SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 3 (Our California Times) — California gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton clashed over immigration in an hourlong CNN debate as mail voting approached, giving voters a televised comparison before the Nov. 3 general election.
The candidates debated Wednesday night on a soundstage in Burbank, the Los Angeles Times reported. It was the contest’s sole televised debate, according to the Associated Press.
When do voters begin casting ballots?
Mail ballots were expected to begin arriving in the days after the debate, according to the Associated Press, which reported the Nov. 3 election date. The Los Angeles Times reported that county election officials were preparing to mail ballots to California’s 23.2 million registered voters.
The Associated Press described Becerra as leading based on a September poll from the University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies. That poll was a snapshot of voter preferences, not an election result.
What was the immigration dispute?
Becerra challenged Hilton over which immigrants he would welcome and which he would seek to deport.
“You seem to welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me,” Becerra said during the debate.
Hilton called the accusation “disgraceful” and said he wanted “to lower the temperature on this whole question.”
The exchange also turned to unaccompanied immigrant children — children who arrive without a parent or guardian — and the screening of sponsors who would take responsibility for them.
Hilton accused Becerra of dismantling sponsor vetting, the process of checking those prospective caregivers. Becerra disputed Hilton’s description of the migrant crisis. Their remarks presented competing accounts, rather than an agreed finding about how the screening process had been handled.
What did they say about homelessness?
Both candidates also addressed homelessness, including the issue of encampments, where people live in tents or other temporary shelters.
Hilton condemned the situation, saying, “This absolute scandal shames our state.”
Becerra promised action on encampments: “We will make sure the encampments are cleared.”
