Gubernatorial candidate Tony Thurmond is making a progressive case for California\u2019s future, centered on single-payer healthcare, affordable housing, immigrant protections and economic relief for working families.<\/p>\n
In a media briefing on April 30, hosted by American Community Media, Thurmond laid out an expansive platform as he seeks the Democratic nomination for governor. The 57-year-old state superintendent of public instruction has positioned himself as a candidate shaped by immigrant roots, poverty and nearly two decades of public service.<\/p>\n
Thurmond\u2019s campaign is rooted in his personal history as much as his policy agenda. Born at Fort Ord to a Panamanian immigrant mother who died of cancer when he was six, Thurmond and his younger brother were separated from their two siblings and sent to live with an older cousin in Philadelphia whom they had never met. There, they lived on food stamps and government assistance.<\/p>\n
He later worked in restaurants and social work before entering elected office. Over the last 18 years, Thurmond has served as a city council member, school board member, state legislator and twice as state superintendent.<\/p>\n
Now, he is making his case for governor with a platform that includes instituting single-payer healthcare, building two million housing units by 2030 and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n
On healthcare, Thurmond pointed to a personal loss as the reason he believes California should move toward a single-payer system.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a brother who lost his job and lost his insurance right at the time that he developed a very rare liver disorder,\u201d he said. \u201cMy brother didn\u2019t drink or smoke, and because he didn\u2019t have insurance, he couldn\u2019t see a doctor, and his condition worsened to the point that he lost his life. He was only 35 years old. No person should lose their life simply because they don\u2019t have health insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thurmond criticized the Republican budget reconciliation act known as the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill,\u201d calling it \u201cthe big ugly bill,\u201d and warning that it would have devastating effects on Medi-Cal enrollment and Affordable Care Act premiums.<\/p>\n
\u201cMedi-Cal is a federal entitlement, and that means if you qualify, you get it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He pledged to work toward flipping congressional control to a Democratic majority in order to reverse the bill\u2019s effects and \u201cto build out a healthcare system that places the emphasis on patients over profits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Affordable housing was one of the most detailed parts of Thurmond\u2019s platform.<\/p>\n
He proposed unlocking surplus school district land across every California county to build 2 million housing units by 2030, with the state providing startup funding for pre-development work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis doesn\u2019t mean that if you\u2019re a school district employee, your employer is going to be your landlord,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just means that districts will now have resources to work with developers who can build housing for teachers and classified staff\u201d \u2014 including, he said, nurses, public safety workers and city and county employees.<\/p>\n
Thurmond is also backing a voter-decided $10 billion affordable housing bond and calling for down payment assistance grants for first-time homebuyers.<\/p>\n
On rent control, he said he supports expanding it statewide while still allowing property owners a reasonable annual increase to cover maintenance costs. He also called for reviving urban redevelopment agencies and providing low- or no-interest loans to urban small businesses facing permitting burdens.<\/p>\n
Thurmond also proposed allowing students from municipalities in Mexico near the border to dually enroll in California high schools and community colleges. He argued that the idea could help address school district revenue gaps caused by declining enrollment, strengthen community college numbers and fill workforce shortages in understaffed sectors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are experiencing a crisis of supply and demand. The state has not invested in affordable housing in over a decade,\u201d he said. \u201cThe governor and the state can\u2019t just make prices go down, but we can create conditions that ultimately will support bringing costs down in two ways. One, immediate relief for Californians in the form of this tax credit \u2026 and two, building more housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
To fund his housing, healthcare, school and job programs, Thurmond proposed taxing \u201cpeople who have more than, say, $150 million in assets\u201d to support a tax credit for working- and middle-class Californians.<\/p>\n
He has also endorsed the California Billionaire Tax Act, a one-time 5% tax on the roughly 200 California residents with a net worth over $1 billion.<\/p>\n
Thurmond also called for a universal childcare program, framing it as both relief for working parents and support for the women- and women-of-color-led small businesses that largely provide childcare.<\/p>\n
Research shows that while such a program could cost up to $21 billion a year to subsidize all families, it could also add up to $23 billion to the state\u2019s economic output, effectively paying for itself \u2014 partly by enabling more than 100,000 mothers to enter the workforce.<\/p>\n
On immigration, Thurmond said he was the first gubernatorial candidate to call for dismantling ICE and said he would \u201cwork with Congress to abolish ICE and to create a better system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cICE was supposed to be a way to keep us safe, as they said,\u201d he noted. \u201cBut who are they keeping us safe from? Look at who\u2019s being deported \u2014 people who work as childcare workers and farm workers. Meanwhile, people are losing their lives for speaking out against ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thurmond described federal immigration enforcement as being driven less by public safety than by private profit. He pointed to private immigration detention companies GEO Group and CoreCivic, which together donated nearly $2.8 million to President Trump\u2019s 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n
As of last year, private companies operated all of the top 20 detention centers nationwide, and 86% of ICE detainees were held in facilities run by for-profit companies. Eight such centers are in California.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that the whole purpose behind President Trump\u2019s dangerous and reckless immigration policy is to help his friends make money,\u201d Thurmond said.<\/p>\n
He noted that he has already passed legislation keeping ICE out of California schools and hospitals, supported legislation taxing and banning for-profit prisons and is now sponsoring state legislation that would impose a 50% tax on any company operating an ICE detention center in California.<\/p>\n
\u201cCore Civic is already telling its investors that they may have to leave California. Good riddance,\u201d he added. \u201cBecause there is a financial objective to this immigration policy, we have to hit them in their wallet. We have to meet them where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thurmond said that, as governor, he would direct the California Highway Patrol to arrest ICE agents who violate state law, \u201ccreate a real pathway to citizenship\u201d and restore health coverage to undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will save money,\u201d he said, \u201cas people are not going to emergency rooms for care that could be done in a more preventative way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thurmond was also asked about his standing in the governor\u2019s race after failing to qualify for the May 5 CNN gubernatorial debate because his polling numbers were below the network\u2019s 3% threshold.<\/p>\n
Recent polls show Thurmond\u2019s support between 1% and 2% among likely voters.<\/p>\n
He rejected the idea that polling should define the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t think that polls elect anyone. People do,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in five elections where I was out-polled, outspent and flat-out told that I would never win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thurmond also noted that the Los Angeles Times scored him the winner of an eight-candidate debate two days earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is on the ballot. I\u2019m in it to the end, and I\u2019m running to win,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to work for another governor. I\u2019m not looking for a job in anybody\u2019s administration. This is the last office I\u2019m ever going to run for.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Image courtesy of American Community Media<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gubernatorial candidate Tony Thurmond is making a progressive case for California\u2019s future, centered on single-payer healthcare, affordable housing, immigrant protections and economic relief for working families. In a media briefing on April 30, hosted by American Community Media, Thurmond laid out an expansive platform as he seeks the Democratic nomination for governor. The 57-year-old state…<\/p>\n