No clear champion of cash payment reparations among Democrats in California gubernatorial race

Among the 2026 California gubernatorial candidates, none appear to be a champion of reparations, even in the form of direct cash payments.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, many of the candidates attended the "State of Black Bay Area Report & 2026 CA Gubernatorial Forum" hosted by the Urban League of Greater San Francisco Bay Area Jan. 26, explaining what they would do for Black Californians.

The Democratic candidates vying to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom were asked what they would do to help Black Californians. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond was the only candidate to include reparations in his response to Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Instead of cash payments, Thurmond vows to give Black residents loans.

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"I will sign as governor a reparations package that gives loans to Black folks who want to start a business, to go to college or to pay for a home," Thurmond said. Lee, who endorsed Thurmond for governor, said Thurmond is the only candidate understanding that reparations is a "key strategy to achieve racial economic equity."

California was the first in the U.S. among many states and municipalities to establish a reparations commission to study history and issue recommendations on how to compensate Black Americans for slavery.

Newsom has outright rejected cash payments as a form of reparations, which could have been as high as $1.2 million for a single recipient, according to recommendations by the state's reparations task force. He also rejected a slate of reparation bills backed by the California Legislative Black Caucus. On the other hand, Newsom did approve funding for the university system to research methods for verifying descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. to identify who would get benefits. 

Newsom rejected Assembly Bill 7, which would recommend universities, private and public, to "consider providing an admissions preference to an applicant who is a descendant of a person who was subjected to chattel slavery in America." 

Newsom called the bill "unnecessary" in a brief message sent in October, adding that "institutions already have the authority to determine whether to provide admissions preferences."

The author of the bill, Democratic California Assembly Member Isaac Bryan, described Newsom’s veto of the bill as "more than disappointing."

Assembly Bill 7 was among five other reparations measures backed by the California Legislative Black Caucus, making supporters of the effort disappointed. The caucus also sought to create a process for compensating individuals whose property was taken through racially motivated eminent domain, expediting professional license applications for descendants of enslaved people and dedicating at least 10% of a state-backed home loan program to descendants.

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Now that Newsom will soon vacate his position, it's unclear if his successor will fulfill the reparations objectives the task force put in place. 

Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said he would appoint African Americans to his administration. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Becerra was asked to explain further his stance on reparations. 

He said he would "work with the legislature" and said he was in favor of it, but "the question there is, ‘What (legislation comes) first? And how do you fund it?’"

The other candidates did not specifically mention reparations in what they would do to help Black Californians but highlighted the importance of representation. Former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer also promised representation through establishing an Office of DEI. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa mentioned his record in appointing Black people to his administration.

He also said he would not support a reparations package. When he was pressed on why not, he responded, "I’m in favor of fixing our schools. That’s the best way to address past discrimination, but not a reparations package."

The other candidates at the forum — Sen. Ian Calderon, former Rep. Katie Porter and former state Controller Betty Yee — did not have a clear stance on reparations.

"Real repair means real resources — and pathways to generational wealth. I support dedicated funding streams that directly address racial and economic injustice through targeted, accountable investments that help close the economic gaps created by generations of inequality," Calderon said. 

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Yee does not want a one-time distribution of cash payments, which is often associated with reparations efforts in the U.S., and would rather consider other forms of reparations. Many advocates of reparations say it could be issued in many other forms other than direct cash payments.

"I don’t want a one-and-done, where it’s just like a cash payment," Yee said. "It’s got to be about how we look at systems that are going to help create intergenerational wealth." 

Republicans Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco were invited but did not attend the event. They did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.

The gubernatorial hopefuls met Tuesday night in the Bayview for the first televised debate. None of the candidates mentioned supporting reparations. 

None of the Democratic candidates responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment, including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who did not attend the Urban League event.

Lisa Holder, a civil rights attorney and a former member of the state’s Reparations Task Force, reportedly said that advancing reparations would be a long process.

"You can’t legislate yourself out of 400 years of inequality and injustice. You have to do an entire body of laws to change the systems that have been disparately affecting black folks for decades," Holder told KQED Jan. 19. 

"You now have to put many, many laws in place to change practically every system, whether you’re talking about systems of finance, housing. Laws that require equitable treatment, laws that require affirmative hiring sometimes in industries where Black people were affirmatively not hired."