candidate_id: antonio-villaraigosa

candidate_name: Antonio Villaraigosa

claim_type: recommendation

event_title: CalMatters Governor Q&A Transcripts

party: Democratic

text: Villaraigosa proposes that when gas prices rise above $5.50 per gallon, the state should reimburse drivers monthly for the amount above that threshold.

theme_id: energy

theme_label: Energy


text: Villaraigosa calls for an “all of the above” energy security strategy that expands solar and wind while continuing to use natural gas and oil as transition fuels to help keep gas prices down.


event_title: Villaraigosa affordable California plan

text: Use Buy California procurement, tariff-cost transparency, and anti-price-gouging enforcement to protect consumers and California jobs.

theme_id: consumer-prices

theme_label: Consumer Prices


text: Expand community health centers, primary care, nursing seats, behavioral-health workforce slots, loan forgiveness, and mental-health access enforcement.

theme_id: health-care-workforce

theme_label: Health Care Workforce


text: Oppose offshore drilling while expanding clean-energy and infrastructure capacity.

theme_id: climate-energy

theme_label: Climate Energy


text: Create a California public option, strengthen binding premium-rate review, and require pre-approval of major health care mergers.

theme_id: health-care

theme_label: Health Care


text: Hold the line on working- and middle-class taxes, veto reckless tax hikes, and require spending audits and accountability before tax increases.

theme_id: taxes-budget

theme_label: Taxes Budget


text: Protect renters from exploitation, invest in proven homelessness-reduction strategies, and keep housing policy focused on renters as well as buyers.

theme_id: renters-homelessness

theme_label: Renters Homelessness


claim_type: assertion

text: Villaraigosa pledges as governor to work to lower the cost of living in California and improve affordability for working Californians.

theme_id: affordability

theme_label: Affordability


text: Treat housing as an emergency, fast-track construction, and create a major middle-class homeownership/family home construction finance program.

theme_id: housing

theme_label: Housing


claim_type: prediction

event_title: Villaraigosa gas-price plan

text: Villaraigosa argues maintaining California’s refining capacity is a pragmatic approach that would help bring gas prices down, while refinery shutdowns would raise prices for working families.


text: Lower gas prices by supporting in-state refining, reducing regulatory cost pass-through, monitoring refiner margins, and triggering targeted fuel relief when prices spike.

theme_id: gas-prices-energy

theme_label: Gas Prices Energy


text: Villaraigosa says California should lower gas prices for working families by reducing dependence on imported foreign oil, cutting regulatory red tape, and investing in clean fuels while keeping environmental protections.


event_title: Villaraigosa ICE accountability plan

text: Use state inspections, child-protection systems, misconduct documentation, public reporting, and court action to hold ICE detention and enforcement accountable.

theme_id: immigration-civil-rights

theme_label: Immigration Civil Rights


text: Villaraigosa says his ICE accountability plan would ensure misconduct is documented and investigated and that ICE enforcement actions do not compromise civil rights.

theme_id: governance

theme_label: Governance


text: Villaraigosa says that on his first day as governor he would sign emergency executive orders to launch an ICE accountability plan aimed at stopping illegal raids and arrests without a judicial warrant.


event_title: Villaraigosa issues page

text: Build again: housing, energy grid, water storage, and transportation infrastructure.

theme_id: infrastructure

theme_label: Infrastructure


text: Villaraigosa calls for streamlining permitting and reducing lawsuits and bureaucracy that he says have stalled building and infrastructure projects in California.


text: Villaraigosa argues that making California affordable requires building more housing and also expanding infrastructure like the energy grid, water storage, and transportation.


claim_type: reframe

event_title: CBS News California / San Francisco Examiner gubernatorial debate

text: Villaraigosa says California should confront affordability problems by reassessing what state policy has done wrong rather than attributing the issue solely to external factors.


text: Villaraigosa argues Sacramento policies have made California too expensive, including contributing to gas prices that average about $2 per gallon more than the rest of the nation.


event_title: Ezra Klein California Governor Housing Forum

text: Villaraigosa contends Prop 13 has shifted the property-tax burden away from commercial property and toward homeowners, creating an imbalance that should be corrected.

theme_id: taxes

theme_label: Taxes


text: Villaraigosa argues California should keep property taxes from rising under current law while pursuing comprehensive reform of the broader tax system, including changes to Prop 13.


event_title: NBC4 / Telemundo 52 statewide California gubernatorial debate

text: Villaraigosa supports down payment assistance for first-time buyers and says a ballot initiative could build 150,000 homes at no cost to taxpayers while providing that assistance.


text: Villaraigosa calls for streamlining permitting to increase housing production.


event_title: CNN California governor primary debate

text: Villaraigosa argues California’s revenue swings are driven by overreliance on upper-income tax receipts and says this “feast and famine” cycle occurs nearly every year.


text: Villaraigosa says health care should be treated as a right rather than a privilege.


event_title: CBS California / Pomona College Governor's Debate

text: Villaraigosa proposes a $25 billion first-time homebuyer assistance initiative that he says would operate at no cost to taxpayers and support building up to 150,000 housing units.


text: Villaraigosa says California should fast-track and streamline housing construction beyond emergency periods to address the ongoing housing emergency.


event_title: CBS News California Governor's Race Candidate Guide

text: Villaraigosa argues high gas prices are a central driver of California’s affordability challenges and says he has been raising the issue for years.


event_title: KQED Political Breakdown: Antonio Villaraigosa on His Comeback Bid for Governor

text: Villaraigosa suggests that some workers with jobs, health care, or pensions may owe those benefits in part to his willingness to take on difficult fights in office.

theme_id: labor

theme_label: Labor


event_title: Jewish California Governor 2026 Candidate Forum

text: Villaraigosa states he opposes the BDS movement and says he will not back down from that position despite criticism and pressure.


text: Villaraigosa says he has consistently opposed racism and antisemitism throughout his life.


event_title: Black Action Alliance / KTVU / KTTV California gubernatorial debate

text: Villaraigosa argues California should pursue an “all of the above” approach to energy rather than over-relying on electricity.


text: Villaraigosa says addressing California’s housing affordability problem requires cutting red tape, streamlining environmental rules, pursuing zoning changes, and investing in a first-time homebuyer program.


claim_type: observation

text: Championed Measure R transportation sales tax: Measure R was approved by Los Angeles County voters to finance transportation projects and accelerate projects in the pipeline.

theme_id: transportation

theme_label: Transportation


text: Issued mayoral executive directive on sustainable practices: The City of Los Angeles official mayor page lists Villaraigosa executive directives, including No. 10 on sustainable practices.

theme_id: climate-governance

theme_label: Climate Governance


text: Pushed mayoral involvement in LAUSD and Partnership for Los Angeles Schools: PolitiFact rated his graduation-rate improvement claim Mostly True and noted his office eventually administered several low-performing LAUSD schools after a failed district-control effort.

theme_id: education

theme_label: Education


text: Served during large violent-crime decline and supported LAPD/community-policing expansion: PolitiFact found the violent-crime-rate decline claim matched FBI/LAPD data, while experts cautioned that broader trends and police leadership shared responsibility.

theme_id: public-safety

theme_label: Public Safety