After six candidates met on stage at Fresno State, GV Wire spoke briefly with each about gas prices, other affordability issues, and about a sex offender nearly being paroled to Fresno.

The debate — hosted by the Western Growers Association, the Maddy Institute, and several agricultural groups — was mostly cordial. Candidates did not attack each other personally, and any interruptions were brief and seemingly made in jest.

Former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton, R-Atherton, repeatedly blasted the Democratic Party. He bristled at Democratic candidates on stage who suggested the need for a bipartisan approach.

Former Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, displayed a softer image than when her campaign started. Once the front-runner, she fell in the polls after videos surfaced of her verbally abusing a staffer and arguing with a TV news reporter.

She said her grandfather and father were farmers, but she was not.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, D-Sacramento, cited their experience as their top attribute.

The debate focused on agricultural issues such as water, energy, and housing. Immigration was not discussed. Even President Donald Trump was not a central topic. Porter was the only candidate to mention him by name, twice in passing during her closing remarks.

Fixing Gas Prices

After the event, Becerra gave his thoughts on lowering gas prices.

“Let’s not get involved in foreign wars, especially in reckless or unconstitutional ways. Today, the price of gasoline has gone up a dollar, two dollars simply because Donald Trump started a war in Iran. We have to be smart. We don’t have the luxury of using our treasury, billions of dollars every day, and our resources, our human beings, our soldiers, in a way that puts not just our people at risk, but puts our economy at risk. And now we’re paying the price of high gas prices because we’ve seen this insane war begun in Iran,” Becerra said.

Becerra opts for an “all of the above” energy policy, including oil and green energy.

Hilton blamed high gas prices on the lack of drilling and on overregulation.

“We’re going to end these insane regulations. My goal is to get to $3 per gallon gas in California,” Hilton said.

Villaraigosa also mentioned an “all of the above” approach for energy, housing, and farming. He called for CEQA reform — the state environmental law requiring complicated reviews for building projects. He mentioned several CEQA reforms such as suspending the infill building requirement, aligning it with federal policy and limiting lawsuits that could delay projects.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, R-Woodcrest, called for removing “every single regulation on the oil industry.” He also called for building more refineries, which would allow California to have the lowest gas prices in the nation.

Bianco is satisfied with federal regulations on the oil industry.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, D-San Jose, called for a suspension of the gas tax.

“This is a policy decision that is forcing working families into an impossible situation. Having to choose between rent, food on the table, gas in the car. We can provide immediate relief. If this was a natural disaster, we would do that, but it’s a man-made disaster, and we ought to provide that immediate relief to working families,” Mahan said. He also called for electric vehicle owners to “pay their fair share.”

Mahan also echoed the need for CEQA reform to enable more housing.

Sex Offender Nearly Paroled to Fresno

In February, convicted sex offender David Funston was nearly paroled to Fresno. Granted parole under the state’s elderly early release program, Funston was immediately arrested for crimes from decades ago that did not proceed to trial. During his hearing, Funston — convicted of kidnapping and molestation in 1999 in Sacramento County — said he planned to live in a program in Fresno if released.

Funston’s release riled state Republicans, who demanded a change in the early release law and the governor remove the Board of Parole members who granted the release. The 2017 law allowed parole consideration for inmates age 60 or older serving at least 25 years. A 2020 amendment changed the criteria to age 50 and serving 20 years.

Hilton called the situation “disgusting.”

“You’ve got this monster, this evil child rapist being released early according to the parole board because of a law that Democrats passed, a law Gavin Newsom signed, shamefully, for elderly early release, elderly. It’s 50 years. Who thinks that’s elderly? Every single part of this is completely unacceptable and I will not accept it. Any parole board member who made this decision will be immediately fired by me,” Hilton said.

While Newsom signed the amended law, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed the original 2017 early release bill. Funston was already past 60 during his parole hearing and had served longer than 25 years.

Mahan objected to Funston’s release.

“It’s very disturbing that in cases where you have someone who has repeatedly harmed children, we are allowing them to be put back into the community, putting people at risk, and I absolutely think that we need a different approach,” Mahan said.

Porter did not have a comment, as she has “not studied that particular situation.”

“Parole decisions are really difficult. We want people who have changed their behavior and are going to be able to live safely in our communities to do that. We want the people who are going to continue to offend or hurt people —we want to keep them behind bars and keep our communities safe. The parole board has a difficult job.

“They have to make those decisions based on the evidence and information they have,” Porter said. “I will tell you that there’s no more important job that a governor has than keeping everybody safe.”

Bianco Explains Ballot Seizure

Bianco made waves by initiating an investigation into Riverside County votes in last year’s Proposition 50 special election. Voters approved an initiative to change congressional maps four years ahead of schedule.

After allegations that votes did not match up, Bianco investigated. California Attorney General Rob Bonta instructed Bianco to stop, calling the investigation improper. Bonta went so far as to go to court, but a judge sided with Bianco.

Bianco explained.

“We have an allegation of a crime. We started investigating that crime. The attorney general didn’t want that investigation to happen, so he went to court to get it to stop. So he’s trying to cover up and stop that crime,” Bianco said.

Bianco said the court appointed a special master to oversee the investigation. Other groups sued, and Bianco backed down.

“Because of those lawsuits, the Superior Court judge that issued that order to appoint that special master and for us to start counting, refused to do it. So those court cases are going to have to be adjudicated. And the sad thing is, our embarrassment of an attorney general knows that,” Bianco said.

He called the lawsuits, filed by the UCLA Voting Rights Project and other groups, “frivolous” and “political lawfare using taxpayer money.”

“People should be outraged, outraged at what’s happening, what the attorney general is doing in this case,” Bianco said.

Becerra, Villaraigosa, Mahan Not Backing Down

With eight prominent Democrats running, there is a possibility the two prominent Republican candidates could finish first and second in the June 2 primary. Under California’s election system, the top two candidates, regardless of political party, advance to the Nov. 3 general election.

Polling suggests Hilton and Bianco could finish as the top two. Even a poll commissioned by the California Democratic Party last week showed Hilton and Bianco on top, with three other Democrats — Porter, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Livermore, and billionaire businessperson Tom Steyer, D-San Francisco — at 10%, or four points behind Bianco. Swalwell and Steyer did not participate in the Fresno State debate.

California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks has called for some of the lower-polling Democrats to suspend their campaigns. Candidates ignored his suggestion. Three of the lower-polling candidates at Wednesday’s debate said they are in the race until the end.

“Over the course of the next few weeks, I think you’re going to begin to see that competition give us the best candidates moving forward. I intend to be among those and so I hope what we find is that with the voters paying attention, they’ll start making the selection, and we will find that the best two people for this governor’s race will end up being those out of June,” Becerra said. He is averaging 4.2%.

Villaraigosa, averaging 3.8%, is not going anywhere. He’s not concerned about two Republicans advancing to the general election.

“Neither one of them are getting elected. Not with those policies, ” Villaraigosa said about Hilton and Bianco, who he believes go too far with their calls for deregulation.

Villaraigosa points out that a plurality of voters are undecided.

“I do think that it will be a Democrat and a Republican in this race,” Villaraigosa said. “At the end of the day, a Democrat will win, because it’s a heavily blue state.”

Mahan, averaging 3%, said his numbers will rise as he campaigns more.

“I just jumped into this race to offer people a message of pragmatism, of a government that’s more accountable for results,” Mahan said. “We’ve been making a lot of progress in San Jose, and I want to take our reform movements statewide to make life better for all Californians.”

Organizer: California Going in ‘Wrong Direction’

Dave Puglia, the Western Growers Association president and CEO, appreciated the six candidates who appeared at the forum.

“It’s quite encouraging, I’ll put it that way, that all six of these candidates thematically agree that California is going in the wrong direction as it relates to agriculture,” Puglia said. “We’re no longer pretending that California is the most powerful state in the country, has the fourth largest economy, and that all is good. All is not good.”

Puglia would not answer who he felt made the most inroads with the audience, mostly those in the farm industry. His group is not making an endorsement.

“Personally, I have not decided for whom I’ll vote in June. I think most Californians are in the same boat. It’s a crowded race, it’s extremely volatile, and so I think there’s still quite a bit to be fleshed out,” Puglia said.