Democratic candidates for governor of California participated in a forum in Los Angeles, organized by the United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW) union, where they directly answered questions from mostly immigrant and Latino workers. The questions focused on the challenges they face in making ends meet while the state is the fourth largest economy in the world.

David Huerta, president of SEIU-USWW, led the event, which was attended by Xavier Becerra, Ian Calderon, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer, Eric Swalwell, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Betty Yee.

“The international and national crises, and the one we’ve experienced in the streets over the last nine months, feel like a century. The urgency of being here at this moment is crucial because someone on this stage will be the next governor of California,” Huerta said.

He reminded the candidates that the world’s fourth-largest economy cannot be sustained without workers, custodians, security guards, airport workers, and stadium and event staff.

“We want to hear your voices and know what you are willing to do as future governors.”

Former Comptroller Betty Yee said she wants to be governor so that California can once again become a prosperous state. “We are going to hold corporations and billionaires accountable. I will make sure we put power back into the hands of workers, because a single job should be enough to support their families in the world’s fourth-largest economy.” Former Congresswoman Katie Porter, who described herself as a single mother of three teenagers, said she wants to be governor because her career has focused on holding powerful people accountable for ripping off ordinary people. “I stood up to the big banks during the mortgage crisis; to the big pharmaceutical companies when they tried to raise prices abusively. I fought the Trump administration to make COVID-19 testing free for all Americans,regardless of their health insurance or immigration status.”

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he has fought all his life, since he was 15 years old in the farmworker boycott, alongside Mexican-American and African-American students, and for immigrants.

“I have been with you all my life. “We’re all going to talk nicely, but a man and a woman are not defined by their words but by their actions, and not just recent ones, but those of many decades,” he said. Former California Attorney General and former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, was the only one to stand when he introduced himself, and in front of the assembled workers, he pledged that as soon as he takes office, he will join their fight for a $30-an-hour wage, the right to housing, and access to preventive primary healthcare. “From the first moment I take office, I will freeze utility rates and property insurance premiums.” Billionaire Tom Steyer said that the first thing he will do as governor is close tax loopholes for businesses, including those related to property taxes where they declare their profits. “And I’m going to get an additional $15 to $20 billion for healthcare and education in this state. I intend to deliver results for the people of California.”

Former Assemblyman Ian Calderon, the youngest of the California gubernatorial candidates, who grew up in East Los Angeles, said he is running because it is too hard to live in this state, and it shouldn't be.

“They work hard every day to support themselves and make sure their children, their families, have a future in this state, and what does the state tell them… that they are going to be renters for the rest of their lives while food prices are through the roof.”

He said the state has lost its way, and they will never have access to affordable living or the possibility of homeownership until there is accountability.

“The state needs scrutiny. This is how we're going to get it done, and we need an affordable California for all of you, because you work hard and you deserve it.” Congressman Eric Swalwell said the next governor of California has two tasks. “First, keep the worst president in history out of our homes and off our streets. I've already done that in Congress. I've stood up to this guy for 10 years. I helped push for his impeachment. I have the only pending lawsuit against him for what he did on January 6.” He revealed that this week he introduced a bill to strip ICE of its immunity. “These guys think they're invincible. They're not.”I will prosecute them when they kidnap, assault, or murder people. As governor, I will revoke the driver's license of anyone who wears a mask in our state to terrorize women.”

He also pledged to lower prices, build homes nonstop, and bring a new California.

School Superintendent Tony Thurmond said that as governor, he will fight Trump, just as he did when he illegally stole $6 billion from the state.

“We sued his administration and got that money back for California, for our immigrant families, for our after-school programs, and I am proud to have pushed through legislation that keeps ICE out of our schools and to support legislation that keeps ICE out of our hospitals and emergency rooms.”

He added that as governor, he will work with Congress and create a path to citizenship for all those who want to live, work, and pay taxes in California, live the American dream, and contribute to it.

Laura Esquivel, an airplane cabin cleaner at Los Angeles International Airport, asked that the next governor not cut the health access programs for immigrants; while Nestor Dolce, a Filipino-born cleaning worker, said that he and Laura earn $25 an hour.

“California claims to be a sanctuary state for immigrants, but a proposed state budget excludes immigrants from food and health programs, and they intend to balance the spending plan on our backs.”

Dolce asked the candidates to commit to passing a budget that will never again exclude immigrants and to be a champion governor for immigrants.

Julio Ramirez, a janitor in the skyscrapers of Los Angeles, said that workers remain behind in the world's fourth largest economy.

“The rich get richer, and we workers don't advance economically. We can't continue to have a government of the rich while we workers struggle to live with dignity.” It is urgent to establish a governance structure where workers can determine conditions and wages that go hand in hand with economic prosperity.”

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