John Diaz:

Meet Democrats in governor’s race at S.F. forum.

The gubernatorial election is more than a year away, but the leading contenders have been busily raising money, taking shots at one another on the margins and collecting early endorsements from key interest groups and prominent politicians.

How about some substantive comparisons on where they stand on the big issues facing the state?

I am pleased to report that the four leading Democratic candidates have taken up to the challenge. Delaine Eastin, John Chiang, Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa have all agreed to participate in an Oct. 24 forum at the City Club of San Francisco on “State’s Big Issues: Do Democrats Have the Ideas and the Resolve to Meet Them?”

Better yet, the four campaigns accepted the invitation from The Chronicle and City Club with no negotiations and no preconditions. None of the campaigns asked for a format or stage setting for its benefit. All each was promised was that the 75-minute forum would focus on big issues, would be live-streamed and archived unfiltered for voters to view, and that the goal would be to enlighten rather than entertain the electorate.

I will be serving as moderator, and I assume as my commitment to the campaigns and to the electorate to keep the discussion on a meaningful track. The subjects will be health care, immigration, education, housing and possibly climate change. I certainly recognize that there are other significant issues facing the state: water, tax reform, public-employee retirement obligations, the business climate, high-speed rail and the growing geographical and demographic disparities in wealth and opportunity.

But choices had to be made to deepen the dives within the 75 minutes. The candidates have been informed of the subject areas, but not the specific questions. They also have been alerted that I will follow up if they revert to generic talking points instead of engaging in the question asked.

The format may not make for high drama, but I am confident it will allow voters to draw distinctions on how the four candidates might govern if elected. On health care, Newsom has been the most aggressive in the field in embracing the progressives’ demand for California to adopt a single-payer system. Villaraigosa has been far and away the boldest among Democrats in taking on teachers unions in his pursuit of education reform.

This may be the most credentialed and charismatic set of Democratic contenders in modern times. Newsom and Villaraigosa, of course, are the more polished and nationally recognized candidates. Yet Chiang has a straightahead, not-slick style that just might play well in this era of the political outsider, even after spending the past eight years in statewide office. Eastin has the burden of reintroducing herself to voters after leaving the state superintendent job in 2003, but her resume as a determined champion of public education cannot be discounted in view of the voters’ regard for the issue. So it should be interesting. Not to worry, Republicans, your candidates will get their chance. The Chronicle and City Club of San Francisco are committed to holding a similar event for the GOP contenders, who at the moment appear to be attorney and certified public accountant John Cox (who in 2003 ran against Barack Obama for U.S. Senate in Illinois, but now lives in Southern California) and Assemblyman Travis Allen of Huntington Beach (Orange County). Two better-known Republicans, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and former Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, decided not to run.

Under California’s version of the open primary, all voters will have a chance to pick their favorite regardless of party in the June 2018 primary. The top two finishers will advance to the general election. This system, installed by California voters in a 2010 initiative, creates a strong incentive for a candidate to appeal to voters across party lines even in a Democratic-dominated state.

In the months ahead, the paid political advertisements are likely to be about soft-focus biographical portrayals, shallow and decidedly selective sound-bite snippets of a candidate’s achievements or bold positions and little sharp-edged devaluations of an opponent. This is not to criticize the genre, it’s the way it is when politics are compressed into a 30-second pitch.

The Chronicle and City Club are grateful that the four Democrats want to move the campaign forward on a more meaningful note. I welcome your feedback and suggestions.