埃里克·斯沃韦尔退选后首场加州州长竞选辩论要点


2026-04-23T04:13:53.629Z / 美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)

作者:埃里克·布兰德纳、帕特里克·斯维特克
发布于 2026年4月23日 美国东部时间凌晨12:13


上图从左至右:前福克斯新闻主持人史蒂夫·希尔顿、河滨县警长查德·比安科、亿万富翁活动家汤姆·斯泰尔。下图从左至右:前美国众议员凯蒂·波特、前美国卫生与公众服务部长泽维尔·贝塞拉、圣何塞市长马特·马汉。

美联社/盖蒂图片社

六名角逐加州下一任州长的候选人——四名民主党人和两名共和党人——在周三晚间的辩论中偶尔互相嘲讽。但整体而言,民主党候选人将矛头对准了总统唐纳德·特朗普,而共和党候选人则批评该州的民主党领导层。

这场由奈克斯塔媒体集团主办的辩论举行两周前,顶级民主党竞争者、前众议员埃里克·斯沃韦尔因被指控性行为不端退出竞选,打乱了竞选节奏。斯沃韦尔否认了他所称的“彻头彻尾的虚假”指控。在辞去众议院席位时,斯沃韦尔为“我过去做出的判断失误”道歉。

所有候选人都将出现在6月2日的同一张选票上,得票前两名的候选人无论党派归属,都将在今年秋季进行一对一对决。唐纳德·特朗普总统已背书共和党人史蒂夫·希尔顿,但另一位颇具实力的共和党竞争者、河滨县警长查德·比安科也参与了竞选。

由于民主党选民的支持分散在多名候选人之间,民主党面临着一个潜在的噩梦场景:在竞选中被排除在大选之外,以接替即将卸任的州长加文·纽瑟姆——后者尚未在这场竞选中背书任何人。

加州选举主要以邮寄选票方式进行,各郡选举官员将于5月4日开始向选民寄送选票。美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)将于5月5日举办一场州长竞选辩论。

共和党人抨击纽瑟姆与民主党

周三晚间登台的六名候选人中,有两位完全在争取不同的选民群体。

共和党人在加州选民中所占比例要小得多,且只有希尔顿和比安科在争夺共和党选民。两人都猛烈抨击纽瑟姆,而民主党候选人则至少对这位现任州长在无家可归等问题上的政绩给出了温和的辩护。

在听取了民主党人关于是否支持增税以资助基础设施建设的大多含糊其辞的回答后,希尔顿表示:“我们不能再沿着这条道路走下去,民主党人永远在贪得无厌地追求越来越高的税收,来填补他们无底洞般的开支。”

比安科也抨击了掌控加州州政府所有权力的民主党人。“他们在提高你的税收,花掉你越来越多的钱,因为他们拒绝停止铺张浪费,”他说。

这场辩论举行约两周前,特朗普背书了希尔顿,希尔顿当时表示,获得总统的支持让他“深感荣幸”。

特朗普在三次总统竞选活动中都输掉了加州,2024年更是以20个百分点的差距落败。但希尔顿在辩论中为这一背书辩护,称任何州长候选人都应渴望与联邦政府建立“建设性的关系与伙伴关系”。

“拥有一位能与总统合作的州长,将造福每一位加州人,”希尔顿说。

贝塞拉谈及斯沃韦尔事件

前拜登政府卫生与公众服务部长、加州总检察长、联邦众议员泽维尔·贝塞拉上周告诉CNN,“我们很多人都听过关于斯沃韦尔的传闻”,并补充说他“从未见过任何佐证”。

周三晚间,主持人向他发难,询问他为何从未就这些传闻展开调查。

“没错,你总会听到各种各样的传闻。传闻不是事实,民主党党团会议不是裁决这类事情的地方,执法部门才是,”贝塞拉说。他在2017年离开国会出任加州总检察长之前,曾担任众议院民主党领导层职务。

贝塞拉同时也对那些指控斯沃韦尔性行为不端的女性表示认可,其中包括斯沃韦尔强烈否认的强奸指控。

“传闻是一回事,但查明事实才能真正推动事情进展,”贝塞拉说。

马汉试图凸显自身差异化

作为一名温和派民主党人,马特·马汉曾在多个议题上与纽瑟姆持不同意见,他试图凸显自己与其他候选人的不同。他辩称,民主党人需要做的不只是反对特朗普,并且他率先对部分竞争对手提出了最直接的批评。

“我们不需要一位靠私营监狱和石油天然气行业发家的亿万富翁——如今他却声称反对这些行业——也不需要特朗普亲手挑选的候选人,更不需要一位如今被萨克拉门托政坛建制派簇拥的华盛顿圈内人,”马汉说,他依次暗指斯泰尔、希尔顿和贝塞拉。

马汉随后更尖锐地抨击了前对冲基金经理斯泰尔。在回答关于无家可归和住房问题的提问时,马汉称“汤姆·斯泰尔唯一参与建造的住房是私营监狱和美国移民及海关执法局(ICE)的拘留中心”。

(据《弗雷斯诺蜜蜂报》报道,斯泰尔近日表示,他管理的对冲基金投资加州最大移民拘留中心运营商是“一个错误”。)

但马汉也不得不回应自己作为硅谷核心地带资深政客所面临的一些政治软肋。当被问及“亿万富翁科技高管”的支持时,马汉表示,他与该行业的密切往来帮助他理解了新兴技术的利弊。

“我不害怕监管大型科技公司或其他任何行业,作为州长,我会确保保护加州人民的利益,”马汉说。

波特试图挽回颓势

波特曾是这场竞选的早期领跑者,数月来民调领先多数对手。但随后一段2021年她训斥一名幕僚的视频被曝光,紧接着斯沃韦尔宣布参选,她的参选 candidacy 似乎不再那么有竞争力。

周三晚间,她试图挽回颓势,重申自己对那起事件的歉意,并转而攻击斯泰尔和贝塞拉。

“四年前的那一天,我已经向那名幕僚道了歉,当时就承担了责任,此后也一直承担着责任,承认那不是对待他人的正确方式,”她说,“这与其他一些被指出行为不端的候选人的做法形成了鲜明对比。”

至于贝塞拉,她指责他有“美好的计划”但缺乏细节,未能提出任何挑战“现状”的提案。

“如何做、为什么做、投入多少——这些全都缺失了,”她说。

贝塞拉随即反击,称“从未真正运营过政府的人说出这番话,真是站着说话不腰疼”。

Takeaways from the first California governor’s debate since Eric Swalwell’s exit

2026-04-23T04:13:53.629Z / CNN

By Eric Bradner, Patrick Svitek

PUBLISHED Apr 23, 2026, 12:13 AM ET

Top row, from left: former Fox News host Steve Hilton, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and billionaire activist Tom Steyer. Bottom row, from left: former US Rep. Katie Porter, former US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

AP/Getty Images

Four Democrats and two Republicans vying to become California’s next governor exchanged occasional barbs in a debate Wednesday night. But mostly, the Democrats took aim at President Donald Trump, and the Republicans criticized the state’s Democratic leadership.

The debate, hosted by Nexstar, came two weeks after the race was upended when a top Democratic contender, former Rep. Eric Swalwell, exited after being accused of sexual misconduct. Swalwell has denied what he has described as “flat false” allegations. In resigning his House seat, Swalwell apologized for “mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past.”

All candidates will be listed on the same ballot on June 2, and the top two finishers regardless of party will advance to a head-to-head matchup this fall. President Donald Trump has endorsed Republican Steve Hilton, but another viable GOP contender, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, is in the race.

With Democratic support scattered among several candidates, the party is confronting a potential nightmare scenario of being shut out of the general election to replace outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has not endorsed in the race.

California elections are conducted largely by mail, and county elections officials begin sending ballots to voters on May 4. CNN will hold a gubernatorial debate on May 5.

The Republicans tear into Newsom and Democrats

Two of the six candidates on stage Wednesday were courting entirely different voters.

Republicans are a much smaller share of the California electorate, but only Hilton and Bianco are competing for them. The two of them teed off on Newsom while the Democratic candidates mounted at least a tepid defense of the outgoing governor’s record on issues like homelessness.

After listening to Democrats’ largely noncommittal answers on whether they’d support additional taxes to fund infrastructure, Hilton said: “We cannot keep going in this direction with Democrats constantly going for their insatiable appetite for more and more taxes for their bottomless money pit.”

Bianco also lambasted the Democrats who control all levers of California’s state government. “They’re raising your taxes, they’re spending more and more of your money, because they refuse to stop the spending,” he said.

The debate came about two weeks after Trump endorsed Hilton, who said at the time that he was “deeply honored” to earn the president’s support.

Trump lost California in all three of his bids for president, including by 20 points in 2024. But Hilton stood by the endorsement at the debate, saying any candidate for governor should aspire to having a “constructive relationship and partnership with the federal government.”

“It will benefit every Californian to have a governor who is a partner” with the president, Hilton said.

Becerra talks about Swalwell

Xavier Becerra, the former Biden administration health and human services secretary, California attorney general and California congressman, told CNN last week that “many of us had heard the rumors” about Swalwell, adding that he had “never seen any corroboration.”

Moderators put him on the spot Wednesday night, asking Becerra why he had never pursued an investigation into those rumors.

“Yeah, you hear rumors all the time about all sorts of things. Rumors are not facts, and the Democratic caucus is not a place that adjudicates those things. Law enforcement does,” said Becerra, who was a member of House Democratic leadership before he left to become California attorney general in 2017.

Becerra also credited the women who have made sexual misconduct allegations against Swalwell, including allegations of rape that Swalwell has strongly denied.

“Rumors are one thing, but getting the facts really gets you to move,” Becerra said.

Mahan tries to distinguish himself

Matt Mahan, a moderate Democrat who has split with Newsom on several issues, moved to distinguish himself. He argued Democrats need to do more than just oppose Trump, and he offered the earliest — and most direct — criticism of some of his rivals.

“We don’t need a billionaire who made his money in private prisons or oil and gas that he’s now supposedly against, or Trump’s hand-picked candidate, or a DC insider who the Sacramento establishment is now rallying around,” Mahan said, alluding in order to Steyer, Hilton and Becerra.

Mahan later went after Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, more sharply. While answering a question about homelessness and housing, Mahan said that the “only housing Tom Steyer has built has been private prisons and ICE detention centers.”

(Steyer recently said it was “a mistake” for a hedge fund he managed to invest in the operator of California’s biggest immigration center, according to the Fresno Bee.)

Yet Mahan also had to answer for some of his own political vulnerabilities as a well-connected politician from the heart of Silicon Valley. Asked about his backing from “billionaire tech executives,” Mahan said that his closeness to the industry has helped him understand both the benefits and risks of emerging technologies.

“I am not afraid to regulate Big Tech or any other industry, and as governor, I’ll make sure we protect the people of California,” Mahan said.

Porter tries to regain her footing

Porter was an early leader in the race, polling ahead of most rivals for months. But then a video surfaced showing her berating a staffer in 2021 — and then Swalwell launched his campaign — and her candidacy appeared less viable.

On Wednesday night, she looked to regain her footing, reiterating her regret over the incident and going on the offensive against Steyer and Becerra.

“I apologized that day to that staffer four years ago and I took responsibility then and I’ve taken responsibility since, acknowledging that it is not the right way to treat someone,” she said. “And that is a big contrast to what we’ve seen other candidates do when they’ve been called out for misconduct.”

As for Becerra, she accused him of having “lovely plans” but being light on details and failing to propose anything that challenges the “status quo.”

“The how, the why, the how much — it’s all missing,” she said.

Becerra shot back, saying it was “very rich to hear from someone who’s never had to actually run a government.”

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