Democrats competing to be governor of California said Wednesday evening that they would sign a bill to complete the state’s troubled high-speed rail project.
The “train to nowhere,” which now costs an estimated $231 billion (seven times the original $33 billion in 2008), and has not laid a single inch of track, has become a national laughingstock.
Nevertheless, when asked by moderators whether they would complete the project, Democrats onstage said they would. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra waffled, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said he would ease regulations first, but none of them called to end it.
That summarized the tone of the last televised debate of the campaign, hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo 52, just one night after the candidates clashed for two hours on CNN.
This contest — a shorter, one-hour affair — had the feel of an encore, with the candidates trying to score points they missed the night before.
All of the Democrats, except former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, likewise said they would allow biological males to compete in women’s sports, while Mahan tried to hedge by saying that he would leave the decision up to sports leagues at “higher levels” of play.
All of the Democrats also said they would allow illegal immigrants to enroll in Medi-Cal, which Governor Gavin Newsom stopped when the program started losing billions of dollars.
All of the candidates, except Tom Steyer, also said they would sign legislation to expand oil production. Likewise, only Tom Steyer said he would sign a “billionaire tax.”
Steve Hilton stood out with the best performance. He was not only wonky, but also witty, at one point mocking Mahan for seeming to forget his attack lines.
Becerra took the most attacks, and struggled to respond when other candidates pointed out that he was responsible for losing track of tens of thousands of migrant children when he was in the Biden administration.
Becerra tried to call those claims “Trump lies,” but as Villaraigosa pointed out, the New York Times also covered the issue.
Overall, the answers were substantive. Katie Porter gave a particularly thoughtful answer on insurance, noting that we could not simply freeze rates, as Becerra had suggested, and hope insurers would stay in the state. Instead, she suggested taking steps to mitigate risk, such as clearing brush, while also applying vigilant regulation to insurance companies.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco was combative as usual, and Villaraigosa kept talking about what a wonderful job he had done in the past.
It’s anyone’s guess as to who will win, and whether one, or both, Republicans will qualify for the general election, given the sheer number of Democrats.
But one thing is certain: you can’t take the high-speed rail to Sacramento yet. Not even if you’re a Democrat.
Joel Pollak is the opinion editor of the California Post.
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