April 30, 2026

California Governor Debate BRUTAL Reaction: "Playing Their Cartoon Selves"

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Cara McCormick sits down with former California state senator Steve Peace - author of the Top Two primary law - to react to the California governor's race debate. They unpack the most memorable moments (Becerra's "Steve Hilton's daddy" line, Hilton waving the insurance statute at Becerra on stage, Katie Porter catching Tom Steyer on his own contradiction), why the moderators' yes-or-no format is killing real debate, and why Peace says "there's no longer a constituency for governance." From there, the conversation traces a pattern Peace has watched play out for 30 years - the same playbook that wrecked California's insurance market and energy market is now hitting housing - and ends on why Prop 50, the "jungle primary" smear campaign, and the death of citizen government all connect back to one thing: partisan primaries. 

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us  and https://independentvoterproject.org 

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