A deep-dive policy analysis measuring the frontrunners through the lenses of education, commerce, and public safety.
SACRAMENTO, CA — With the June 2 primary election arriving, California voters find themselves staring at an incredibly crowded, wide-open ballot featuring 61 candidates all vying to succeed Gavin Newsom. Under the state’s nonpartisan, top-two open primary system, party lines blur as every name shares a single ballot, and only the two highest vote-getters—regardless of political affiliation—will earn a ticket to the general election in November.
It is a high-stakes, volatile race currently dominated by a fiercely competitive three-way polling sprint between former federal HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer, and conservative political commentator Steve Hilton, with prominent contenders like consumer champion Katie Porter, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan keeping the field highly fragmented.
But as the airwaves fill with standard campaign attacks and horse-race polling figures, everyday Californians are left looking for genuine clarity. They are trying to figure out how the next administration plans to practically confront the state’s crushing affordability crisis, fluctuating energy grids, and systemic housing shortages.
That is where The A.T.L. National Agenda: Election 2026 comes in.
Our dedicated California Bureau is bypassing the empty political theater. We are not interested in partisan talking points or performative soundbites. Instead, our boots-on-the-ground regional correspondents are dissecting the frontrunners’ platforms through a rigorous, nonpartisan, three-lens framework designed to evaluate what actually impacts our daily lives:
- ART (Education, Culture, & Social Capital): How candidates plan to recalibrate California’s K-12 public school systems, fund higher education, expand subsidized childcare, and protect the human capital driving our creative and tech industries.
- TRADE (Business, Infrastructure, & Economics): An objective look at corporate tax structures, small business regulations, transportation logistics, transit-oriented housing permit streamlining, and the future of regional commerce.
- LIFESTYLE (Public Safety, Wellness, & Liberty): Unpacking the practical strategies on public safety, the scaling of the Medi-Cal system, wildfire and environmental resilience, and the protection of personal liberties.
California is an economic engine and a cultural powerhouse, but its structural challenges require clear, measurable, metrics-based solutions. Over the next six months, our bureau will deliver deep, hyperlocal, and completely transparent “Candidate Blueprints” to give you the objective data you need to shape the future of the Golden State.
Welcome to this special California edition of The A.T.L. National Agenda. Let’s look at the policies, not the noise.
The Field At A Glance: In this comprehensive, one-day feature, we dive straight into our exclusive candidate profiles, tracking the specific Art, Trade, and Lifestyle platforms of the leading contenders: Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton, Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Chad Bianco, Matt Mahan, Tony Thurmond, and Antonio Villaraigosa. Read on for the full policy breakdown.
Democratic Candidates
Xavier Becerra (D)
- Originally From: Sacramento, California.
- California Residency: Longtime California resident with deep roots in Sacramento and Los Angeles.
- Career: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS); California Attorney General; 24 years representing Los Angeles in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Platform: Anchored on “Economic Opportunity and Care for All,” treating health care, housing, and clean energy as core public infrastructure while framing his campaign as a stabilizing force for working families.
- Known For: Being the first in his immigrant family to earn a college degree; a historic legal record of challenging federal policy in court as Attorney General; and positioning himself to be California’s definitive “Health-Care Governor.”
The A.T.L. Agenda (Bureau Analysis)
- ART (Educational Recalibration & Social Investment) Becerra’s “Art” pillar focuses on protecting the foundational social fabric of the state through equitable public investments. He proposes a massive expansion of state-subsidized childcare and early childhood development resources to relieve working parents. In higher education and workforce development, his focus centers on broadening access to creative and technological fields, treating human capital as California’s primary cultural asset.
- TRADE (Regulatory Innovation & Infrastructure) The “Trade” agenda for Becerra focuses on aggressive market oversight and corporate accountability. To combat the affordability crisis, he advocates for utilizing state executive power to confront corporate price-gouging in groceries and consumer goods. His trade strategy treats housing construction and grid reliability as public utilities, calling for streamlined state-backed developments to lower costs where traditional market mechanisms have stalled.
- LIFESTYLE (Systemic Wellness & Resilience) Becerra’s “Lifestyle” anchor is absolute institutional equity and health security. He aims to aggressively strengthen the Medi-Cal system, eliminate systemic racial and economic gaps in medical delivery, and build an intentional path toward a universal single-payer healthcare system. Additionally, his lifestyle model prioritizes climate disaster preparedness and community resilience, ensuring low-income households and renters are not left behind during environmental transitions.
Katie Porter (D)
- Originally From: Fort Dodge, Iowa.
- California Residency: Orange County, California (since 2011).
- Career: U.S. Representative for California’s 45th and 47th congressional districts; UC Irvine law professor; court-appointed independent monitor of banks during the National Mortgage Settlement.
- Platform: Running a strict corporate-free campaign centered on middle-class tax relief, aggressive corporate oversight, and restructuring the state budget to ensure public resources directly benefit working families.
- Known For: Her iconic whiteboard presentations during congressional hearings; her refusal to accept corporate PAC or federal lobbyist campaign contributions; and her relatable branding as a single mother navigating everyday inflation.
The A.T.L. Agenda (Bureau Analysis)
- ART (Educational Accessibility & Creative Equity) Porter’s “Art” pillar is built on structural economic liberation for students. Her headline education policy is the total elimination of tuition fees at all California public universities, removing the financial gatekeeping that restricts middle-class access to advanced degrees and creative industries. She views the reduction of student debt as essential to unlocking the state’s next wave of intellectual and cultural innovation.
- TRADE (Middle-Class Protection & Corporate Accountability) The “Trade” agenda for Porter is driven by aggressive market fairness. She proposes eliminating state income taxes completely for any Californian earning under $100,000, immediately shifting the tax burden away from workers and onto corporations and high-earning entities. Her trade strategy focuses heavily on breaking down corporate monopolies, lowering gas prices through strict regulatory scrutiny of oil executives, and capping childcare expenses at zero cost for working families.
- LIFESTYLE (Transit Housing & Community Freedom) Porter’s “Lifestyle” anchor centers on structural affordability and consumer protection. To tackle the state’s housing deficit, she champions zoning overhauls to build high-density, affordable worker housing directly adjacent to major public transit corridors. Her consumer-first lifestyle lens treats reliable healthcare, reproductive freedom, and environmental defense as non-negotiable rights that must be protected from corporate exploitation.
Tom Steyer (D)
- Originally From: New York City, New York.
- California Residency: San Francisco, California (since 1986).
- Career: Founder and former Co-Senior Managing Partner of Farallon Capital; founder of NextGen America; 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
- Platform: A progressive, self-funded campaign focused on aggressively taxing corporate wealth, challenging utility monopolies, and mobilizing state resources to combat climate change.
- Known For: His immense personal wealth and willingness to deploy it, funding a highly visible campaign; pivoting from hedge-fund investing to full-time environmental activism; and securing major endorsements from progressive organizations and prominent labor unions.
The A.T.L. Agenda (Bureau Analysis)
- ART (Publicly Funded Enrichment & Digital Ethics) Steyer’s “Art” pillar focuses on establishing fully universal, state-funded education extending from pre-K all the way through public college. Furthermore, his platform treats advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence as public assets. He advocates for strict state-level safety audits and ethical guardrails on AI and social media platforms to ensure tech developments serve human enrichment rather than corporate wealth concentration.
- TRADE (Utility Disruptions & Green Industrialism) The “Trade” agenda for Steyer is built on disrupting corporate monopolies. He proposes a mandatory 25% reduction in domestic electricity bills by directly challenging investor-owned utility rate models. To fund massive state infrastructure, his trade model calls for raising corporate property taxes and forcing billionaires to pay a significantly higher share, transforming California into a powerhouse for clean, green manufacturing jobs.
- LIFESTYLE (Climate Security & Unified Healthcare) Steyer’s “Lifestyle” anchor is defined by climate defense and comprehensive care. His environmental platform seeks to rapidly accelerate California’s transition to 100% renewable energy while ensuring immediate protection against wildfire destruction. On a personal level, he backs a publicly funded universal healthcare system for all residents and pledges to defend immigrant communities from aggressive federal enforcement measures.
Matt Mahan (D)
- Originally From: San Francisco, California (raised in Watsonville).
- California Residency: Deep roots in the Bay Area and Santa Clara County.
- Career: Mayor of San Jose; former San Jose City Councilmember; technology entrepreneur and co-founder of digital voter engagement platforms.
- Platform: Running as a data-driven, tech-adjacent moderate Democrat focused on accountability, performance-based governance, tax restraint, and metrics-based solutions to homelessness.
- Known For: His rapid rise from tech executive to mayor of California’s third-largest city; his outspoken critique of traditional, slow-moving state bureaucracies; and his reliance on pragmatic “common-sense” public metrics.
The A.T.L. Agenda (Bureau Analysis)
- ART (Educational Accountability & Workforce Outcomes) Mahan’s “Art” pillar applies a tech-sector mindset to educational systems. Rather than focusing solely on overall funding numbers, he advocates for tying public education resources to tangible student outcomes and performance metrics. His platform emphasizes vocational readiness and expanding pipeline partnerships between public high schools, community colleges, and regional tech/trade employers to keep California’s workforce competitive.
- TRADE (Tax Restraint & Permit Streamlining) The “Trade” agenda for Mahan centers on market efficiency and fiscal discipline. A staunch opponent of tax increases, he proposes a temporary suspension of the state gas tax to provide immediate relief to workers and small businesses. His trade strategy focuses on removing the regulatory red tape that slows down private enterprise, advocating for aggressive permit-streamlining to lower the commercial cost of doing business in California.
- LIFESTYLE (Metrics-Based Housing & Government Performance) Mahan’s “Lifestyle” anchor targets municipal optimization and public order. To combat street homelessness, he champions the deployment of managed “tiny home” communities as a rapid, cost-effective alternative to expensive, long-term permanent affordable housing projects. Crucially, his lifestyle philosophy demands structural government accountability, proposing that the salaries of state and municipal agency leaders be directly tied to their performance in meeting public safety and housing goals.
Antonio Villaraigosa (D)
- Originally From: Los Angeles, California.
- California Residency: Lifelong California resident with deep cultural ties to Southern California.
- Career: Mayor of Los Angeles (2005–2013); Speaker of the California State Assembly; President of the Los Angeles City Council.
- Platform: A pragmatic, moderate Democratic platform centered on massive infrastructure investment, balanced environmental rules, and robust support for traditional law enforcement.
- Known For: Being a towering figure in Southern California politics; presiding over major transit and police expansions in LA; and positioning himself as a seasoned dealmaker capable of bridging business and labor interests.
The A.T.L. Agenda (Bureau Analysis)
- ART (Cultural Infrastructure & Localized Education) Villaraigosa’s “Art” pillar is deeply tied to civic pride and localized community assets. Drawing from his legislative and mayoral history, his platform emphasizes direct state investment in regional cultural institutions, public spaces, and school district autonomy. He views the protection of local arts, sports, and community-level educational programs as vital to maintaining the social cohesion of California’s diverse metropolitan hubs.
- TRADE (Pragmatic Transition & Transit Expansion) The “Trade” agenda for Villaraigosa focuses on major public works and industrial realism. A vocal advocate for infrastructure, he supports aggressive state funding for public transportation expansions modeled after his work in Los Angeles. On energy, he takes a moderate approach to commerce, advocating for a temporary moratorium on new climate regulations and supporting the utilization of natural gas as a necessary “transition fuel” to protect manufacturing and commercial stability.
- LIFESTYLE (Expanded Policing & Municipal Security) Villaraigosa’s “Lifestyle” anchor is rooted in traditional public safety and community health. He rejects calls to scale back law enforcement budgets, pushing instead for state-backed initiatives to expand municipal police forces and increase community-oriented policing. His lifestyle doctrine balances this law-and-order stance with a focus on practical healthcare delivery, leveraging his deep ties to labor unions to protect worker benefits and access to regional medical networks.
Tony Thurmond (D)
- Originally From: Fort Ord, California (raised in San Jose, CA and Philadelphia, PA).
- California Residency: Decades of public service across Northern California (Contra Costa and Alameda counties).
- Career: California State Superintendent of Public Instruction; Member of the California State Assembly; Richmond City Councilmember; professional social worker.
- Platform: Anchored on the progressive left, focusing on direct wealth redistribution, protecting public healthcare funding, and using state-owned land to construct affordable housing.
- Known For: His background as a social worker and advocate for vulnerable youth; leading the state’s vast K-12 public education system; and being the only major candidate in the field openly championing a targeted wealth tax.
The A.T.L. Agenda (Bureau Analysis)
- ART (Public School Investment & Creative Safe Havens) Thurmond’s “Art” pillar is built entirely on the fortification of public education. He opposes voucher systems and the privatization of school resources, calling instead for direct funding increases for K-12 classrooms, mental health support staff, and arts programs. His platform focuses heavily on closing the achievement gap and protecting local school districts from culture-war standard curriculum rollbacks, ensuring schools remain inclusive social safe havens.
- TRADE (Billionaire Wealth Tax & Working-Class Credits) The “Trade” agenda for Thurmond focuses on progressive taxation to restructure state revenues. His signature economic proposal is a one-time tax on the assets of California’s billionaires, designed to directly backfill potential federal cuts to local healthcare systems. To stimulate local trade at the grassroots level, he advocates for expanding direct tax credits for lower-income working families and establishing strict living-wage protections across the state.
- LIFESTYLE (District-Owned Housing & Medi-Cal Security) Thurmond’s “Lifestyle” anchor emphasizes absolute social equity and public health protections. To confront the housing crisis, he proposes an innovative model allowing local school districts to utilize spare public land to build affordable housing for teachers and public workers. His lifestyle blueprint is heavily protective of safety-net infrastructure, prioritizing the absolute defense of Medi-Cal expansion and broadening access to state-subsidized social services.
Steve Hilton (R)
- Originally From: United Kingdom (born to Hungarian immigrant parents).
- California Residency: Silicon Valley, California (since 2012).
- Career: Fox News host and political commentator; Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur; former director of strategy for British Prime Minister David Cameron.
- Platform: Running on a “nonpartisan” affordability agenda aimed at dismantling what he terms the “incompetence of one-party rule” by slashing income taxes, reversing environmental regulations, and enforcing immigration laws.
- Known For: Securing prominent national conservative endorsements; his distinct international background as a UK immigrant who built a media and tech career in California; and his high-profile advocacy for political decentralization.
The A.T.L. Agenda (Bureau Analysis)
- ART (School Choice & Educational Competition) Hilton’s “Art” pillar is rooted in transforming the educational landscape through market competition. Partnering with prominent school-choice advocates, his platform centers on empowering parents with state-funded vouchers to choose private, charter, or alternative schooling options outside the traditional public system, aiming to break the monopoly of centralized education bureaucracies.
- TRADE (Tax Deconstruction & Deregulation) The “Trade” agenda for Hilton focuses on aggressive supply-side relief. He proposes a sweeping across-the-board cut to state income taxes across all brackets to immediately stimulate private investment. To lower fuel and living costs, his trade strategy demands the immediate suspension of local environmental regulations that drive up gas and energy prices, seeking to restore what he calls the “ladder of economic opportunity” for business owners.
- LIFESTYLE (Federal Compliance & Deregulated Housing) Hilton’s “Lifestyle” anchor prioritizes strict public safety and deregulation. He vows to completely reverse California’s sanctuary state policies, ensuring full municipal compliance and cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. His lifestyle approach to the housing crisis involves stripping away environmental mandates and local building red tape, allowing private developers to rapidly scale homeownership opportunities for working families.
Chad Bianco (R)
- Originally From: Iowa.
- California Residency: Riverside County, California (since 1993).
- Career: Over 30 years in law enforcement; elected Sheriff-Coroner-Public Administrator of Riverside County (serving since 2018).
- Platform: A rigid “Law and Order” platform dedicated to rolling back criminal justice reforms, boosting domestic fossil fuel production, and enforcing strict state sovereignty on immigration.
- Known For: His vocal, high-profile opposition to Sacramento’s progressive legislative agenda; his leadership of one of the largest Sheriff’s departments in the United States; and his positioning as an unyielding conservative institutional alternative in the race.
The A.T.L. Agenda (Bureau Analysis)
LIFESTYLE (Public Safety & Sovereign Borders) Bianco’s “Lifestyle” anchor is absolute public security. He advocates for a total overhaul of the state’s criminal justice system, seeking to increase penalties for felony offenses, expand local jail capacities, and reverse progressive bail reforms. His lifestyle doctrine explicitly calls for overturning California’s sanctuary laws, allowing local law enforcement to actively coordinate with federal immigration authorities to secure municipalities.
ART (Institutional Discipline & Vocational Focus) Bianco’s “Art” pillar treats public education through the lens of discipline, core civic knowledge, and standard vocational readiness. His platform opposes progressive curriculum mandates coming from state agencies, advocating instead for hyper-local control over school districts and an educational focus geared toward practical trades, law enforcement pathways, and foundational academic skills.
TRADE (Energy Production & Penal Adjustments) The “Trade” agenda for Bianco relies heavily on traditional resource extraction and commercial security. He proposes an aggressive expansion of local oil and natural gas production within California to slash fuel costs and drive regional commerce. Furthermore, his trade platform argues that economic growth requires safe commercial districts, necessitating the immediate rollback of retail theft reforms to protect business owners from losses.