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The California Primary Election Season Is Screaming A Warning For The Nation
Democrats do not moderate. They will not moderate. They will not 'move to the center.' There will be no course correction.3 lowlights from California governor debate prove one thing: Gavin Newsom isn’t the worst Democrat
On Wednesday, the first major televised California gubernatorial debate was hosted by Nexstar Media Group. Six leading candidates participated: Democrats Xavier Becerra, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer, and Matt Mahan; and Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton.
BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales watched the debate and came away with one conclusion: Some Democrats are so bad, they make even Gavin Newsom — one of the most far-left governors in America’s history — look almost competent.
“Things are looking bleak when California Governor Gavin Newsom looks like a good governor, a good leader,” she sighs. “And I got to tell you, he looks like a rock star right now compared to the Democrats who are trying to win his job in the election.”
“This isn’t a compliment to Gavin Newsom. That’s just how bad everyone else is.”
On this episode of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered,” Sara reviews three lowlights from the debate.
Candidates were asked about President Trump’s Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for America’s Truck Drivers executive order. Signed in April 2025, the order directs federal agencies to strictly enforce English proficiency requirements for commercial truck and bus drivers while cracking down on non-domiciled (foreign/non-resident) CDLs by limiting them mostly to specific temporary work visa holders and improving background checks — all in the name of road safety.
Predictably, three out of the four Democrats strongly opposed the policy. Xavier Becerra called it “reckless”; Katie Porter vowed she would “absolutely fight the Trump administration” to protect Californians from Trump; and Tom Steyer equated requiring English understanding to “racial profiling.”
Sara can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of these responses to what is a commonsense safety policy.
“I actually don’t care if you have, like, Whitey McWhiterson from Norway or Sweden who comes here and doesn’t speak a lick of English,” she quips in response to Steyer.
Referencing Porter, she gibes, “She said, ‘We have to protect Californians.’ Yeah, I think Californians are like, ‘I would like to also not just be run over by a truck driver who shouldn’t be here, who can’t read the road signs.”’
“You can never have nice things in California. That’s the rule. It’s unwritten, but that’s what the Democrats have decided,” Sara concludes.
In another part of the debate, the candidates were asked to give Newsom a letter grade on his performance handling homelessness.
Both Republicans gave Newsom an F, while Democrats gave him three B’s and one A.
“The homelessness is out of control. Anyone who has been to California understands that,” Sara says.
But the best moment in the debate in Sara’s view was when Katie Porter was asked about the viral Politico video from October 2025 showing her berating a staffer with phrases like, “Get out of my f**king shot!”
The first words out of Porter’s mouth were, “I apologized that day to that staffer four years ago.”
Sara can’t stress enough how critical it is that a Republican wins the California governor’s race.
“[California] is such a hellhole,” she says.
“Republicans, this is probably your last chance. It may be gone if you guys don’t take it back.”
To hear more of Sara’s commentary and watch clips from the debate, check out the episode above.
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VIDEO: Katie Porter suggests she will defend truckers who can't speak English from Trump in bizarre debate moment
One of the top contenders for the Democrats in the California gubernatorial race made a statement during a debate on Wednesday that astounded and bewildered viewers.
Rather than promise to protect Californians from non-English-speaking truck drivers, former Rep. Katie Porter said she would protect the truckers from the Trump administration.
'The job of the Californian governor is to protect Californians, and right now that includes protecting them from Donald Trump.'
"Do you believe that English proficiency, language proficiency, should be strictly enforced for truck drivers?" the moderator asked.
"I would absolutely fight the Trump administration because the job of the Californian governor is to protect Californians, and right now that includes protecting them from Donald Trump," Porter said.
"Protecting Californians also includes enforcing traffic laws, and we've seen sometimes a need for oversight in California," she added. "For example, we have seen that the Department of Motor Vehicles was not enforcing rules around DUIs and drivers who had convictions for that."
After not really answering the question, Porter then went on the attack against Republican candidate Sheriff Chad Bianco over his comments about immigration enforcement.
"I am stunned that Mr. Bianco would say to black and brown Californians and immigrants who are being terrorized and racially profiled that you have to 'get over' racism," she said.
"It's not something that you get over. It's something that you fight, and if he doesn't understand the importance of that, he has no business representing a state with the diversity of California," she added.
Bianco defended himself and said Porter was misrepresenting his comments.
Video of the interaction was posted to social media, where Porter was widely ridiculed by many commentators.
"This is how you talk to a voting base when you know you can control them with fear and rage. You know they don't care about policies or plans — if you just mention Trump, nothing else matters," one user said on the X platform.
"Her strategy is anti-Trump and playing the racist card. Typical Democrat. They will keep doing this in CA as long as voters believe their drivel and vote for them," another response reads.
"Wow, what a wackjob, just another TDS sufferer who doesn't care about American citizens and only plays into the get Trump game," another critic replied. "If she had any brain cells she would have noticed long ago that it doesn't work. She's an angry clown."
The latest polling shows Porter tied for fourth place behind Republicans Steve Hilton and Bianco and Democrat billionaire Tom Steyer after the ignominious exit of former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell.
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Democrats narrow field in California’s crowded gubernatorial race to avoid primary disaster
California's crowded gubernatorial race is beginning to narrow, with former State Controller Betty Yee becoming the latest prominent Democrat to drop out, a sign that the party may be coalescing around a leading candidate to avoid disaster in the upcoming primary.
The California gubernatorial primary started with 61 official candidates in March, and approximately 20 have since dropped out.
'I continue to believe there are too many Democrats in the field.'
While two Republican front-runners have emerged, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host and small-business owner Steve Hilton, Democrats have not yet rallied unified support behind any leading contenders for the upcoming election on June 2.
With Primary Election Day right around the corner, voters in the state will begin receiving mail-in ballots in two weeks.
California's primary election operates on a nonpartisan basis, meaning all candidates are listed on the same ballot, and the two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
The nonpartisan election rules could spell trouble for Democrats if they cannot rally enough support behind a candidate to beat at least one of the top two Republicans competing to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who has reached his term limit.
Democrats began the race with eight high-profile candidates: former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, climate advocate and businessman Tom Steyer, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former California State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, and former California State Controller Betty Yee.
The Democratic field narrowed when Swalwell announced last week that he was suspending his campaign for governor and resigning from Congress amid sexual misconduct allegations.
On Monday, Yee became the latest Democrat to drop out of the race, citing low polling results. She told local CBS affiliate KOVR that the Democratic Party had "for whatever reason decided to put money into a poll that would narrow the field" and that the results showed that "experience and competence was not polling as high as we thought when I first started this race."
"We're in this new era where it's kind of almost reality TV show mentality that people want," Yee told the news outlet. "And, frankly, conflict sells. That's what gets people's attention. I'm not a flashy person. I don't come with gimmicks. I even said and joked with my team one time, 'Maybe I just need to bring like a folding stool and throw it off the stage just to get some attention.' I mean, what's it gonna take, right?"
Yee stated that she plans to endorse one of the remaining candidates soon.
The California Democratic Party's poll showed voters leaning toward Republican candidates Hilton and Bianco. The highest-polling Democratic candidates were Becerra and Steyer. However, many of those surveyed stated they were still undecided.
RELATED: Republicans shine in first poll since Eric Swalwell stumbled out of California governor's race
Rusty Hicks, the chair of the California Democratic Party, compared the latest polling results to those from an April 7 poll.
Hicks stated that it showed Becerra had moved from 4% to 13%, with him "now tied for third with Tom Steyer." He also noted that the undecided rate had fallen from 24% to 20%.
"All of these are positive signs for ensuring a strong Democrat moves into the General Election. But it is not enough and our work is not done," he said.
Hicks addressed Yee's decision to drop out of the race.
"Earlier today, we saw Betty Yee suspend her campaign. I commend her leadership and commitment to California. And I hope other candidates will consider her example," Hicks added. "I continue to believe there are too many Democrats in the field."
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