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Pomona College Hosts California Gubernatorial Debate in Big Bridges
- Emilio Bankier
- 1 hour ago
- 6 min read
Eight candidates took to a crowded stage at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium Tuesday night, discussing California’s affordability crisis and trading jabs over the gas tax, public healthcare, and blame for the Golden State’s woes. The event was an unusual step into the limelight for the small college, and comes amidst a wave of major projects and initiatives.
Former Congresswoman Katie Porter, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, billionaire Tom Steyer, and five other candidates, including Republicans Chad Bianco and Trump-backed Steve Hilton, competed for airtime in the 90-minute debate, cohosted by CBS California, Pomona College, and Asian Pacific American Public Affairs (APAPA).
A previous gubernatorial debate, scheduled for March 26 at USC’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences was canceled over a lack of diversity after only the top six candidates, all of whom were white, qualified.
This debate, billed by Pomona as “the most inclusive debate of the 2026 race for California governor,” featured eight candidates, including state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Some audience members felt that the increased number of candidates was unwieldy and prevented nuanced conversation, with one student attendee telling the Independent, “The large number of candidates made each candidate jostle for time and sound bites, making it less about the candidates’ policies and more about getting in catchy one-liners or sniping at the competition.”
California uses an unusual “top-two” primary system, in which the top two candidates from the primary advance to the general election regardless of party. Given the large number of competitive Democratic candidates, some commentators have noted the possibility that Republicans Bianco and Hilton may benefit from a split Democratic vote and end up on the general election ballot together.
The debate did not feature former Democratic frontrunner Eric Swalwell, who dropped out two weeks ago in the wake of sexual assault allegations and days later resigned from Congress.
Three Pomona students were chosen to put questions to the gubernatorial candidates. One of them, a U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate and Pomona junior, remarked “Wow, that was a bit of a mess,” before asking candidates, “As governor, what steps would you take to tackle the rising cost of education and bring jobs back to the state of California?”
Former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa answered first, reflecting on his own education and how costs had skyrocketed “sixty percent,” citing $85,000 tuition at Stanford and USC, and adding, “in fact probably here [at Pomona] as well,” getting a laugh from the audience. The total cost of attending Pomona will be $95,670 for the upcoming academic year.
California Superintendent of Education Tony Thurmond promoted his proposed legislation to make college in California free, which he planned to fund with a “pay it forward” tax. Other candidates did not have the opportunity to answer, as the broadcast went to commercials.
After the debate, the Pomona junior reflected on the responses to his question, telling the Independent, “California is a mess, and our candidates were all over the place. The American dream in California is dead, and no candidate seemed strong enough to bring it back.”
Many Pomona students were recruited to staff the event, acting as ushers and videographers, as well as media and candidate minders. Students drew from a hat to find out which candidate they would be shadowing around campus during the day, one student telling the Independent she was fearful of drawing Republican Chad Bianco’s name.
The most prominent Sagehen of the night, however, was not a student. Pomona Assistant Professor Sara Sadhwani, who teaches in the college’s Politics Department, was one of five debate moderators rotating between commercial breaks. Asked what the debate might bring to Pomona and its students, Sadhwani told the Independent via email that “Bringing a gubernatorial debate to Pomona gives students direct access to the democratic process, turning politics from something abstract into something immediate and real.”
In a statement to the Independent, Pomona’s VP of Communications Eric Abelev credited Sadhwani with drawing the debate to Claremont: “Pomona College's opportunity to host a gubernatorial debate grew out of the work of politics professor Sara Sadhwani and our distinguished Political Science faculty—world-class teachers and public voices whose relationships with media partners and viewers across California helped make this event possible.”
Security around Big Bridges ramped up in the hours before the debate, with measures heightened in light of the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner over the weekend. Pomona’s Vice-President for Communications Eric Abelev reassured students in an email that the college had a “robust, layered security plan” in place.
Abelev also noted that in anticipation of student-activism and Pomona’s commitment to “political expression across a wide spectrum,” the College had created a “designated zone to accommodate protest” near Big Bridges. The Claremont Student Worker Alliance, which planned to protest the college’s firing of longtime dining hall worker and union leader Rolando “Rolo” Airaza, announced on their story that they would be protesting in the designated zone. Only a small number of students participated.
On College Avenue, unaffiliated protesters held a large sign reading “TRUMP MUST GO NOW,” while supporters of Green Party gubernatorial candidate Butch Ware held posters promoting the former vice-presidential candidate and handed out flyers to passing students. Inside the auditorium before candidates took the stage, debate host Suzie Suh reminded Pomona-affiliated attendees that they had agreed to a code of conduct, warning, “no outbursts, no disruptions.”
From the debate stage, Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr welcomed attendees including national media, candidate families, as well Pomona students, staff, faculty, alumni, and trustees. Starr touted Pomona’s over 100 year history of “educating leaders for public service,” noting that students’ futures were on the ballot this election.
Starr used the context of debate to emphasize that Pomona encourages “students to be curious about the world, to listen, to engage across difference.” The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gives Pomona an F “Speech Climate Grade,” and ranks the college 247 out 257 for free speech.
Starr also nodded to Bridges Auditorium's history of hosting important speakers and musicians, citing past headliners Amelia Earhart, Sandra Day O’Connor, Muhammad Ali, Bono, and Taylor Swift. Bridges Auditorium, better known to Claremont locals as “Big Bridges,” is coming out of a period of relative disuse. The 2,494 seating-capacity auditorium used to be a tour stop for major musical artists and speakers, but since Covid has only hosted a handful of Pomona events, Shen-Yun, the local Nutcracker production, and small concerts. The gubernatorial debate is one of the first steps in a plan to revitalize the auditorium, whose age and years of neglect show. Built to a grandiose standard, the auditorium’s ceiling depicts the constellation in silver and gold leaf, though a large crack juts out from the proscenium, whose own paint is peeling off.
“Although nearly 100 years old, Bridges’ IT infrastructure, coupled with a host of other upgrades at the historic venue over the years, gives Pomona College the ability to host what is ultimately a presidential-debate-level production right here on our campus,” comms chief Abelev told the Independent, adding that “Bridges will embark on a planned summer renovation, complementing the continued upgrades that have strengthened [Pomona’s] ability to support complex, high-profile events.”
The debate took place during an ambitious year for the College. With only a few months’ notice, Pomona undertook to organize the debate alongside CBS California and the APAPA while it continued conducting due diligence on its potential acquisition of Claremont Graduate University, preparing to demolish its ageing Oldenborg Center and break ground on the Center for Global Education, and readying to unveil a new capital campaign to grow its over $3 billion endowment.
The state-level debate fits haphazardly into the Global Pomona project, the College’s guiding strategic initiative which hopes to mobilize “a community that is ‘engaged, curious, and prepared to act with courage and self-awareness in an ever-changing, interconnected world.’” Abelev told the Independent that “Because of California’s importance on the world stage, this week’s debate allowed students to engage firsthand with complex societal issues of local and global consequence—exactly the type of experience the Center for Global Engagement will provide to our community as our liberal arts laboratory.”
It is unknown whether consortium-member Claremont McKenna College, which hosts the Rose Institute for State and Local Government, had been a candidate to hold the debate, though the Rose Institute did co-host a watch party in the Consortium’s Honnold-Mudd Library. Pomona offered a limited number of tickets to the debate for the other Claremont colleges to distribute to students.
From Marston Quad’s flagpole, the iconic bear-adorned California state flag flew under the star spangled banner. A picture of just how extraordinary the event was for Pomona, the state flag had not flown over campus in recent memory.