As the governor’s election enters the final stretch, candidates are leaving California residents with lasting impressions to secure votes. The California Black Power Network (CBPN) hosted a gubernatorial forum to introduce candidates and allow them to speak directly to the Black community. Two major questions emerged during the forum, centering on rent control and reform of California’s legal system.
What are your thoughts on rent control, and do you support other pathways to affordable housing?
Ramsey Robinson: I absolutely support rent control. I want to extend that to freezing evictions and banning corporate landlords and those who are taking advantage of low-income communities. I have a high school freshman now, who’s being tasked with getting a job to help the family because rent is too expensive for them. We have 187 thousand homeless people in California, yet we have 1.2 million empty homes. Something has to change.
Dr. Nancy Young: As governor, I was an advocate for statewide consistency to make sure that every homeowner and business owner has unified standards that protect them from predatory rent increases. My administration would prioritize three major pathways: direct subsidies, streamlining state permits to turn underutilized land into affordable housing, and creating state-level credit to help cover rent increases.
Tom Steyer: Affordability is the number one issue for all Californians, and that’s why I’m strongly in favor of rent control and would fully enforce the Tenant Protection Act. I also want to expand the renters’ tax credit to put more money back in renters’ hands.
Matt Mahan: I would restrict private equity firms from buying homes in bulk and selling them for higher prices.
Butch Ware: The housing problem isn’t about supply; it’s about financial allocation, and it starts with taxing BlackRock and other private equity firms into selling these vacant units and putting a stop to vacant ghost apartments and houses. I believe in the housing-first method, which means we need to fill up houses and units we already have instead of building more to sit on the market.
Antonio Villaraigosa: I support a renters’ tax credit and believe that the governor has to fix this broken system. I had a long history of working and correcting the system during my time as mayor and would continue at a higher level as governor.
Do you believe that restorative justice tools and mechanisms have a place in California’s criminal justice system, and what actions would you take to close empty California prisons?
Ware: I’m an abolitionist, and I believe in the abolition of ICE and the police, and I firmly support the establishment of community-based policing, and I look forward to the day we can close down Pelican Bay. There is a direct line between slavery and the industrial prison system. There are more Black males in prison today than there were in slavery. We must move on from this.
Steyer: I have worked consistently and strongly in supporting rehabilitative justice since denouncing my support of the prison system 20 years ago. I started a Black nonprofit that fights for equity and social justice, and the work has yielded repercussions for officers who abused their power. I fully support getting rid of the concept of life without parole.
Mahan: California’s three strikes law has devastated many Black families, leading to a 12:1 sentencing disparity between Black and white sentences. I fully support youth intervention programs as a diversion from the criminal justice system.
Robinson: Restorative justice on every level of our justice system needs reform, and it starts with community authority over the local police. We also need to grant clemency to the elders in prison who are long overdue for their freedom to be returned to them.
Young: As governor, I would champion restorative justice and community-led accountability. We need to move away from a system that discards people and toward one that heals and teaches.
Villaraigosa: I absolutely believe in restorative justice. I was part of the coalition against police abuse in the 90s and was also against California’s three-strike rule. I have been at the forefront of this issue and would start reforming the legal system as soon as I get elected.
June 2 is election day, and registered voters can find the closest polling stations near them by visiting lavote.gov.