Yahoo · September 9, 2026
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California's gubernatorial candidates will face off in a nationally televised debate just days before Golden State voters receive their mail-in ballots.
Democrat Xavier Becerra, who most recently served as health and human services secretary during the Biden administration, and Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, will square off during a CNN debate in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. PDT.
CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate the debate, which is slated to be the first time the pair will share a debate stage since advancing from the crowded June primary race.
To qualify for the debate, the candidates had to meet certain qualifications, including those outlined by the California Secretary of State, raised, contributed or loaned at least $1 million for their gubernatorial campaign, and received at least 15% support among registered or likely voters in two polls with methodologies that met CNN's standards.
To see the debate, Californians can tune in via stream live for CNN's streaming and pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps.
What California gubernatorial polls have found
Hilton and Becerra are vying for the top seat at the state Capitol after a tumultuous June primary, where Becerra led with 28% of the vote, while Hilton secured the second spot with 24.6% of the vote.
Since the primary, Becerra has held a wide lead over Hilton in multiple polls, including an August poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, where Becerra captured 55% of likely voters, while Hilton held 37%. At the time, 7% of likely voters were undecided.
"After the unsettled and chaotic primary, this is shaping up to be a fairly standard California general election, where Democrats enjoy a comfortable edge statewide," Professor Eric Schickler, Berkeley IGS co-director, said in a news release. "Hilton would need to make major inroads among traditionally Democratic leaning groups to make this a highly competitive race."
The poll also found that California voters are divided along party and ideological lines, with 88% of Democrats favoring Becerra and 91% of Republicans backing Hilton.
The poll, conducted between Aug. 3 and Aug. 9, used a weighted sample of 2,310 likely November voters drawn from a larger pool of 4,207 registered voters across California. The poll's margin of error was ±2.5 percentage points.
A separate poll commissioned by Hilton's campaign, however, found the race to be a much tighter one, with Becerra holding 49.2% of the vote and Hilton 41%, according to reporting from the California Post. The poll, conducted by David Wolfson -- a pollster and faculty member in Columbia University's Political Analytics graduate program -- between Aug. 14 and Aug. 16, included a sample of 912 California registered voters and had a 3.3-point margin of sampling error.
When is California's general election?
California's general election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The last day to register to vote for California's general election is Oct. 19, according to state officials. Counties will begin mailing ballots to registered voters no later than Oct. 5.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: California governor race heats up as first debate announced