Cox, Newsom Hash Things Out Over Breakfast As Election Day Nears
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The two candidates running to be California's next governor hashed things out Tuesday morning over breakfast.
John Cox (R) and Gavin Newsom (D) made their pitches to fellow political power players at the biennial "Breakfast Club" event put on by former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown.
Both candidates talked about California, but it sounded as if they were describing two different places.
Cox painted a grim picture of a state which contains people struggling, while Newsom said California is booming and is still a leader in America and in the world.
Cox said he loves California, but there are problems that won't go away as long as the same people remain in charge. He said that he plans to go after groups with too much power in the state capitol.
"Rest assured, the status quo is the status quo because somebody likes it that way," said Cox at Tuesday's breakfast event.
"We have got to take the special interests out of power if we are going to get the reforms in education, affordability, housing, water, all the things that we want to have done," he said.
Meanwhile, Newsom said the state's future is bright.
"I love to say about this state: the future happened here first. We're America's coming attraction," said Newsom.
However, despite their political differences, the two candidates found some common ground on the topic of California's affordability crisis.
"This is an area of commonality with my opponent. That dream cannot be realized with so many people that are struggling," Newsom said.
"We've got jobs! We've got jobs! But people are working two and three jobs to try and make a go of it in this state," Cox said.
After the event, both men set off on their own respective bus tours with one week left until election day, in an attempt to get every last vote throughout the state.