x1004.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter speaks during a KQED town hall on May 4, 2026, where she pressed housing affordability plans. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That is really, really wrong,” Porter said. “And that is the status quo in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to a question on housing affordability from Susan Mallon, a San Francisco renter, Porter threw her support behind a down payment assistance bond that would lower the upfront costs for first-time homebuyers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s just no research behind a 20% down payment,” she said. “That is creating a huge class of people who can never get to homeownership.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Porter Leans Into AI Regulation\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Porter was blunt when San Francisco resident Tom Tripp asked about regulating artificial intelligence and its potential impact on wealth inequality and jobs.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We only have a year to two before we are going to suffer a lot of job disruption and job loss because of AI,” Porter said. “We have already — on the job piece — waited too long in my opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porter floated the idea of restrictions on autonomous semitrucks and school buses. And she dismissed the idea that regulations on the burgeoning technology should be left exclusively to Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California governors and California gubernatorial candidates cannot have it both ways. They try, because they are men, but they can’t have it both ways,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They cannot pat themselves on the back and say ‘we’re the fourth largest economy in the world,’ and then turn around and say ‘What could we do? We’re only the fourth-largest economy in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra has softened his support for\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101887613/single-payer-healthcare-bill-dies-in-state-assembly\"> a single-payer healthcare system\u003c/a> as he secures endorsements in his bid to be California’s next governor, most recently from the powerful doctors’ group, the California Medical Association, which officially backed him this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The former health secretary under President Joe Biden has advocated for government-run healthcare since he was a congressman thirty years ago. But when doctors with the medical association peppered the candidate with questions on single payer during a recent private meeting, they said Becerra told them he had other priorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He said very clearly that, at this point, he wasn’t supportive of single payer,” said Dr. René Bravo, president of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cmadocs.org/\">California Medical Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trade group for doctors is one of the most influential medical lobbies in California and has\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11902591/why-do-so-many-doctors-oppose-single-payer-health-care\"> long opposed efforts\u003c/a> to establish a single-payer system in the state, arguing it is not economically feasible and would erode physician autonomy. California lawmakers failed \u003ca href=\"https://advocacy.calchamber.com/policy/issues/single-payer-health-care/\">multiple times\u003c/a> to pass legislation in support of single-payer in recent years. In 2022, legislative analysts estimated the cost of operating such a system \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101887613/single-payer-healthcare-bill-dies-in-state-assembly\">could top $391 billion a year\u003c/a> and said it would require passing new taxes on California residents and businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The association endorsed Becerra in the crowded race for governor on April 28, as he quickly rose to become a frontrunner in the two weeks after\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079583/eric-swalwell-ends-california-governor-campaign-after-sexual-assault-allegations\"> Eric Swalwell dropped out\u003c/a>. Becerra’s sudden popularity in the polls and scramble to secure additional campaign financing have forced him to clarify the nuances of his policy positions, including single-payer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081064\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12081064 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3319_1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3319_1_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3319_1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3319_1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Matt Mahan, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, from left, Xavier Becerra, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, Chad Bianco, Republican gubernatorial candidate for California, Steve Hilton, Republican gubernatorial candidate for California, Tom Steyer, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, and Katie Porter, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco, California, on April 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Becerra’s\u003ca href=\"https://www.xavierbecerra2026.com/priorities/health-care/\"> campaign website\u003c/a> links to a video of him\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/ddiamond/status/1335788821582147589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1335788821582147589%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fwith-becerra-as-hhs-pick-california-plots-more-progressive-health-care-agenda%2F\"> testifying before Congress in 1994\u003c/a> in support of a single-payer plan, proclaiming, “healthcare is a right, not a privilege.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 23, 2026, the anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Becerra wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/becerraforgovernor/posts/pfbid037DvVA3jWPySUowTRfmmPBotuNWXjRxE2j8vYd3u55NF1A3VtoWs7dPMmpJWrisbCl\">a social media post\u003c/a>: “I proudly helped write it, pass it, and defend it in court. Now I’m ready to go further as Governor and deliver single-payer health care for our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But more recently, his message was significantly subdued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A single payer system is the right goal — but it’s not possible under this administration, and right now we have a crisis on our hands,” wrote Jonathan Underland, a campaign spokesperson, in a statement to KQED on Thursday. “Trump is slashing Medi-Cal and handing tax breaks to billionaires while millions of Californians risk losing their coverage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, Bravo relayed that Becerra said as much in his meeting with the medical association, telling the doctors his top focus was how to cope with the funding losses from H.R.1, President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill that is\u003ca href=\"https://www.counties.org/news-and-media-article/h-r-1-will-cost-california-counties-up-to-9-5-billion-a-year/\"> expected to drain $9.5 billion\u003c/a> per year from California safety net programs, including Medi-Cal, which provides free health coverage to more than 14 million low-income Californians.[aside postID=science_2000002 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/2026_02_10_DELAY_DENY_00147-KQED.jpg']“The most important thing was making sure that we’re all on the same page in terms of how H.R.1 is going to affect the healthcare system in California, and how we’re going to ensure funding mechanisms that allow people to have access to care,” Bravo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra told the doctors that now was not the time for single payer and that making any kind of progress on it while President Trump was in office was unrealistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For California to launch a single-payer system, it would need permission from the federal government to reallocate federal funding it receives for Medicaid and Medicare to the state’s new system, which the Trump administration almost certainly wouldn’t grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra’s backpedaling on single payer is reminiscent of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s retreat on the issue: on the campaign trail for governor in 2018, Newsom touted his support of a single payer system, but once in office, he confronted the obstacles posed by the first Trump administration and shifted talk to universal access instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He supported legislation that expanded eligibility for insurance coverage to immigrants lacking permanent legal status, only to scale it back last year as the state faced a budget deficit and federal cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other Democratic candidates for governor have continued to voice ardent support of a Medicare-for-all type system, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/officialtomsteyer/videos/1956640335278610/\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/reel/1452374689596051/\">Katie Porter,\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=957300880039752&vanity=tonythurmond\">Tony Thurmond\u003c/a>. The two Republican candidates are steadfastly opposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San José, who has backed recent single-payer bills in Sacramento, said Becerra sketched out a road map of how to set up a single-payer system while he was health secretary and “knows how to get it done.” But Kalra has endorsed Steyer for governor “because of his clear commitment” to advancing single-payer policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/gmarzorati\">\u003cem>Guy Marzorati\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Becerra indicated that making progress on government-run healthcare while President Donald Trump is in office was unrealistic.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra has softened his support for\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101887613/single-payer-healthcare-bill-dies-in-state-assembly\"> a single-payer healthcare system\u003c/a> as he secures endorsements in his bid to be California’s next governor, most recently from the powerful doctors’ group, the California Medical Association, which officially backed him this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The former health secretary under President Joe Biden has advocated for government-run healthcare since he was a congressman thirty years ago. But when doctors with the medical association peppered the candidate with questions on single payer during a recent private meeting, they said Becerra told them he had other priorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He said very clearly that, at this point, he wasn’t supportive of single payer,” said Dr. René Bravo, president of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cmadocs.org/\">California Medical Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trade group for doctors is one of the most influential medical lobbies in California and has\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11902591/why-do-so-many-doctors-oppose-single-payer-health-care\"> long opposed efforts\u003c/a> to establish a single-payer system in the state, arguing it is not economically feasible and would erode physician autonomy. California lawmakers failed \u003ca href=\"https://advocacy.calchamber.com/policy/issues/single-payer-health-care/\">multiple times\u003c/a> to pass legislation in support of single-payer in recent years. In 2022, legislative analysts estimated the cost of operating such a system \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101887613/single-payer-healthcare-bill-dies-in-state-assembly\">could top $391 billion a year\u003c/a> and said it would require passing new taxes on California residents and businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The association endorsed Becerra in the crowded race for governor on April 28, as he quickly rose to become a frontrunner in the two weeks after\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079583/eric-swalwell-ends-california-governor-campaign-after-sexual-assault-allegations\"> Eric Swalwell dropped out\u003c/a>. Becerra’s sudden popularity in the polls and scramble to secure additional campaign financing have forced him to clarify the nuances of his policy positions, including single-payer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081064\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12081064 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3319_1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3319_1_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3319_1_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/FTP_9P3A3319_1_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Matt Mahan, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, from left, Xavier Becerra, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, Chad Bianco, Republican gubernatorial candidate for California, Steve Hilton, Republican gubernatorial candidate for California, Tom Steyer, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, and Katie Porter, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco, California, on April 22, 2026. \u003ccite>(Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Becerra’s\u003ca href=\"https://www.xavierbecerra2026.com/priorities/health-care/\"> campaign website\u003c/a> links to a video of him\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/ddiamond/status/1335788821582147589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1335788821582147589%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fwith-becerra-as-hhs-pick-california-plots-more-progressive-health-care-agenda%2F\"> testifying before Congress in 1994\u003c/a> in support of a single-payer plan, proclaiming, “healthcare is a right, not a privilege.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 23, 2026, the anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Becerra wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/becerraforgovernor/posts/pfbid037DvVA3jWPySUowTRfmmPBotuNWXjRxE2j8vYd3u55NF1A3VtoWs7dPMmpJWrisbCl\">a social media post\u003c/a>: “I proudly helped write it, pass it, and defend it in court. Now I’m ready to go further as Governor and deliver single-payer health care for our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But more recently, his message was significantly subdued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A single payer system is the right goal — but it’s not possible under this administration, and right now we have a crisis on our hands,” wrote Jonathan Underland, a campaign spokesperson, in a statement to KQED on Thursday. “Trump is slashing Medi-Cal and handing tax breaks to billionaires while millions of Californians risk losing their coverage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, Bravo relayed that Becerra said as much in his meeting with the medical association, telling the doctors his top focus was how to cope with the funding losses from H.R.1, President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill that is\u003ca href=\"https://www.counties.org/news-and-media-article/h-r-1-will-cost-california-counties-up-to-9-5-billion-a-year/\"> expected to drain $9.5 billion\u003c/a> per year from California safety net programs, including Medi-Cal, which provides free health coverage to more than 14 million low-income Californians.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The most important thing was making sure that we’re all on the same page in terms of how H.R.1 is going to affect the healthcare system in California, and how we’re going to ensure funding mechanisms that allow people to have access to care,” Bravo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra told the doctors that now was not the time for single payer and that making any kind of progress on it while President Trump was in office was unrealistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For California to launch a single-payer system, it would need permission from the federal government to reallocate federal funding it receives for Medicaid and Medicare to the state’s new system, which the Trump administration almost certainly wouldn’t grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becerra’s backpedaling on single payer is reminiscent of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s retreat on the issue: on the campaign trail for governor in 2018, Newsom touted his support of a single payer system, but once in office, he confronted the obstacles posed by the first Trump administration and shifted talk to universal access instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He supported legislation that expanded eligibility for insurance coverage to immigrants lacking permanent legal status, only to scale it back last year as the state faced a budget deficit and federal cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other Democratic candidates for governor have continued to voice ardent support of a Medicare-for-all type system, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/officialtomsteyer/videos/1956640335278610/\">Tom Steyer\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/reel/1452374689596051/\">Katie Porter,\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=957300880039752&vanity=tonythurmond\">Tony Thurmond\u003c/a>. The two Republican candidates are steadfastly opposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San José, who has backed recent single-payer bills in Sacramento, said Becerra sketched out a road map of how to set up a single-payer system while he was health secretary and “knows how to get it done.” But Kalra has endorsed Steyer for governor “because of his clear commitment” to advancing single-payer policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/gmarzorati\">\u003cem>Guy Marzorati\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
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},
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"order": 1
},
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "WNYC"
},
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
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