California governor candidates split on reparations after Newsom vetoes

Among the 2026 California gubernatorial candidates, none appear to be advocates of reparations, even in the form of direct cash payments.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, most of the candidates attended the “Black Bay Area State Report and 2026 CA Gubernatorial Forum” hosted by the Urban League. Greater San Francisco Bay Area On January 26, they announced what they would do for Black Californians.

Democratic candidates running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, D., were asked what they would do. Do it to help black Californians. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond was the only candidate to include reparations in his response to Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Thurmond promised to give loans to Black residents instead of cash payments.

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“As governor, I will sign a reparations package that provides loans to Black people who want to start businesses, go to college or pay for housing,” Thurmond said. Lee, who supports Thurmond for governor, said Thurmond is the only candidate who understands that reparations are “a key strategy for achieving racial economic equity.”

California became the first state in the U.S. to establish a reparations commission among several states and municipalities to examine history with the goal of issuing recommendations on how to compensate Black Americans for slavery.

Newsom has flatly rejected cash payments, which could be as much as $1.2 million for a single recipient, as a form of compensation, based on recommendations from the state’s compensation task force. He also rejected a series of reparations bills supported by the California Legislative Black Caucus. On the other hand, Newsom approved funding for the university system to study research methods to determine who will benefit the descendants of enslaved people in the United States.

Newsom rejected House Bill 7, which recommended private and public universities “consider providing an admissions preference to an applicant who is a descendant of a person subjected to chattel slavery in America.” Newsom calls bill “unnecessary” in a short message It was sent in October and stated that “institutions already have the authority to determine whether to grant admissions preferences.”

The bill’s author is Democratic California Assemblyman Isaac Bryan. He explained Newsom’s veto He called the bill “beyond disappointing.”

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced his candidacy for governor Wednesday to replace outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)

Assembly Bill 7 was among five other reparations measures supported by the California Legislative Black Caucus, disappointing supporters of the effort. The group also sought to create a process to compensate individuals whose property was taken through racially motivated eminent domain, expedite applications for professional licenses for descendants of enslaved people, and allocate at least 10% of the government-backed home loan program to descendants.

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Since Newsom will be leaving office soon, it is unclear whether his successor will meet the compensation targets the task force has put in place.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said he would appoint African Americans to his administration. Becerra was asked to further explain his stance on reparations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He said he would “work with the legislature” and is in favor of it, but “the question is: ‘What (legislative) comes first? And how do you fund it?'”

Other candidates did not specifically mention reparations for what they would do to help Black Californians, but they did emphasize the importance of representation. Former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer also pledged representation by establishing a “DEI office.” Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa talked about his record in appointing black people to his administration.

He also said he would not support the compensation package. When asked why not, he replied: “I’m in favor of fixing our schools. That’s the best way to fix past discrimination, but it’s not a reparations package.”

Other candidates at the forum, Sen. Ian Calderon, former Rep. Katie Porter and former State Controller Betty Yee, did not have a clear stance on reparations.

Calderon posted to Fox News Digital, saying “real repair means real resources.”

“Real repair means real resources and pathways to generational wealth. I support private funding streams that directly address racial and economic injustice through targeted, accountable investments that help close the economic gaps created by generations of inequality,” Calderon said. he said.

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Yee does not want the one-time distribution of cash payments often associated with reparations efforts in the United States and prefers to consider other types of compensation. Many compensation advocates say compensation can be given in other ways than direct cash payments.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has publicly ruled out paying cash as a form of compensation. (AP Photo)

“I don’t want a one-time payment that’s just like a cash payment,” Yee said. “This should be about how we look at systems that help create intergenerational wealth.”

Republicans Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco were invited but did not attend the event. They did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Governor candidates met at the Bayview Tuesday night for their first televised debate. Neither candidate mentioned support for reparations.

None of the Democratic candidates responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment, including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who did not attend the Urban League event.

Lisa Holder, a civil rights attorney and former member of the state’s Reparations Task Force, reportedly said advancing reparations would be a long process.

A Los Angeles resident holds a pro-reparations sign as the Reparations Task Force meets to hear public input on reparations at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2022.

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“You can’t legislate 400 years of inequality and injustice yourself. You have to pass a set of laws to change systems that have impacted black people disparately for decades.” Holder told KQED January 19. “You have to enact many, many laws to change almost any system now, whether you’re talking about financial systems, whether you’re talking about housing systems. Laws that require fair treatment, laws that require affirmative hiring, sometimes in industries where Black people simply aren’t being hired.”