Abcarian: Steyer “really won my heart…Could it be I’m falling in love?”

LOS ANGELES — As California voters continue to fill out their ballots, Los Angeles Times Columnist Robin Abcarian’s Sunday column hailed Tom Steyer as the strongest candidate in the race for governor with a plan to bring down costs for Californians and drew attention to Xavier Becerra’s failure to protect migrant children.

Abcarian’s comprehensive analysis of all major candidates in the race included Republicans Steve Hilton (“deeply misguided”) and Chad Bianco (“just about every political take he has is bad”) and their election-denying, dangerous MAGA agenda that keeps costs high for California families.

However, the most pointed criticism was reserved for Becerra’s record: “… on his watch at HHS, the Office of Refugee Resettlement lost track of 85,000 migrant children, most of whom poured into the country from Central America as unaccompanied minors between 2021 and 2023,” wrote Abcarian. “The New York Times found that many of the minors, mostly teenage boys, were exploited by sponsors, who illegally put them to work in various factories, food processing plants and as roofers,” she added.

Abcarian’s take on others in the Democratic field were that “[Matt] Mahan comes across as super competent, not ideological, and a bit rehearsed.” And that she “winced at some of the things [Katie] Porter said on the debate stage.”

Abcarian’s column concluded with her reflections on Tom Steyer’s record as “committed environmentalist” as the only candidate who “actively embraces closing the real estate tax loophole… which would generate billions in new revenue for the state.” 

Steyer’s support for the billionaire’s tax if it qualifies for the ballot, and noted he “vowed to prosecute ICE agents and its leadership — ‘including Stephen Miller’.”

“Could it be I’m falling in love?”

Excerpts from the Los Angeles Times column can be found below and read here:

What am I looking for in a new California governor?

Like a big chunk of the state’s voters, I’m not exactly sure. But I’ve been watching and listening to their spate of debates in the last week, and I’m actually shocked by who I am leaning toward.

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… Steyer seems to be the most committed environmentalist of the bunch…and Bernie Sanders supports him…

…He is the one candidate who actively embraces closing the real estate tax loophole that has allowed commercial property owners to evade reassessment, thus keeping their property taxes insanely low. Closing this loophole, which voters narrowly rejected in 2020, would generate billions in new revenue for the state. He said he will vote for the billionaires tax if it qualifies for the ballot.

But he really won my heart last week when he declared at the Skirball debate that “ICE is a criminal organization. They’re coming into our state, they’re terrorizing people, and they’re racially profiling people … I am in favor of abolishing ICE.” He vowed to prosecute ICE agents and its leadership — “including Stephen Miller.”

Could it be I’m falling in love?

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