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Eric Swalwell’s abrupt departure from the campaign for governor due to revelations about sexual transgressions leaves nine men and women remaining as serious contenders for spots on the November ballot.
So far their campaigns have produced a scattershot of positions and promises that have only occasionally touched on California’s real world issues. However, by sheer coincidence, there’s been a recent flurry of think tank reports and articles on those issues that should be required reading for would-be governors and moderators of forums to question the candidates.
In no particular order:
Schools
The Public Policy Institute of California delved into the worrisome lack of academic achievement among in California’s public schools. It notes that in state tests just 49% of students met or exceeded state standards in English language and 37% in math.
Results of federal tests were even less satisfactory, with only 29% of fourth-graders and 28% of eighth-graders proficient in reading and 35% and 25%, respectively, in math.
Mississippi, long a laggard in academic skills, got serious about raising reading comprehension by adopting phonics. California, after years of political debate, finally semi-adopted phonics, although not completely requiring it. An article in Atlantic magazine reveals that in Mississippi, just adopting phonics was not enough; statewide mandates, coupled with state oversight, were needed to make phonics work — a suggestion maybe California needs to follow suit.
Jobs
Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom loves to brag about California’s $4 trillion economy but rarely mentions the darker side — several years with virtually no job growth. The Public Policy Institute of California digs into that stagnation and reports, “Job gains have been limited to a few key sectors like health care and local government, while stock market gains have been driven by AI. Unemployment has not increased much in the past two years, though it remains higher than in 2022 and above almost all other states.
“One major challenge for the next governor will be providing expensive services like health care to a growing older adult population while the share of workers shrinks,” PPIC says.
The conservative Pacific Research Institute plows the same economic ground in a report. “The data shows that California’s economic challenges are no longer theoretical — they are measurable and worsening,” said Wayne Winegarden, one of the report’s authors. “The state’s weak job growth and shrinking private sector signal that California is at a crossroads. Without meaningful policy reforms, the gap between California and the rest of the country will continue to widen.”
One aspect of California’s economic sluggishness is an outflow of workers due to its sky-high living costs. Another report from the Public Policy Institute of California says the state has seen a net loss of nearly 1.3 million people since 2020. The outflow, coupled with a record low birth rate, makes California especially reliant on immigration for new workers, which in turn is affected by turmoil in federal immigration policy.
Homes
A study by UC-Berkeley’s California Policy Lab delves even further into the state’s loss of population to other states, citing high living costs, especially for housing, as the prime factor.
It notes that “in 2012 the state’s median household income was roughly sufficient to qualify for a mortgage on a mid-tier home, but it now falls substantially short of the level needed to qualify for even a bottom-tier home.”
However, those who abandon California more easily become homeowners due to much lower prices and see improvement in their overall financial wellbeing.
This is not an exhaustive catalogue of California issues that the campaigns for governor should address. Water supply and homelessness also need attention, as well as the insurance crisis and the state’s chronic budget deficits. But these reports are a good start for serious debate.
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