LOS ANGELES — Democratic candidates in California’s June 2 gubernatorial primary are stepping up efforts to court Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) voters, outlining policy proposals on the cost of living, health care and housing at a recent forum in Koreatown.
Xavier Becerra, Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa and Betty Yee spoke April 18 at World Mission University, presenting plans on a range of issues including health care, housing, small business, immigration, the environment and voting rights, with a focus on the state’s affordability crisis.
The forum was co-hosted by the Korean American Democratic Committee (KADC) and CAUSE (Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment), with more than 40 API community organizations participating.
The event was structured as a policy forum rather than a debate. Candidates responded to pre-selected questions in turn. It was moderated by Nathan Chan, a professor at Loyola Marymount University, and Andrea Mac, a programs manager at CAUSE. Community representatives from Vietnamese, Thai and Indian organizations, along with small business owner James Choi of Cafe Dulce, posed questions.
Affordability, health care among top priorities
Steyer, a businessman and a philanthropist, said “Californians can no longer afford to live here,” making cost reduction across the board his top priority. Steyer is currently leading among Democratic candidates by a narrow margin in a recent Emerson College poll.
He pointed to health care costs as a central issue and strongly backed a single-payer system. He also argued that high operating costs — not just regulation — are the main burden on small businesses, proposing rent tax relief, electricity market reforms and a windfall profits tax on oil companies to ease financial pressure.
Becerra, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and California attorney general, emphasized his experience implementing policy. He proposed expanding community health centers and strengthening public programs to gradually improve access to care. He also called for a “one-stop” system to simplify government services for small businesses, along with increased housing supply and expanded down payment assistance.
Thurmond, California’s superintendent of public instruction, highlighted his upbringing in an immigrant family and pledged to focus on working families. He supports a single-payer health care system, middle-class tax credits and expanded access to low-interest loans to reduce financial strain on small business owners.
Villaraigosa, a former Los Angeles mayor, pointed to his record expanding housing, reducing violent crime, improving public school outcomes and advancing environmental initiatives. He advocated for regulatory reform and streamlined permitting to boost the economy, while cracking down on health care fraud to reduce waste. “I’m not just an administrator — I’m a coalition builder,” he said, pledging to lead an inclusive, multiracial state government.
Yee withdraws
Yee was the only Asian American candidate in the race until she announced her withdrawal April 20. She drew on her experience growing up in a family that ran a small laundry business. She emphasized the challenges facing immigrant-owned businesses and called for policies that address both regulatory burdens and global economic pressures such as supply chains and tariffs.
Yee also identified inefficiencies and fraud in Medi-Cal as key issues and stressed the need to improve language access, calling it “the most persistent barrier across generations.” She proposed expanding multilingual services and diversifying the health care workforce.
April is National Language Access month aimed at promoting awareness of language access rights in public services.
The power of the API vote
Esther Kim, president of KADC, said the forum was intended to help API voters better understand key policies and make their voices heard.
Kim said the forum will be released online with multilingual subtitles, aiming to expand civic engagement among API voters.
Nancy Yap, executive director of CAUSE, said API communities are a vital and fast-growing constituency in California. “This forum was an opportunity to show that we are here, engaged and paying attention,” she said.
According to Yap, about 7.5 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders live in California, making up more than 16% of the state’s population. More than 4 million are registered voters, and API-owned businesses number about 750,000, supporting over 2.5 million jobs and generating roughly $193 billion in economic activity.
Race still a toss up
The race to replace outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom was shaken after allegations of sexual abuse by Democratic frontrunner and now former U.S. Representative Eric Swallwell, who has since withdrawn from the race and resigned from his position.
Reporting shows Becerra surging ahead in the wake of Swalwell’s exit, moving from just 4% support on April 5 to 13%, leading other Democratic candidates, according to the Democratic Party’s most recent tracking poll.
With six Democrats still in the running, the two Republican candidates remain at the top of most polls.
A recent Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics survey found Republican Steve Hilton — a former FOX News host and Trump-endorsed candidate — leading with 17%, followed by Republican Chad Bianco and Steyer at 14% each.
