{"id":3741490,"date":"2026-03-04T12:42:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montereyherald.com\/?p=3741490"},"modified":"2026-03-04T12:42:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:42:39","slug":"democratic-gubernatorial-forum-coming-to-monterey-next-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montereyherald.com\/2026\/03\/04\/democratic-gubernatorial-forum-coming-to-monterey-next-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Democratic Gubernatorial forum coming to Monterey next week"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONTEREY \u2013 A gubernatorial debate with candidates Secretary Xavier Bacerra, Ian Calderon, Mayor Matt Mahan, Tom Steyer, Antonio Villaraigosa and Betty Yee is coming to Monterey next week, presented by the Democratic Women of Monterey County, Democratic Women’s Club of Santa Cruz County and San Benito County Democrats.<\/p>\n

Though the guest list is by no means a complete showing of Democrat candidates for California Governor, the organizers of the event say the evening will offer a unique chance to hear directly from the candidates on important issues facing California, in the Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz county areas and beyond.<\/p>\n

The Gubernatorial Candidate Forum, moderated by Erica Padilla-Chavez, co-chair of Women in Leadership for Diverse Representation, will be held on March 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 1000 Aguajito Rd., in Monterey, from 6-8 p.m. According to the organizers, the event will give attendees an opportunity to hear a moderated debate, gain perspective on important issues facing the state, engage in meaningful conversations with the candidates in a Q&A following the debate and connect with community members committed to supporting healthy democracy.<\/p>\n

In a statewide survey by the Public Policy Institute of California released in February, there are five candidates that are now in a close competition in the top-two gubernatorial primary in June \u2013 Steve Hilton, R; Katie Porter, D; Chad Bianco, R; Tom Steyer, D; and Eric Swalwell, D.<\/p>\n

Under California’s top-two primary system, the two candidates who receive the most votes in the June primary, regardless of party affiliation, will go head-to-head in the November general election.<\/p>\n

There is a concern that with a crowded field of about nine Democrats in the race, it could splinter the vote and allow the top two Republicans in the race to come in first and second.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, state Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks urged his party’s candidates who lack a viable path to victory to drop out of the race, according to published reports. That development followed on the heels of the California Democratic Party not endorsing a candidate for governor at its convention in February after none of the major candidates received more than 60% of the vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is imperative that every candidate honestly assess the viability of their candidacy and campaign,\u201d said Hicks in an open letter to those in the contest to replace termed-out Governor Gavin Newsom. \u201cSo much is at stake in our nation and so many are counting on the leadership of California Democrats to stand up and speak out at this historic moment. California\u2019s leadership on the world stage is significantly harder if a Democrat is not elected as our next Governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Public Policy Institute of California survey found in part that about six in ten likely voters say they are satisfied with the choice of candidates in the governor\u2019s race. About half are not too closely following the news about the governor\u2019s race while about seven in ten are interested in seeing town halls and debates with the candidates. When it comes to local House races, six in ten likely voters favor the Democratic candidate over the Republican candidate. Democratic likely voters are more enthusiastic than others about voting in this election. For majorities of likely voters, the candidates\u2019 positions on affordability are very important in determining their vote for governor and Congress.<\/p>\n

Other findings of the survey included 43% of adults and 47% of likely voters think the state budget situation is a big problem, about one in three Californians name the cost of living and inflation as the most important issue for the governor and legislature to work on in 2026, and most Californians name political extremism or threats to democracy, economic conditions, and immigration as the most important problems facing the US today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Gubernatorial Candidate Forum, moderated by Erica Padilla-Chavez, co-chair of Women in Leadership for Diverse Representation, will be held on March 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 1000 Aguajito Rd., in Monterey, from 6-8 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":3741492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[408,48,47,51,1],"tags":[176],"feature":[],"location":[182,11246,286,279,11245,291],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[355],"class_list":["post-3741490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-headlines","category-local-news","category-news","category-politics","category-uncategorized","tag-newsletter","location-california","location-central-coast","location-monterey","location-monterey-county","location-northern-california","location-salinas"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"","print_title":"Democratic Gubernatorial forum coming to Monterey next week","print_subheadline":"","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"1772697600","print_slug":"MCH-L-FORUM-0305","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"The Gubernatorial Candidate Forum, moderated by Erica Padilla-Chavez, co-chair of Women in Leadership for Diverse Representation, will be held on March 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 1000 Aguajito Rd., in Monterey, from 6-8 p.m.","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. Please adjust images to reflect these limits.","print_featured_gallery_richtext":"","print_inline_galleries_richtext":"","print_inline_images_richtext":"","print_content":"

MONTEREY \u2013 A gubernatorial debate with candidates Secretary Xavier Bacerra, Ian Calderon, Mayor Matt Mahan, Tom Steyer, Antonio Villaraigosa and Betty Yee is coming to Monterey next week, presented by the Democratic Women of Monterey County, Democratic Women's Club of Santa Cruz County and San Benito County Democrats.<\/p>

Though the guest list is by no means a complete showing of Democrat candidates for California Governor, the organizers of the event say the evening will offer a unique chance to hear directly from the candidates on important issues facing California, in the Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz county areas and beyond.<\/p>

The Gubernatorial Candidate Forum, moderated by Erica Padilla-Chavez, co-chair of Women in Leadership for Diverse Representation, will be held on March 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 1000 Aguajito Rd., in Monterey, from 6-8 p.m. According to the organizers, the event will give attendees an opportunity to hear a moderated debate, gain perspective on important issues facing the state, engage in meaningful conversations with the candidates in a Q&A following the debate and connect with community members committed to supporting healthy democracy.<\/p>

In a statewide survey by the Public Policy Institute of California released in February, there are five candidates that are now in a close competition in the top-two gubernatorial primary in June \u2013 Steve Hilton, R; Katie Porter, D; Chad Bianco, R; Tom Steyer, D; and Eric Swalwell, D.<\/p>

Under California's top-two primary system, the two candidates who receive the most votes in the June primary, regardless of party affiliation, will go head-to-head in the November general election.<\/p>

There is a concern that with a crowded field of about nine Democrats in the race, it could splinter the vote and allow the top two Republicans in the race to come in first and second.<\/p>

On Tuesday, state Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks urged his party's candidates who lack a viable path to victory to drop out of the race, according to published reports. That development followed on the heels of the California Democratic Party not endorsing a candidate for governor at its convention in February after none of the major candidates received more than 60% of the vote.<\/p>

\u201cIt is imperative that every candidate honestly assess the viability of their candidacy and campaign,\u201d said Hicks in an open letter to those in the contest to replace termed-out Governor Gavin Newsom. \u201cSo much is at stake in our nation and so many are counting on the leadership of California Democrats to stand up and speak out at this historic moment. California\u2019s leadership on the world stage is significantly harder if a Democrat is not elected as our next Governor.\u201d<\/p>

The Public Policy Institute of California survey found in part that about six in ten likely voters say they are satisfied with the choice of candidates in the governor\u2019s race. About half are not too closely following the news about the governor\u2019s race while about seven in ten are interested in seeing town halls and debates with the candidates. When it comes to local House races, six in ten likely voters favor the Democratic candidate over the Republican candidate. Democratic likely voters are more enthusiastic than others about voting in this election. For majorities of likely voters, the candidates\u2019 positions on affordability are very important in determining their vote for governor and Congress.<\/p>

Other findings of the survey included 43% of adults and 47% of likely voters think the state budget situation is a big problem, about one in three Californians name the cost of living and inflation as the most important issue for the governor and legislature to work on in 2026, and most Californians name political extremism or threats to democracy, economic conditions, and immigration as the most important problems facing the US today.<\/p>"},"print_workflow_exported_ts":"1772657357","print_workflow_exported_username":"Arianna Nalbach","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":{"print_section":"414","print_status":"410","add_export_buttons":"","print_endpoint":"norcal","print_publication":"","print_add_to_budget":""},"really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":"","market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":3741492,"title":"MCH-L-FORUM1-0304","filename":"MCH-L-FORUM1-0304.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.montereyherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MCH-L-FORUM1-0304.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.montereyherald.com\/mch-l-forum1-0304\/","alt":"","author":"70","description":"","caption":"The Democratic Women of Monterey County, Democratic Women's Club of Santa Cruz County, and San Benito County Democrats\u00a0will present a Gubernatorial debate next week. 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