Three candidates for California governor will take part in a forum Friday in Los Angeles following last month’s cancellation of a previously planned debate, offering one of the first major opportunities in weeks for the contenders to address voters — particularly on issues affecting immigrant and Latino communities.
The event is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday and will be hosted by the CHIRLA Action Fund, according to organizers.
Confirmed participants include former state Controller Betty Yee, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin.
Angelica Salas, president of the CHIRLA Action Fund, is set to moderate the discussion.
The CHIRLA Action Fund is the political arm of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, one of the nation’s largest immigrant advocacy organizations, and focuses on policies affecting immigrant communities and broader issues of economic and social equity.
“California’s future depends on whether we choose to include and invest in the very communities that power its growth,” Salas said in a statement. “Hosting a gubernatorial forum through an immigrant community lens is not just important — it’s essential.”
The forum follows the cancellation of a planned gubernatorial debate last month that was scrapped amid questions over how candidates were selected to participate.
USC, which had been set to host the event with ABC7, called off the debate after criticism that its selection criteria excluded several prominent candidates. Those left out were Becerra, Yee, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The Friday forum will be livestreamed on the CHIRLA Action Fund Facebook page at www.facebook.com/chirlaactionfund.