Here’s what to watch for in Tuesday’s California governor debate

Contestants in the race to become California’s next governor will meet on stage Tuesday night for the second of three debates scheduled ahead of the June 2 primary election.

Last week’s gathering in San Francisco didn’t offer the fireworks or memorable moments that candidates and many voters had hoped for; but he managed to remind us all that ballot papers will be arriving in mailboxes in the coming days and decisions need to be made.

Ahead of the forum at Pomona College in Claremont, our trio of Times columnists — Gustavo Arellano, Mark Z. Barabak and Anita Chabria — weigh in on what to look for, what to expect and why it matters.

Kabriya: I’ll start with the obvious – let’s hope Tuesday gives us at least one breakout candidate who comes with some fire and vision.

Following last week’s debate, there has been a lot of posturing on social media about who won and who trolled whom best. But as one of the six people watching, I can tell you that it was mostly boring and there was no clear winner.

That’s largely because most Democrats have only a small difference in their policies, and the same is true for the two Republicans.

So my hope is that at least one candidate will step up their game and come to voters not just with attacks, but with something that inspires, that sets them apart. That hope is slim up to this point in the race, but I’m keeping it alive.

What are your hopes, dreams, and perhaps fears regarding this topic?

Barabak: I know I sound like a broken record. (Google it, kids.) Anita, you and I in particular have researched this topic many times. But I don’t feel a particular need to be inspired by the guys and gals running for governor. If I want inspiration, I can go back and quote the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Or listen to the Grateful Dead show from May ’77.

Give me President Trump who can work with the Legislature and get things done no matter how difficult it is.

To borrow a phrase, pursue a “California First” agenda. Put voters and their interests ahead of ego, careerism, and personal ambitions. Start by promising that if elected, they will serve a full four-year term and will not run for president while they serve as governor.

Of course, such a promise can be broken. (See then-Gov. Pete Wilson, who took that oath when he sought re-election in 1994, then turned around and unsuccessfully sought the White House in 1995.)

At least we would record these.

Arellano: I am for this swamp of democracy. A small part of me wants two Republicans to run in the general election because the California Democratic Party deserves a meteor-like extinction event. There has been no statewide GOP elected official since Schwarzenegger. dominance in Sacramento for most of the decade.

So what do they have to show for single-party rule? This.

But then I hear Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton meowing, and I suddenly hope that someone next to Anita will defeat her enemies with an unassailable vision. The problem is, I think all the candidates have reached their ceiling. The only person who has a chance to show us something new is Xavier Becerra; o da bir anlığına Dudley Doğru-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-sağ-doğru-doğru-sağ) saçmalığını) bir anlığına kendisinde olduğunu bildiğimiz iç koloyu (cholo) kanalize etmesi It takes Xavier Becerra.

Instead, he was at a fundraiser in Fullerton over the weekend with professional Latinos; You should have enjoyed it with my cousins ​​watching their Dodgers decimate the Cubs in Anaheim. locomotiveBecause they are the ones who will create you and destroy you.

Kabriya: How the first potential Latino governor failed to excite Latino voters is exactly what I’m talking about. If you don’t give voters something to be excited about, they won’t vote, and our fragile democracy needs all the voters it can get.

But if we have to vote on nuance, let’s do so consciously. Here are some questions I hope these candidates answer:

For San José Mayor Matt Mahan, funded with megamillions by his tech bros, promising to regulate artificial intelligence or billionaire influence isn’t enough. Tell us what those regulations look like, and how you reconcile your own policies with those of big-name Gen Z donors like Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. “loser generation”

To billionaire investor Tom Steyer, who said he would reform Proposition 13 (which caps property taxes) for corporate landowners: What assurance do homeowners have that they won’t be next?

The clock is ticking for former Rep. Katie Porter, who ranks third among Democrats; Is there a point at which you would leave and support another candidate if you don’t pass? The same goes for state schools superintendent Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who are both involved in this debate but are polling by single digits.

And I agree with you Gustavo, Becerra definitely comes off as soft, but according to Mark he uses that to position himself as drama-free and experienced. At a time when fraud and abuse have become words of the day, how does Becerra explain not doing this? Catching the scam in your own office?

Mark and Gustavo, what are the issues you hope the candidates will discuss?

Arellano: Minor correction, Anita – California already had a Latino governor: Romualdo Pacheco, the lieutenant governor who succeeded Newton Booth in 1875 when he became a U.S. senator. Pacheco – a Latin Republican! – He served for 10 months before becoming a member of Congress.

See, Californians? Political musical chairs are as much a part of our state as free-spending oligarchs – but that’s enough for Steyer.

Problems? Immigration, of course. I want each of them, no matter what topic they choose, to address undocumented immigrants in the state for 90 seconds. Water: Believe in climate change or not, but our resource is dwindling faster than Thurmond’s chances at governor. And I believe that the more random the question, the more you learn about who the candidate really is: What is the best song about California and why? Even if both songs are great, anyone singing “California Girls” or “California Gurls” deserves to be disqualified.

Barabak: It’s not a problem in itself. What I want to see is some spine.

The next governor will need to make some difficult decisions, especially regarding spending priorities and/or cuts to the state budget. The next governor is bound to make some people unhappy. And I’m not just talking about members of the opposing party or people who didn’t vote for them.

So I want each of them to name an issue on which they are willing to confront their friends and allies for the good of the state, knowing that they will be displeased. If you are a Democrat, name one thing you would do to curb organized labor, for example. And for Republicans Bianco and Hilton, what is the area where you’re prepared to call Trump “Sir” — the president imagines everyone greeting him and calling him sir — “you’re dead wrong on that, and California needs to go its own way, whether you like it or not.”

Arellano: Good luck seeing any candidate go up against their masters. I think we need to lower our expectations very, very much. Ultimately, it’s a simple question: Who else needs to do the most tonight other than Mahan’s beard? I think it’s my friend Katie Porter from Orange Count. He’s currently to the right of Steyer and the left of Becerra, which means he’ll need to separate supporters from both and capture the undecided if he wants to advance. I’m not sure how he’ll accomplish this, but if anyone can provide the necessary fire, it’s him.

Kabriya: Porter certainly has a lot at stake.

A standout moment for him is that Steyer or Becerra — for better or worse — could upset this undecided race — less because people are watching than because it will fuel social media and must-follow advertising. The next two debates are risky, not just to avoid a Biden performance, but to do anything, anything, to build momentum.

As the old saying goes, politics is not a puff and it’s time to stir things up. In the spirit of Gustavo’s song request, I’ll leave it with these words from the Rivieras (or Ramones, if you prefer): We’re out there having fun under the hot California sun.

Barabak: I don’t want to be the pooper at the party, but I don’t think we should exaggerate the importance of tonight’s debate. First of all, as Anita suggested, the audiences will be extremely small; in fact, it is tiny compared to the state’s 23 million registered voters.

We know from experience that most people will take away what they’re doing based not on the discussion itself, but on the scope of it and the soundbites, memes, chatter, and ads it generates—and that’s only to the extent that people are paying attention.

So yes, what is said and done in Pomona will matter. But we still have five weeks until election day, and I suspect many people will wait at least another week or three to start focusing on the race and finally make up their minds.

I’ll finish with something Jerry Garcia said: All good things, all good times.