Did Anyone Break Through in The California Governor's Debate?

Did Anyone Break Through in The California Governor's Debate?

From Political Breakdown by KQED

April 24, 2026 · 29 min

About this episode

The episode analyzes the performances of leading candidates in the California governor's debate.

The leading candidates for California governor squared off this week in the first televised debate since East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell exited the race. Broadcast statewide on Nexstar stations, the showdown featured sharp attacks on the leading Democratic candidates, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and billionaire investor Tom Steyer. Scott, Marisa and Guy analyze the candidates’ performances with one of the debate moderators, news anchor Nikki Laurenzo of FOX40. Check out ⁠⁠⁠Political Breakdown’s weekly newsletter⁠⁠⁠, delivered straight to your inbox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Hosts: Scott, Marisa, Guy

Guest: Nikki Laurenzo

Topics covered

  • California governor debate
  • political analysis
  • Democratic candidates
  • televised debate
  • campaign performance

Keywords

  • California governor
  • debate
  • Xavier Becerra
  • Tom Steyer
  • Eric Swalwell
  • politics
  • KQED

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: KQED, FOX40, Nexstar

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