California is weeks away from its June primary, in which voters will decide which gubernatorial candidates will face off in the November general election.
The top candidates vying to replace the termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom include two Republican candidates — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host Steve Hilton — and three Democratic candidates: former U.S. Representative Katie Porter, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, and billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer.
Recent polling has shown Hilton and Becerra leading the pack of candidates, with Steyer, Bianco, and Porter close behind.
Here’s a look at how California’s top gubernatorial candidates compare on key issues facing the Golden State, including housing, homelessness, and crime.
How candidates compare on issue of housing
It’s no secret that California is facing a housing crisis. To meet current demand, the state needs about 2.5 million more homes, according to a 2025 state housing assessment.
In 2024, the median home price in California topped $800,000, which is double the national median. Additionally, California has the highest median rent in the nation, with asking rents approaching $2,900 statewide, according to Zillow data.
To afford the average one-bedroom apartment in California, a minimum wage worker would need to work more than 90 hours weekly, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Republican candidates:
Bianco
Bianco believes the state’s housing crisis is the result of “government-created barriers that have destroyed our housing industry.”
“California State Government created this housing problem,” Bianco said at an April 22 gubernatorial debate. “It is not that we can’t afford a house. It’s that builders can’t afford to build a house because of the excessive regulations on our building industry.”
To address the issue, he believes expediting approval for housing projects, eliminating the California Environmental Quality Act, incentivizing developers to build across the state, and eliminating “overregulation.”
Hilton
Hilton refers to the state’s housing issue as the “Democrat Housing Crisis,” arguing that the lack of homes stems from government overregulation. To address the issue, Hilton said the state must provide homes for Californians by addressing hidden housing taxes, anti-housing regulations, and anti-housing lawsuits.
“We have to end the war on single-family homes so that we can build the housing we need for young families,” Hilton said at an April 22 gubernatorial debate. “We need more starter homes in California.”
Democratic candidates:
Becerra
Becerra believes the housing crisis is rooted in the lack of homes being built in the state. To address the issue of high housing costs in California, Becerra has said the state needs more homes and should offer builders incentives to build. Becerra has also pointed to down payment assistance programs.
“We want to make sure that we help those who want to buy a house get in a house,” Becerra said at an April 22 gubernatorial debate. “Most Californians who are renting are essentially paying a monthly mortgage, except it’s called rent. I would convert them into homeowners by helping them with their down payment.”
Porter
Porter also sees the housing crisis as being rooted in the lack of homes being built.
“We must build, build all sorts of housing for all sorts of people, including more housing for students and workers, for seniors who want to age in living communities or independently, for young and growing families, along with more affordable, income-restricted housing, and interim housing to help unhoused Californians stay sheltered and get the resources they need,” Porter says on her campaign website.
Porter, at a recent debate, said it comes down to also building homes at a quicker rate.
“If we built at the same speed in California as states like Colorado, we could take 10 or 20% off the cost of housing. That’s all,” Porter said. “That’s real money back in families’ pockets.”
Steyer
“The biggest problem in California is that Californians can’t afford to live here, and the No. 1 problem there is housing,” Steyer said at an April 22 gubernatorial debate.
On his campaign website, Steyer said he has a plan to “build one million homes over four years, and make building houses cheaper, faster, and better.”
“Yes. We have to shorten permitting and make it less expensive … Two, we have to redo zoning so that we build denser and around public transportation,” Steyer said at a recent debate. “Three, we need to actually drop the cost per square foot of building.”
How candidates compare on issue of homelessness
The high cost of housing has been linked to the state’s homelessness issue. In a 2023 statewide study, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that “many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing.”
California has the largest homeless population of any state, accounting for about 30% of the nation’s homeless population, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s most recent point‑in‑time counts. On any given night, more than 180,000 Californians are estimated to be homeless.
In the Golden State, about 68% of unhoused residents are unsheltered, meaning they live in tents, vehicles, encampments, or on the street, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Nationally, that rate is closer to 40%.
Over the past decade, the state has spent tens of billions on projects trying to address the issue of homelessness, including Project Homekey, housing first–style programs, encampment resolution grants and local cleanup efforts, and expanded funding for mental health and addiction services. A 2024 state audit found that, though housing units were created, the state did not consistently track how effectively the efforts reduced homelessness in the long‑term.
Republican candidates:
Bianco
Bianco sees the state’s homelessness issue as stemming from government ineffectiveness.
“While there are certainly Californians who find themselves in hard times and without a home, the problem we see daily has been completely caused by our politicians and a failed social experiment,” his campaign website says.
For Bianco, the issue of homelessness “has nothing to do with homes,” he said at a recent debate.
“This is a drug and alcohol induced psychosis, mental illness … These people are suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness … This has nothing to do with the home until we actually start caring about these people,” Bianco said, adding that he would take away funds from nonprofits and NGOs for homeless and put a portion of those toward drug and alcohol treatment centers and mental health treatment centers.
Bianco takes an enforcement-focused approach to homelessness, saying he would encourage cities to clear homeless encampments and expedite the construction of emergency shelters and supportive housing.
Hilton
Hilton has criticized current policies surrounding homelessness, calling for increased law enforcement and mental health treatment to address the issue.
“We have to provide people the mental health treatment that they need,” Hilton said in a February debate.
Among the approaches to tackling the homelessness issue, Hilton pointed to include stopping “the fraud in the homeless system” and enforcing the law, adding that “it is illegal to camp on the streets.”
Democratic candidates:
Becerra
To address homelessness, Becerra, in a recent debate, called for expanding “emergency shelters so that we can get people off the streets.” Then, he said, he would focus on reforming the state’s zoning and permitting laws to allow for the quicker production of homes in California.
He said he would specifically focus on helping working families.
“You’re working; you’re working, but you’re living on the edge. You’re a paycheck away from becoming homeless,” Becerra said. “That’s where I want to step in. I want to make sure the state says, ‘Hey, you’re working hard. There is no reason why you should become homeless.'”
Porter
Porter has said she believes it is possible to solve the state’s “homelessness crisis.” At a recent debate, Porter argued that the state’s homelessness issue is “a direct correlate of our housing problems.”
As governor, Porter said she would focus on homelessness prevention.
“It is so much more cost-effective and so much more humane to prevent families from becoming homeless in the first place,” Porter said.
According to her campaign website, Porter’s plan to tackle homelessness also focuses on the “rapid re-housing and interim housing that can keep people from being unsheltered, which is itself a risk factor for mental health and substance use problems.”
Steyer
Steyer has called for the reform of the state’s “homelessness strategy to get people off the street and into the care they need.”
In an interview with ABC 7 News, Steyer said people facing homelessness do not start with mental health issues, adding that his goal is to keep people off the street in the first place.
“I am absolutely behind getting people off the street into something that is good for them,” Steyer told the TV station. When asked what he would do if people refused help, Steyer told ABC 7 News, “We’re going to have to be able to provide something that they do want to do, and in effect, we’re gonna have to retake our streets.”
How candidates compare on issue of public safety/crime
While violent crime in California has remained far below 1990 peak levels, property crime rose sharply during the pandemic and remains elevated in parts of the state, according to data from the California Department of Justice.
Republican candidates:
Bianco
Bianco believes California’s crime problems stem from policy choices, not policing failures. On his campaign website, Bianco says he would put public safety first by ensuring law enforcement has adequate staffing and resources; defending law enforcement agencies against “defund the police” efforts; and investing in additional recruitment, training, and retention programs for law enforcement.
Bianco also calls for reform to the justice system with stronger penalties for repeat violent offenders, as well as to “build the success of Prop 36 by continuing to restore penalties for serious crimes and ensure accountability for those who commit criminal acts.”
Hilton
Hilton supports expanding prison capacity to combat crime, arguing that lower-level criminals should serve little to no jail time. Hilton also calls for implementing “rehabilitation programs that actually work.”
“One of the main drivers of crime and chaos on California’s streets is Gavin Newsom’s prison closure policy,” Hilton’s campaign website says. “This has resulted in dangerous criminals being released early or transferred to county jails, which in turn has resulted in lower-level criminals not serving time at all.”
Democratic candidates:
Becerra
Becerra supports investing in local law enforcement. “We’re going to invest in local law enforcement to make sure they’re safe in school, you’re safe at home and work, and our cities and towns are safe places where we can all thrive,” Becerra’s campaign website said in May 2025, according to OnTheIssues.org.
Porter
Porter approaches public safety and crime with prevention, rehabilitation, and targeted accountability.
“We’re definitely moving in the right direction on criminal justice reform, particularly in terms of looking back at what are the consequences of our three strike law,” Porter told ABC 10 news in an interview. “What were the consequences of the sort of get-tough-on-crime wave of the 80s and 90s? We’re definitely trying to think about what we do with people who are now 70 and 80 years old, and they’ve been in our California prisons for 40 and 50 years. I think we’re making good progress on that, thinking about whether we can release people to hospice care so that they’re not spending their last days in prison.”
Steyer
In a February debate, Steyer urged that the state prioritize treatment over incarceration. He has called for the funding of rehabilitation options for people who break the law, rather than longer prison sentences.
“Of course, we have to keep our streets and communities safe,” Steyer said during the debate. “But the fact is, we need to have step-down facilities, we need treatment, not incarceration, where it’s available.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: How California’s top gubernatorial candidates differ on key issues
Reporting by Daniella Segura, USA TODAY NETWORK / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
