California gubernatorial candidate forum held at Fresno State

FRESNO, Calif. -- Six candidates running for California governor shared differing views on how to lower the cost of living during a forum at Fresno State focused on "Affordability and Rural California."

Organizers asked the candidates to address rising farm-to-table costs and other increasing expenses facing Californians.

While the candidates largely agreed that the state is overregulated, they offered varying approaches to reducing costs across the Golden State.

Chad Bianco pointed to regulations and taxes as the primary drivers of high expenses.

"The cost of living is predominantly due to regulations and taxes, end of story. So how do you fix it? You remove the regulation and you reduce or eliminate the taxes. It's that simple," Bianco said.

Steve Hilton also emphasized regulatory reform, saying it would ease financial pressure on residents.

"We will act on the regulatory burden that every single one of you faces. We can cut that so that we can cut costs so that we don't have what we have now: the most expensive grocery bills in the country," Hilton said.

Matt Mahan focused on environmental review, arguing for changes to speed development.

"We need to completely overhaul CEQA, particularly for infrastructure like water conveyance, for the housing that we need. We need exemptions and strict limits on who can sue," Mahan said.

Katie Porter highlighted housing as the largest expense for many families.

"The biggest piece of most families' budget is housing, whether that's rent or mortgage. Building houses faster, building more housing, changing how we permit housing and innovating in construction, design and materials. If we can drive down the cost of housing, we can help Californians afford to stay here," Porter said.

Antonio Villaraigosa warned that regulation of refineries could drive fuel prices higher.

"If we continue to over-regulate refineries, one more goes down, gas prices are going to $8.75 a gallon. I've got a plan," Villaraigosa said.

Xavier Becerra proposed temporarily halting certain household costs.

"I'm going to freeze your property insurance costs. I'm going to freeze your utility rates so we can look behind the curtain and figure out why they're charging us so much and making so much profit at our expense," Becerra said.

The forum was hosted by the Western Growers Association along with more than two dozen farm groups. The audience included people whose livelihoods depend on agriculture.

Each candidate said that, if elected, voices from California's heartland would be heard in Sacramento.

For news updates, follow Warren Armstrong on Facebook and X.