How California’s next governor could impact Latino communities

In less than a week, Californians will decide which two gubernatorial contenders will advance to November’s general election. With 61 candidates on the ballot and recent polls showing a close tie among the top three, it is not clear who will take the lead.

El Tecolote and the San Francisco Public Press sent a callout to our Latino readers last week, asking them to highlight what issues they feel are most important for the state’s next governor to address. We received dozens of responses through El Tecolote’s Spanish-language WhatsApp as well as through Google Form surveys in English and Spanish linked in our newsletters and social media accounts.

Above all, the biggest concern expressed within the city’s Latino communities is affordability. Whether they referred to housing costs, finding well-paying jobs, or the price of gas and healthcare, many people said they were struggling to make ends meet. The rights of unhoused and immigrant residents were also top-of-mind.

Here’s where the leading gubernatorial candidates stand on the top concerns identified by our readers. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Affordable housing

The top concern for Bay Area Latinos we polled in our survey was housing — a concern we have continuously reported on while documenting rent strikes and alternative solutions to soaring housing costs like residential RVs. While all five of the top gubernatorial candidates have made housing affordability a central part of their campaigns, they have different proposals.

Xavier Becerra (D): With an emphasis on current policy failures, Becerra focuses on the lack of housing in California stating that the “shortage is the engine driving costs beyond reach” on his campaign website. If elected, he would issue an executive order declaring the state in a housing crisis and would treat housing production and affordability as a top priority. He would do this by passing legislation streamlining housing production, and reducing bureaucracy around housing construction while enforcing California tenant protections.

Chad Bianco (R): Bianco’s campaign homes in on the unaffordability of homes in California and is focused on barriers to building housing. His campaign claims to “oppose any effort to weaken Prop 13,” a 1978 property tax that protects homeowners and shields commercial properties from having their properties reassessed at market value.

Steve Hilton (R): Hilton looks to “restore the California Dream of a single family home for every family.” His platform is focused on removing state bureaucracy and policies that reduce the rate at which housing is produced, citing that only 5% of California land is developed.

Katie Porter (D): Porter’s platform outlines a plan to speed up housing production within two years, which she claims will bring down the costs of apartment costs by 20%. She says she would do so by enforcing housing laws that would stop local delays that happen “too often” in construction.

Tom Steyer (D): Running on a platform of affordability, Steyer says he would slash state policies he believes delay housing construction while strengthening ones like SB 79 — a law that legalizes the construction of multi-story housing near public transit. With a comprehensive list of solutions that promise building 1 million new homes within four years, his platform consists of closing Trump’s Tax Loophole, which he calls a “billionaire-friendly” tax break that lets wealthy commercial property owners avoid taxes on the value of their properties, and ensuring the protection of renters’ rights.

Cost of living

Another one of our readers’ most popular concerns was California’s rising cost of living. Nearly 3-in-10 Bay Area residents struggled to make ends meet in 2023, according to a Tipping Point analysis, and price hikes due to recent federal cuts to SNAP beneficiaries, tariffs and the U.S. war on Iran have made it more difficult for working-class residents to afford gas and groceries.

Xavier Becerra (D): On his campaign page, Becerra said he would stand up to price gouging and “unjustified rate hikes,” expand childcare support for Californians and use state pressure to lower prices. He promised to freeze utility rates and home insurance premiums.
Chad Bianco (R): Bianco favors a deregulation approach: rolling back state limits on housing, energy and business development, and reducing state spending. He also proposes cutting taxes on working families and businesses. In a recent interview with ABC News, he proposed cutting state programs that benefit undocumented immigrants, support homeless residents and allocate funds for high speed rail.
Steve Hilton (R): To Hilton, the high cost of groceries and construction fees could be solved by addressing high gas prices. He wants to increase California’s reliance on the state’s natural gas reserves, reversing the pivot to solar and wind energies encouraged by Democratic administrations. California’s regulations “do nothing really for climate change, but they just make gas more expensive,” he told El Tecolote. Hilton said he also plans to eliminate the state income tax for the first $100,000 a person makes in income.
Katie Porter (D): Porter has said she plans to address California’s affordability crisis by raising state revenue, “closing tax loopholes” for billionaires and corporations, and implementing progressive corporate tax rates. With these additional funds, Porter plans to implement universal free child care, get rid of state income taxes for those making less than $100,000 a year, and cover the first two years of college tuition for Californians at UCs and CSUs.
Tom Steyer (D): In an interview with El Tecolote, Steyer said he planned on dropping electricity rates by 25% by changing regulations and providing local competition for “legal monopolies” like PG&E. He said, with respect to San Francisco, that the utilities leaders “charge us twice as much as everybody else, but they give us terrible service, including putting tens of thousands of people out of service at Christmas weekend.” Steyer also wants to investigate oil companies’ “price gouging” tactics and wants to put a cap on the profits that gas companies can collect and redirect the excess profits to Californians as a rebate.

Jobs and organized labor

San Francisco has seen its fair share of strikes in recent months, as organized labor groups have rallied to demand higher compensation. Many of the city’s immigrant residents have also expressed concerns about wage theft and new street food vending regulations that affect how they can make money, while residents who depend on Uber and Lyft for gig work say their income is not enough to afford necessities.

Xavier Becerra (D): Becerra has referenced his past experiences as Attorney General, where he “stood up to corporations to stop wage theft.” He wants to revive the entertainment industry by expanding tax credits and incentives. He also wants to ensure there is workforce investment and transition support for industries where jobs could be affected by Artificial Intelligence.
Chad Bianco (R): The Riverside County Sheriff says the “overregulation of California’s economy” is hindering job and business growth. He has said he wants to eliminate California’s income tax and wants to modernize the state’s water infrastructure to support farmers and ranchers, have schools prioritize career-focused fundamental skills, and increase funds for teacher training and recruitment programs.
Steve Hilton (R): In an interview with El Tecolote, Hilton said he was “very focused” on helping workers and small businesses by lowering taxes, and reducing the regulations and bureaucracy that Californians have to navigate to start a small business. He also said it was important to “protect small businesses from unfair competition,” noting that street vendors don’t always need to comply with the same regulations or pay the same taxes as brick and mortar establishments.
Katie Porter (D): For Porter, the way to improve workers’ compensation and conditions is through unions. The former U.S. representative has expressed a commitment to support organized labor across industries, and says she plans to create and enforce policies that ensure every worker can have the opportunity to unionize to better advocate for their rights. Her proposed taxes on corporations, she argues, could motivate them to invest in their employees and create new jobs.
Tom Steyer (D): Steyer said he would direct California to “aggressively grow industries that create high-quality jobs” such as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. He has also said he wants to ensure California workers are shielded from developments and the implementation of Artificial Intelligence by expanding unemployment insurance and strengthening work protections through different initiatives.

Making health care accessible

Some Democratic candidates favor single payer health care, a state-run program where all residents could get care, without the need for private insurance. The proposal, which would upend the current system, would require the federal government’s approval and tax hikes, according to CalMatters.

Last year, the federal government cut significant federal funding for Medicaid, shifting pressure to states and cities for maintaining services. Facing a budget deficit, California rolled back some Medi-Cal expansion programs it had put in place to fund health care for low-income immigrant adults, a move that advocates and residents are concerned could severely limit access to care.

Xavier Becerra (D): Though Becerra has been a longtime advocate for single-payer health care, he has since backpedaled his support and received endorsements from doctor groups that oppose the policy. Now, he says he wants to focus on how to minimize the impact federal funding cuts could have on Californians’ care, regardless of their immigration status. Becerra says he plans on investing in growing and retaining a healthcare workforce, bringing down costs using state power and protecting essential medical services.
Chad Bianco (R): In his campaign page, Bianco says he wants to stabilize the FAIR plan to keep insurance affordable, fight fraud and simplify insurance claims to “improve efficiency.” Though he has previously voiced opposition to providing health care to undocumented immigrants, his stance on immigrant access to health care is mixed, appearing open to having working asylum seekers receive coverage during their process.
Steve Hilton (R): Hilton opposes the Democratic push to single payer health care. “You end up with terrible service, huge long wait times, and a lot of frustration,” he told El Tecolote. Instead, he wants to focus on targeting instances of fraud in the health care budget and encourage competition to drive down costs. Hilton says he supports the federal government’s tightened eligibility criteria for Medicaid and opposes using taxpayer funds to expand Medi-Cal to noncitizens.
Katie Porter (D): Porter supports single payer health care, saying it could help California save money. She is a strong supporter of Medicare for All, broadening access to immigrants, expanding mental health care access, and making sure insurance premiums on state-funded plans are not cost prohibitive to residents.
Tom Steyer (D): Steyer also supports single payer health care as a way to reduce one of California’s biggest expenses. “The cost is eating up every family,” he told El Tecolote. “The cost is eating up every business that employs people and pays for their health care, and it’s eating up the state budget itself.” He has also voiced support for universal access for health care, including for immigrants.

Support for homeless residents

According to a 2025 report by the UCSF, 35% of adults experiencing homelessness in California identify as Latino. Over the past two years, El Tecolote has documented the impact homelessness has had on Latino families extensively, looking at the mental and physical toll it can have on parents’ and children’s lives. The Public Press has reported on how funding cuts are affecting services for people who are unhoused and others with insecure housing.

Xavier Becerra (D): Becerra states on his website that this is “not a housing crisis alone” but also a mental health crisis. From day one, he plans on declaring a housing emergency where he would focus on preventing homelessness before it starts in addition to strengthening the state’s mental health infrastructure.

Chad Bianco (R): Citing the decriminalization of drugs, mental health crises and home affordability, Bianco’s campaign looks to expand enforcement of Grants Pass v. Johnson — a Supreme Court Ruling allowing public camping bans against homeless individuals — and prioritizing state funding to organizations that have a successful track record of getting homeless people into treatment and housing.

Steve Hilton (R): His campaign is steadfast on the belief that it’s illegal for anyone to live on the street. In an interview with CalMatters, he did not provide details about whether he would continue or expand upon programs Gov. Gavin Newsom has put in place; however, he did express interest in overhauling state-funded programs.

Katie Porter (D): Much like her housing policy, Porter’s homelessness plan focuses on two strategies she claims the state has yet to adopt: Homeless prevention through emergency rental assistance and rehousing, and interim housing that keeps people off the streets. With an emphasis on increasing housing supply, she wants to prevent people from needing permanent supportive housing by lowering costs.

Tom Steyer (D): “My basic attitude about homelessness is no one gets well on the street,” Steyer told El Tecolote. “If someone can’t make rent for a month or two, you help them so that they don’t end up on the street, because being on the street is such a stressful, destructive environment that it produces all kinds of problems for the people who are living there that are not easily remedied.” While his main priority is around avoiding homelessness from starting, Steyer proposes investing in temporary housing which would redirect money that California puts into permanent housing.

Immigration

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has sparked fear and uncertainty among Bay Area’s immigrant communities. As the federal government continues to erode legal immigration pathways, ramps up arrests and cuts support programs, readers wonder how California’s next leader would continue to uphold the state’s sanctuary jurisdiction.

Xavier Becerra (D): While not an explicit priority in his campaign, Becerra said that he would “police the immigration police” during a January gubernatorial forum backed by the California Community Foundation. At a separate NBCLA debate he claimed he would prosecute and convict ICE agents if they violated the law. He has, however, made it clear that if he were governor he would protect access to essential medical health services for immigrant communities.

Chad Bianco (R): Bianco’s platform heavily relies on stopping “illegal border crossings,” as a means to combat the “illicit drug and human trafficking organizations that are destroying our state.” Labeling it as a “humanitarian crisis,” Bianco wants to work with the federal government to abolish sanctuary state policies and prioritize the “deportation of violent criminals from our jail and prison systems.”

Steve Hilton (R): As a self-labeled “candidate of the legal immigrant community,” Hilton’s immigration policies don’t veer far from President Trump’s. He told ABC 7 that he doesn’t “imagine a single person who doesn’t support” Trump’s closing of the southern border. He also told American Community Media that under his leadership, there would be no obstruction of federal immigration enforcement and that immigration policy is not a responsibility of a governor but one of the federal government.

Katie Porter (D): Porter’s stance on immigration has homed in on the abolishment of ICE as a determent to immigrant safety. As a prominent part of her campaign, she has claimed that she would reject federal overreach and ensure that state infrastructure serves its communities “not a horrific deportation agenda.”

Tom Steyer (D): Stating that “California must build a system that fights fire with fire,” Steyer has made abolishing ICE a centerpiece of his campaign. He said that he would create a special investigative unit to monitor and investigate ICE activities and detention facilities in California and would seek legislation to outlaw law enforcement from profiling Californians based on their race, ethnicity, language, occupation or location. “There’s laws being broken there in California and you’re not going to hide that from us,” Steyer told El Tecolote. “We will prosecute you for doing violence to Californians, it’s illegal, and we will go up the chain to the people who ordered you to do violence.”