Politics

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The leading candidates for California governor clashed in a lively debate Tuesday on everything from a proposed tax on billionaires to state-funded healthcare for immigrants in the country illegally.

The debate, broadcast on CNN, was one of their last chances to pitch themselves to voters and stand out from the pack in their primary election bids to succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out in January. Mail voting is already underway, and voters have until June 2 to cast their ballots. The top-two vote getters will advance to the general election in November, regardless of party.

Though California hasn’t had a Republican governor in more than a decade, the specter hangs over the race as the field is still crowded with less than a month to go.

Candidates who took part in the debate include Democrats Xavier Becerra, a former health secretary for the Biden administration; Katie Porter, a former congresswoman; Tom Steyer, a billionaire climate activist; Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose; and Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles; as well as Republicans Steve Hilton, a conservative commentator; and Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff.

Here’s how they responded on some of the key issues:

The candidates sparred over whether they’d eliminate private health insurance in favor of a state-run system, an idea that has failed repeatedly in Sacramento.

Porter, who backs a government-run healthcare system, pressed Becerra on his stance since he’s wavered on the issue recently.

“Do you support CalCare — California having its own state-run, single-payer system, yes or no?” Porter asked.

Becerra gave a vague answer.

“The most important thing about having a Medicare for All plan is that it includes everyone,” he said. “What we have to do is get to the point where we are covering everyone with something like Medicare for All.”

Mahan, who opposes a state-run system, later chimed in and said Becerra “was unable to clearly answer the most important question on healthcare.”

Becerra contested: “I did answer that question.”

Steyer joined Porter in saying he’d support it, while Bianco, Hilton, and Villaraigosa said it wasn’t practical or would cost too much.

When the debate turned to healthcare access for immigrants, the candidates were divided.

Steyer, Porter and Becerra said they supported state-funded healthcare coverage for low-income immigrants without legal status, which Newsom passed then pared back. Bianco called the policy “ridiculous.”

Other arguments about immigration fell largely along party lines.

The Democrats sharply rebuked the Trump administration’s immigration raids.

Steyer said the state should prosecute federal agents and immigration enforcement leaders who racially profile or use violence against Californians. Mahan said business owners in San Jose have lost customers because many immigrants are afraid to leave their house.

But Bianco said he supported Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, saying agents were enforcing the law and working to deport people he referred to as “criminals” in the country illegally.

Hilton, who’s from England, pointed out that he was the only immigrant on stage. The candidates shouldn’t conflate legal and illegal immigration, he said.

“Although it is the federal government’s responsibility to determine and implement immigration policy, I think it’s important that all the laws are peacefully enforced,” Hilton said. “As governor, I would make sure that we work with the federal government to enforce our laws.”

The Democrats each emphasized they would fight Trump on immigration policy in particular.

Neither Hilton, whom Trump has endorsed, nor Bianco, invoked him much except to say that Democrats unfairly blame him for the state’s woes.

Becerra mentioned Trump the most, noting he sued the administration many times while serving as state attorney general from 2017 to 2021, when he was appointed health secretary under then-President Joe Biden.

“I’m going to repeat Donald Trump as often as I have because he’s the menace,” Becerra declared.

When Villaraigosa pressed Hilton to acknowledge Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, Hilton refused to answer.

“Endlessly going on about Donald Trump doesn’t serve the needs of the struggling families and small businesses,” Hilton said.

Mahan sought to find middle ground. He said Becerra was wrong to blame high gas prices solely on Trump, but also noted that San Jose has sued the Trump administration over immigration policy. He said it was disqualifying for the Republican candidates to support Trump’s “cruel and ineffective policies.”

Porter, meanwhile, put it simply: “Donald Trump sucks.”

Steyer was the only candidate on stage to say he’d vote for a proposed billionaires tax expected to appear before voters in November. The one-time tax proposal aims to backfill funding cuts signed into law by Trump that reduced healthcare access for low-income people.

Porter also supports some increased taxes on California’s ultrawealthy but called the proposed tax a temporary fix to a long-term problem.

Meanwhile Mahan said he would suspend the gas tax because it unfairly burdens working families.

Hilton would make people’s first $100,000 free of income tax.

Mahan and Steyer said they’d tax artificial intelligence companies and use the money to support workers, for example through workforce development training.

“The answer is to tax these companies, not to regulate them to the point that they simply go to other places,” Mahan said.

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May 6 (Reuters) – U.S. media mogul Ted Turner, who has died, CNN reported on Wednesday, had an inclination to speak his mind that earned him the nickname “The Mouth of the South.” Here are some of his colorful quotes:

* “If I only had a little humility, I’d be perfect.”

* “This is America. You can do anything here.”

* “The United States has got some of the dumbest people in the world.”

* “We won’t be signing off until the world ends. We’ll be on and we will cover the end of the world, live, and that will be our last event.” – At the launch of CNN

* “War has been good to me from a financial standpoint but I don’t want to make money that way. I don’t want blood money.” – During his days with CNN

* “Life is a game. Money is how we keep score.”

* “Over a three-year period, I gave away half of what I had. To be honest, my hands shook as I signed it away.”

* “That was probably my most unfortunate comment. I apologized for it. I apologized for a lot of things that I’ve said.” – After calling Christianity a “religion for losers.”

* “Men should be barred from public office for 100 years in every part of the world… It would be a much kinder, gentler, more intelligently run world. The men have had millions of years where we’ve been running things. We’ve screwed it up hopelessly. Let’s give it to the women.”

* “I know what I’m having ’em put on my tombstone: ‘I have nothing more to say.’”

(Compiled by Bill Trott; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

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By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) – Vivek Ramaswamy, a multimillionaire former biotech executive and erstwhile presidential hopeful, won the Republican primary for governor of Ohio on Tuesday and now faces a November general election contest against Democrat Amy Acton, a physician and former director of the Ohio Department of Health.

The Midwestern state last elected a Democratic governor in 2006 but is the site of a highly competitive U.S. Senate race in this year’s midterm elections, which could also put the governorship into play. Here are some facts about Ramaswamy’s life and career:

A HINDU RAISED IN THE AMERICAN MIDWEST

Ramaswamy, 40, was born in Cincinnati to immigrant parents from southern India. He was raised in the Hindu faith of his parents but went to a Roman Catholic high school. He earned a biology degree at Harvard University before attending Yale Law School.

Ramaswamy worked as a hedge fund investor and says he had already made several million dollars before graduating from Yale. In 2014, he founded his own biotech company, Roivant Sciences, which bought patents from larger companies for drugs not yet fully developed and marketed. He resigned as CEO in 2021. In 2023, the business magazine Forbes estimated Ramaswamy’s wealth at $630 million.

A FORMER LIBERTARIAN RAPPER WITH A PATCHY VOTING RECORD        Ramaswamy says he was a libertarian during college. While at Harvard, he would perform libertarian-themed rap songs under the stage name Da Vek. He reprised some of his rap skills as a 2024 presidential candidate, with an Iowa State Fair performance of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” that went viral on social media.

Ramaswamy says he voted for a libertarian in the 2004 presidential election, but did not vote in 2008, 2012, or 2016.

He has contributed to Republican and Democratic candidates. He says he voted in 2020 for President Donald Trump.

AN ‘ANTI-WOKE’ CRUSADER

In recent years, Ramaswamy has become a fierce conservative. In his 2021 bestseller “Woke, Inc.,” Ramaswamy decries decisions by some big companies to base business strategy around social justice and climate change concerns and assails “wokeism” as an insidious influence on hard work, capitalism, religious faith and patriotism. The book raised his profile among conservatives, and he began his rapid ascent as a right-wing star.

2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN AND BRIEF DOGE ROLE

Ramaswamy was a long shot for president in the 2024 campaign but drew attention with his aggressive debate performances and deeply conservative policy positions, including an agenda that was further to the right of Trump’s on some issues. He ended his campaign after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses and endorsed Trump.

A week after the election, Trump named Ramaswamy to lead the group dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, with billionaire businessman Elon Musk. But he dropped out on Inauguration Day to focus on his gubernatorial ambitions in Ohio.  

RACISM ON THE RIGHT

Ramaswamy in December denounced a rising tide of racism and antisemitism on the political right before a group of conservative activists, singling out racial slurs about second lady Usha Vance, who was born in San Diego to Indian immigrants.    

“If you believe in normalizing hatred towards any ethnic group: toward whites, towards Blacks, towards Hispanics, towards Jews, towards Indians, you have no place in the future of the conservative movement. Period,” Ramaswamy said at AmericaFest, a conservative conference organized by Turning Point USA, the organization founded by slain activist Charlie Kirk.  

“And if you can’t say those things without stuttering, then you have no place as a leader at any level in the conservative movement either – certainly not in my state of Ohio,” he said.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Tim Reid; editing by Scott Malone, Rod Nickel)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military fired on an Iranian oil tanker Wednesday as President Donald Trump sought to pressure Tehran into reaching a deal to end the war. The Islamic Republic said it was reviewing the latest American proposals.

A fighter jet shot out the rudder of the tanker in the Gulf of Oman as it tried to breach the American blockade of Iran’s ports, U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.

The attack occurred as Iran and the U.S. are officially in a ceasefire. Trump threatened Tehran with a new wave of bombing if a deal is not reached that includes opening the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Trump posted on social media that the two-month war could soon end and that oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict could restart. But he said that depends on Iran accepting a reported agreement that the president did not detail.

“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts,” Trump wrote.

Meanwhile, Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time since a ceasefire between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group was announced April 17. Fighting has continued since then in southern Lebanon.

The last strikes in Beirut were on April 8, when a series of massive Israeli attacks killed more than 350 people. More than 2,500 have died in Lebanon since fighting began March 2, two days after Israel and the U.S. launched the war on Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday’s strike, which came without warning, targeted a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force. Hezbollah did not immediately comment.

Trump insisted Wednesday that Iranian officials want to end the war.

“We’re dealing with people that want to make a deal very much, and we’ll see whether or not they can make a deal that’s satisfactory to us,” the president said.

He suggested, both at the White House and on social media, that the U.S. could ultimately force a settlement.

“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts,” Trump said on social media, “and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”

The White House believes it is near an agreement with Iran on a one-page memorandum to end the war, according to reporting by Axios. There is no deal yet, but provisions include a moratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment, lifting of U.S. sanctions, distribution of frozen Iranian funds and opening the strait for ships.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the possible agreement.

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, told state TV that Tehran had “strongly rejected” U.S. proposals reported by Axios, but that it was still examining the latest proposed agreement.

A shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Tehran has largely held since it began April 8. Pakistan hosted in-person talks last month between the two countries, but they failed to reach an agreement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to China came ahead of a planned trip by Trump to Beijing.

Trump is scheduled to attend a high-profile summit on May 14 and 15 with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump was the last U.S. president to visit China in 2017.

“We believe that a comprehensive ceasefire is urgently needed, that a resumption of hostilities is not acceptable,” Wang said in a video of the meeting.

The Chinese foreign minister said the conflict “has not only caused serious losses to the Iranian people, but also had a severe impact on regional and global peace.”

Araghchi told Iranian state TV that his visit included discussions of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions imposed on Tehran.

Trump has demanded a major rollback of Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

A statement published on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website said China values Iran’s pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons while affirming its “legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”

AP PHOTO

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republicans in several Southern states pressed ahead with an aggressive election-year redistricting effort Wednesday to their plans to reshape congressional districts that have suddenly become vulnerable because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. 

In Tennessee, protesters repeatedly interrupted legislative hearings on the redistricting plans. Undeterred Republicans advanced them for a potential final vote Thursday. 

Republicans in the Alabama House approved a measure to upend the state’s congressional primaries if courts allow them to switch their U.S. House districts. 

The Supreme Court ruled last week that Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority House district as it attempted to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The ruling gives Republicans in Louisiana and elsewhere grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats. 

The ruling intensified an already fierce national redistricting battle ahead of a November midterm election that will determine control of the closely divided House. 

Texas was first to redraw its U.S. House districts last year, eight states have adopted new congressional districts. From that, Republicans think they could gain as many as 13 seats while Democrats think they could gain up to 10. But some of the new districts could be competitive in November, meaning the parties may not get all they sought. 

Tennessee plan splits up Memphis district 

Republicans on Wednesday proposed a new U.S. House map that would split Memphis’ home of Shelby County into three districts, instead of the current two. The map would break up Tennessee’s lone Democratic-held district, centered on the majority-Black city, creating a ripple effect of alterations to districts throughout the western and central parts of the state. 

“Tennessee is a conservative state, and our congressional delegation should reflect that. This bill ensures it does,” Republican state Sen. John Stevens said. 

Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the proposed districts were drawn based on population and politics, not racial data. 

Alabama House backs a new primary 

The Republican-led Alabama House on Wednesday passed legislation authorizing special congressional primaries as Republicans eye the possibility of getting a different congressional map in place for the November elections. The bill now moves to the state Senate. 

Alabama is seeking to lift a federal court order that created a second congressional district with a near-majority of Black voters. That map led to the 2024 election of Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat. Republicans want instead to use a 2023 map drawn by state lawmakers that would give the GOP an opportunity to reclaim Figures’ south Alabama district. 

South Carolina moves toward redistricting 

The South Carolina House on Wednesday approved a resolution giving lawmakers permission to return later, after their regular work ends, to redraw congressional districts that could eliminate the state’s only Democratic-held district. The proposal now goes to the Senate, where it would need a two-thirds vote. 

Republican House leaders said after the vote that they plan to introduce a new map Thursday and hold committee meetings on Friday. But during debate Wednesday.

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Five months ago, President Donald Trump was stinging from one of the first political defeats of his second term as Republican state senators defied him on redistricting in Indiana. Now he has proved he can still punish wayward party members after he endorsed a slate of challengers who defeated almost every one of the lawmakers he wanted to dislodge.

But that success may not help Republicans’ odds in November’s midterm elections, when Trump’s sagging poll numbers, lingering inflation and frustration over the war with Iran have boosted Democrats’ chance of retaking control of Congress. Some Republicans are worried that intraparty fights are costing time and money that should be focused on defending their majorities in Washington.

“Every dollar going toward keeping seats we already have, and not winning ones we don’t, really matters,” said Rick Tyler, a Republican strategist who has been critical of the president.

However, Trump doesn’t seem to have any second thoughts about purging his party of dissenters. Indiana’s primary will likely bolster his confidence in other primaries this month, as he tries to oust U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

It also ratchets up the pressure on Republican lawmakers in other states to move aggressively to redraw congressional district boundaries this year. Alabama and Tennessee have already begun special sessions that could limit Black voters’ strength in Democratic-leaning districts, and some of Trump’s allies in South Carolina want to follow suit.

State Sen. Linda Rogers, one of the Indiana lawmakers who voted against redistricting and lost her seat Tuesday, said the outcome of this week’s primary “will probably discourage others in other states.”

“If someone is going to ask you to take a tough vote, you may think twice about your conscience and what’s best for your community and instead what’s best for you and your career,” she said.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, who sided with Trump, said it was a “historic night” and he thanked Republican voters who “stood with me and President Trump to nominate some great America First conservatives.”

Redistricting efforts began last year when Trump saw an opportunity to give Republicans an additional edge. Indiana stood out as a Republican-run state that declined to give Trump what he wanted, even as GOP- and Democratic-led states traded gerrymandering maneuvers in a national competition.

After the Indiana Senate rejected the redistricting plan in December, Trump pledged to punish defiant lawmakers. His allies spent more than $8.3 million on races that usually see very little spending.

Andy Zay, a state senator who voted for redistricting, resigned in January to become chair of a state utility commission. He was a target of harassment and threats in the months leading up to the vote, and he said Trump’s influence and heavy spending made it tough for incumbents to hang on in the primaries.

“Trump matters and money matters,” he said.

Five of Trump’s targets lost their races. One won. One race was too close to call.

Trump allies celebrated the results and warned other Republicans who might be thinking of opposing the president.

“Redistrict ASAP for the November election or you face a real risk of losing your seat. No excuses,” Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist, wrote on social media. “Reschedule primaries if you must but redraw the map. Voters demand action NOW, not weakness.”

Redistricting efforts were supercharged last week when the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a provision of the Voting Rights Act that influenced how political lines are drawn in areas with large nonwhite populations.

James Blair, one of Trump’s top political advisers, posted an image from the movie “Gladiator” depicting Russell Crowe’s ancient Roman character Maximus exulting after a combat victory.

Trump himself was relatively restrained on social media. He shared a series of photos celebrating the victories of candidates he endorsed in Indiana and Ohio, which also held primaries Tuesday. But he otherwise passed on boasting or renewing his attacks on Massie or Cassidy.

Massie has been among the members of Congress who frustrated the president by pressing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files, challenging Trump for taking military action in Iran without congressional approval, and voting against the party’s sweeping tax-and-budget bill last year.

“I vote with the Republican Party and this president 90% of the time, and the 10% of the time that I’m not voting with the party or the president, I’m keeping the promises that the president and I campaigned on,” Massie recently told Kentucky’s PBS affiliate.

Explaining his vote against Trump’s signature domestic achievement, Massie called it “a big spending bill” and said he has voted consistently “not to bankrupt this country.”

Trump has endorsed Massie’s challenger, retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, and campaigned for him before the May 19 primary. In Louisiana, Trump backs Rep. Julie Letlow over Cassidy in their May 16 primary, which includes a third candidate, state Treasurer John Fleming.

Cassidy was among the Republican senators who voted to convict Trump on 2021 impeachment charges after the Jan. 6 riot. But he also has given Trump consistent support. Most notably, the Baton Rouge physician advanced Robert Kennedy Jr.’s controversial nomination as Trump’s health secretary.

The two-term incumbent is campaigning aggressively against Trump’s chosen candidate without mentioning the president in his attacks on Letlow.

“Sen. Cassidy is running like he’s 10 points down and is pounding the pavement every day,” Cassidy campaign manager Katie Larkin said in a statement.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., noted Wednesday that Trump has gone after Massie before, only for the congressman to win reelection.

“Thomas Massie has been very popular in his district,” McCarthy said during a “Fox & Friends” interview. Still, he warned, it is not an ideal situation for any Republican to run without Trump’s backing.

It is unusual for a sitting president to be focused on attacking and defeating his own party members this deep into a midterm election year. And it’s yielded notable spending that is not directed at Democrats. In Louisiana, Letlow, Cassidy, and other campaign organizations have plowed more than $28 million into attack ads.

“It’s a lot of dollars spent on taking on fellow Republicans,” said Marc Short, who worked for former Vice President Mike Pence, a onetime Indiana governor.

Short said it wasn’t clear that Trump’s involvement would help Republicans’ chances in November.

“There’ve been questions before, when he engages in these inner-party contests, will they work out as well when we get to the general election?”

Rogers, the Indiana state senator, faced almost $670,000 in television ads against her, funded by political action committees associated with Braun and U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind.

Yet even in defeat, she said she does not regret her vote against redistricting.

“It would have been easy for me to hit that ‘yes’ button,” she said. “To hear the number of people who asked me not to, then the number of people who thanked me, would mean I wasn’t representing them.”

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Barrow from Atlanta.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Andy Zay, while in the Indiana state Senate, had voted for redistricting.

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By Mike Stone

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) – The U.S. Air Force is targeting a Fourth of July delivery for a Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar that would join the Air Force One fleet in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary, a U.S. official and a person familiar with the program said.

The White House accepted the luxury jet from Qatar in 2025 and asked the Air Force to rapidly upgrade the aircraft to presidential standards, with L3Harris tapped to carry out the overhaul. If the company meets its deadline, President Donald Trump will have a new presidential aircraft in time for the national celebrations.

The person said there were efforts to possibly deliver the jet three weeks earlier to align with Trump’s birthday on June 14, ahead of the July 4 deadline.

The Qatari gift has drawn criticism from Democrats and advocates of good government, who warned it was a conflict of interest that could influence presidential decisions. Trump has dismissed complaints of accepting the 13-year-old airplane with a $400 million list price, saying it would be “stupid” to turn down the offer. There are two modified 747-200B aircraft in the current specialized Air Force One fleet. Any Air Force plane on which the U.S. president travels is called Air Force One. 

Retrofitting the luxury plane offered by Qatar’s royal family requires security upgrades, communications improvements to prevent spies from listening in and the ability to fend off incoming missiles, experts have said.

An Air Force spokesperson said, “The aircraft is on schedule to deliver this summer.” The aircraft has completed modification and flight testing and is now being painted, the Air Force said on Friday. 

OFFICIAL REPLACEMENT JETS DELAYED

The official Air Force One replacement program — Boeing’s effort to convert two 747-8 aircraft into next-generation presidential jets — is four years behind schedule, with delivery not expected until mid-2028. That risks leaving Trump without his prized new planes before his term ends in January 2029.

Boeing is locked in a fixed-price contract worth $3.9 billion in 2018, but costs have since ballooned to over $5 billion, with the company posting $2.4 billion in charges against earnings from the project. In a bid to steady the ship, Boeing in 2025 hired Steve Sullivan, a former Northrop Grumman executive who worked on the B-21 bomber program, to lead the effort. 

The Air Force recently unveiled a new paint scheme in red, white, dark blue and gold for its executive airlift fleet — reviving a color palette Trump had long pushed for. An earlier version of that design was scrapped in 2022.

The new livery will be applied to the VC-25B — the military designation for the Boeing 747-8 — replacing the white and two-tone blue scheme that has been in place since the Kennedy era. Four Boeing 757-200s used by the vice president, cabinet members and other senior officials will also be repainted.

In December, the Air Force purchased two former Lufthansa 747-8i aircraft for $400 million — one to serve as a dedicated trainer for aircrew and maintainers, and one to be used for spare parts as it prepares to eventually retire the current fleet, which has been in service since 1990.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Chris Sanders and Matthew Lewis)

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Seven candidates who want to be California’s next governor traded sharp attacks Tuesday in a wide-ranging debate that touched on issues from gas prices to raising taxes to healthcare in a contest that has no clear leader.

The televised debate came as mail voting was already underway in advance of a primary election that ends June 2. It was clear from the testy tone that candidates viewed the matchup as a critical juncture, with a national audience watching as it aired on CNN. The candidates are vying to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is barred by law from seeking a third term, to lead the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest economies.

During the two-hour showdown, Republicans Steve Hilton, a conservative commentator, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Democrats have made life worse for California’s nearly 40 million residents during more than 15 years in the governor’s office and that it’s time for a change.

The Democrats — former state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter,billionaire Tom Steyer, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — tried to distinguish themselves on policy and said President Donald Trump is California’s biggest threat.

An overarching issue was the punishing cost of living in California and how it might be eased, underscoring deep partisan divides. The average gas price was more than $6 per gallon in California on Tuesday, according to AAA.

Becerra was among those who argued Trump and the war in Iran are to blame for rapidly rising costs at the pump. Hilton and Bianco noted gas has long been much more expensive in California compared to other states due to taxes and regulations.

But when Hilton said he could reduce gas prices to $3 a gallon, Mahan fired back, “You’re lying to people.”

“Donald Trump is the president in all the other states in America where the cost of living is way lower than in California,” responded Hilton, who has Trump’s endorsement.

“Boys, boys, enough with the bickering,” Porter, the only woman on stage, interjected at one point.

The contest is unfolding as California struggles with a long-running homeless crisis, wildfire insurance shortages, projected budget shortfalls and housing costs that are out of reach for many working-class families. Voters, meanwhile, are saddled with growing everyday bills for groceries, utilities and gas.

Trump — who is widely unpopular in California outside his conservative base — was frequently denounced by Democrats, while Republicans said he was being used as a convenient scapegoat for the failures of the state’s Democratic leadership.

“Yes, I’m going to repeat Donald Trump as often as I have to because he’s the real menace that we have in California,” Becerra said.

“Donald Trump sucks,” Porter said bluntly.

The candidates sparred over tax policy, with only Steyer saying he supports a one-time tax on billionaires that’s likely to be on the ballot this November. He said it wasn’t the only tax increase he’d seek. Porter, meanwhile, said the tax was too narrow and wouldn’t make a real change. Mahan, who wants to suspend the state’s gas tax, said his fellow Democrats have focused too much on expanding government rather than making it work better. Hilton pledged to make people’s first $100,000 free of income tax.

Beyond policy, the candidates looked for openings to knock down their rivals. Becerra was peppered with questions about the federal indictment of his chief of staff and others, including a former top Newsom aide, alleging they stole campaign money from him. The indictment alleges the scheme was designed to pad the salary of Becerra’s chief of staff when Becerra was serving as the federal health secretary. Several people involved have pleaded guilty.

Becerra has not been implicated or indicted, but Villaraigosa and Hilton used the incident to question his judgment and suggest he may have been involved. Hilton said that, if elected, he would even push the state attorney general to investigate Becerra.

“If I had been involved, the U.S. attorney would have had me in that indictment. I was not involved,” Becerra said.

Bianco faced questions about his decision to seize more than half a million ballots in Riverside County to investigate claims of election fraud that local officials say are unfounded. The state Supreme Court ordered his investigation halted.

Porter was asked about a new ad in which she refers in jest to an embarrassing video that surfaced last year showing the former House member loudly berating a staffer. Porter said it showed “I’m able to take responsibility.”

She added, “If these boys bullying and bickering hasn’t been enough to raise questions about their temperament, I would really challenge that.”

Hilton, meanwhile, refused to answer when pressed about whether Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

California puts all candidates on a single ballot and the two with the most votes go on to the November general election, regardless of party. Democrats have worried that their crowded field could result in two Republicans advancing, which would be a historic calamity for the party.

The GOP has not won a statewide election in California in two decades, and registered Democrats outnumber Republicans about 2-to-1 statewide.

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Austin reported from Sacramento, California.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An election-year redistricting movement has spread to South Carolina as Republicans attempt to redraw majority-Black congressional districts that have suddenly become susceptible because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upending protections for minority voters.

Urged on by President Donald Trump, South Carolina Republicans are attempting to redraw a district long held by a Black Democratic lawmaker in their quest for a clean sweep of the state’s seven congressional seats.

Lawmakers already are meeting in special sessions in Alabama and Tennessee in a bid to change their U.S. House districts. And Louisiana lawmakers also are making plans for new congressional districts after the Supreme Court last week struck down the state’s current map.

The high court’s ruling said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority House district as it attempted to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The ruling significantly altered a decades-old understanding of the law, giving Republicans grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats.

The ruling revved up an already intense national redistricting battle ahead of a November midterm election that will determine control of the closely divided House.

Since Trump prodded Texas to redraw its U.S. House districts last year, a total of eight states have adopted new congressional districts. From that, Republicans think they could gain as many as 13 seats while Democrats think they could gain up to 10 seats. But some of the new districts could be competitive in November, meaning the parties may not get all they sought.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn has represented South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District since it was redrawn to favor minority voters in 1992. He’s running for an 18th term. But it could get harder for him to win reelection if Republicans redraw his district.

Leaders in the state House and Senate said a redistricting effort needs to start with a two-thirds vote in each chamber. The issue could come up as soon as Wednesday. But if only a few Republicans aren’t on board, it can’t succeed.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has warned that redistricting could backfire because of thin political margins, resulting in a second Democrat in the U.S. House. Massey told reporters Tuesday that he had a cordial conversation with Trump about redistricting, each laying out their concerns.

The state’s primaries are June 9 and early voting starts in three weeks.

The House on Wednesday could debate legislation that would allow Alabama to hold a special congressional primary, if the Supreme Court clears the way for the state to change its U.S. House districts.

In light of the court’s ruling on Louisiana’s districts, Alabama officials have asked courts to set aside a judicial order to use a U.S. House map that includes two districts with a substantial number of Black voters. Republicans instead want to use a map passed in 2023 by the Legislature that could help the GOP win at least one of those two seats currently held by Democrats.

Alabama’s primaries are scheduled for May 19. If the Supreme Court grants the state’s request after or too close to the primary, the legislation under consideration would ignore the results of that primary and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under the revised districts.

Democrats denounced the legislation as a Republican power grab that harkens back to the state’s shameful history of denying Black residents equal rights and representation.

Republicans are “working to secure an electoral victory by taking Alabama back to the Jim Crow era, and we won’t go back,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell told a crowd gathered outside the Alabama Statehouse.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee called Tennessee lawmakers into a special session to consider a plan urged by Trump that could break up the state’s lone Democratic-held U.S. House district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis. Republicans didn’t say much about the plan Tuesday.

But as the Senate began work Tuesday, shouts of “shame, shame, shame” could be heard inside the chamber from protesters gathered in the hallways. On the chamber floor, Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Black Democrat from Memphis, called the redistricting “an act of hate.”

Martin Luther King III sent a letter to Tennessee legislative leaders expressing “grave concern” about the plan to divide Memphis, saying the move could undermine the work for voting rights carried out by his father, Martin Luther King Jr.

The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6.

After last week’s Supreme Court decision, Republican Gov. Mike Landry postponed the state’s May 16 congressional primary to allow time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts. State Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, a Republican, said a redistricting committee he leads plans to hold a public hearing Friday.

Louisiana voters had already sent in more than 41,000 absentee ballots by last Thursday, when Landry suspended the House primaries, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. That’s about a third of all the absentee ballots sent out to voters. Around 19,000 were from registered Democrats, 17,000 from registered Republicans and the remainder belonged to neither party.

Democrats and civil rights groups have filed several lawsuits challenging the suspension of Louisiana’s congressional primary.

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Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama, Loller from Nashville and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri. Associated Press writer Jack Brook contributed from New Orleans.

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(Repeats to attach to alert)

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) – Former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown was projected to win the Ohio Democratic primary election on Tuesday, in his bid to win back the seat he held until his 2024 reelection defeat, according to the Associated Press and NBC News.

(Reporting by Christian Martinez)

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