As a member of The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board, I recently reached out to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra to ask for a phone interview. This wasn’t the first time. In the weeks leading up to the June 2 primary and the Nov. 4 general election, I reached out to several candidates running in local and state campaigns. In both instances, Becerra’s team acknowledged my communications, then things went quiet.
It made me feel like being ghosted by a not-so-likeable Tinder date. Except this wasn’t Tinder. I was trying to interview a candidate for governor of California. And I know I am not the only one.
In August, columnist Matt Fleming wrote about Becerra’s lack of media availability, noting that his first session with the press since June came after the candidate had been criticized for avoiding reporters.
That wasn’t an isolated impression. In May, CalMatters documented several instances in which he declined to engage with questions about controversies surrounding his record. Also, in an interview with KTLA, he made clear he wanted a “profile piece,” not a “gotcha” piece. He said he was fine with some tough questions, just not only tough questions.
More recently, Becerra declined an interview with the Southern California News Group editorial board and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that he had largely avoided answering press questions since June 9, with a couple of exceptions.
So I started wondering: Was it always like this?
My memory of Xavier Becerra goes back to February 2019, when he was California’s attorney general and I was assistant editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune en Español.
He had a meeting with the Editorial Board that day, and I happened to ride the elevator with him. I recognized him immediately, introduced myself and told him I had been cheering his lawsuits against then-President Donald Trump. He shook my hand and thanked me.
During our quick ride to the 12th floor, I even had time to snap a selfie and tell him that my son’s name is Xavier, with an X. He smiled and pronounced it: “Javier, en español.”
That little moment stayed with me.
So did the interview he had with my colleagues that day, at a time when Becerra’s office was under criticism from journalists over access to public police records.
Fast-forward a few years. I joined the Editorial Board in 2022 and immediately began participating in candidate interviews during election seasons, including with Gov. Gavin Newsom and his Republican challenger, Brian Dahle.
That’s part of what we do.
These conversations aren’t necessarily meant to be published. Sometimes they are simply a way for editors to better understand a candidate — their ideas, policies, priorities, and, yes, personality.
So I tried again with Becerra.
In my emails to his media staff, I explained that the interview would be for a column with my byline and that I wanted to discuss issues important to San Diego readers, including immigration, homelessness, border security and the Tijuana River sewage crisis. I also told them his Republican opponent, Steve Hilton, had agreed to meet with the U-T board.
Mostly, I asked for one simple thing: whether the interview was going to happen or not. The answer was: “We are running this by our team.” And then, once again, nothing.
That was particularly frustrating because I had also sent his campaign a questionnaire during the primary. First his staff said, “We do want to participate,” but I never received his answers.
Now, maybe this isn’t Xavier Becerra personally ignoring me. Maybe he never saw my emails, or his media staff was overwhelmed, or there was a scheduling complication. That is possible. But at some point, that becomes less important.
Because whether it is the candidate or the staff, the result is the same: Californians have fewer opportunities to hear directly from someone asking to lead the state.
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As a news follower, and as a Latina, I wanted to see a Hispanic candidate go big in California. I rooted for Becerra from day one. I wanted to hear him explain what he would do about immigration, the border, the environment, the cost of living and the issues San Diego voters care about. I wanted to ask him the questions. And I wanted to hear the answers. That is what journalism is meant to supply.
Candidates don’t have to answer every question a journalist asks, accept every interview request or make every journalist happy, but voters deserve access to candidates who want their votes and journalists need access to candidates who want to lead.
That is why Becerra’s apparent disappearance from the press has started to bother me. Not because he ignored my emails, but because if he becomes California’s governor, I will be one of the journalists whose job is to ask him questions. The same holds for a lot of other people.
California is too big, too complicated and too important to run on scheduled appearances, carefully controlled conversations and the occasional “I’ll take a couple of questions” moment.
I still hope Becerra proves I’m wrong to feel ignored.
Tania Navarro is community opinion editor at The San Diego Union-Tribune. She is a transfronteriza who lives on both sides of the border.