SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 3 (Our California Times) — California governor candidates Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton clashed over immigration as the election moved toward mail voting. Their Wednesday night appearance on CNN was the contest’s sole televised debate, the Associated Press reported.
The candidates debated for about an hour on a soundstage in Burbank, according to the Los Angeles Times. The exchanges included a dispute over the treatment of immigrants, an allegation about protections for unaccompanied migrant children and remarks about clearing homeless encampments.
What was the immigration dispute?
Becerra accused Hilton of treating immigrants differently based on their appearance.
“You seem to welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me,” Becerra said.
Hilton called that accusation “disgraceful” and said he wanted “to lower the temperature on this whole question.”
Those remarks concerned the candidates’ approach to immigration. A separate exchange focused on the handling of children who arrive in the United States without a parent or guardian.
Hilton accused Becerra of dismantling the vetting of sponsors for unaccompanied immigrant children. Becerra disputed Hilton’s description of the migrant crisis. The allegation remained contested during the debate; neither candidate’s position amounted to an agreed account of what happened.
What did they say about homelessness?
Becerra said he would ensure that homeless encampments were cleared.
“We will make sure the encampments are cleared,” he said.
Hilton condemned the state’s homelessness situation, saying, “This absolute scandal shames our state.”
The comments put encampments and homelessness alongside immigration as issues in the governor’s contest.
Where does the race stand?
An Associated Press preview described Becerra as leading in a September poll by the University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies. That poll was a snapshot of voter preferences, not an election result.
The debate came as California voters were preparing to choose their next governor by mail or in the general election. The Associated Press reported that mail ballots were expected to begin arriving within days of the debate, ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
County election officials were about to mail ballots to California’s 23.2 million registered voters, the Los Angeles Times reported.
