On Wednesday evening, four Republicans looking to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the upcoming recall election participated in their first TV debate.
Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, businessman John Cox, state lawmaker Kevin Kiley, and former Congressman Doug Ose took the stage at the Nixon Library.
The night's biggest topic was state efforts to control the pandemic. Last week it was announced that California state employees and health care workers would be required to show proof COVID-19 vaccinations or submit to weekly testing.
Faulconer, who urged people to get vaccinated, said he chooses education over mandates.
"I do not favor mandates, I favor educate," He said. "You’re not going to mandate you’re way out of the coronavirus."
Ose said the government needs to stay out of it.
"I just think that government overreach has to stop, alright?" he said. "This is not the last variant we're going to have."
Kiley called the mandates a "perfect case study for the perversity of California politics."
"Using bright lights and cash giveaways and state control as a mirage for a broken state government that fails to serve California," he said.
Cox not only praised Florida for their handling of the virus, but also referred to personal experience with the virus.
"This disease is an awful one," he said. "I had it very early on and it’s not something you want to have but it's 99.9 percent survivable by people who are in decent health who aren't elderly."
Newsom nor fellow candidate Larry Elder participated in the debate. Elder said a "scheduling conflict" and "did not want to participate in a Republican firing squad."
According to a recent Emerson College Poll, Elder is the leading Republican candidate with 23% of the votes. Meanwhile, Cox has seven percent, Kiley has five percent, and Faulconer has four percent.