California’s likely next governor is still struggling to say exactly what he’d do about the state’s biggest problems — and a head-scratching answer about the housing crisis is drawing fresh ridicule just before Election Day.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra went viral after a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle in which reporters pressed him to take a position on one of California’s most contentious housing debates.
The question: Is he a YIMBY or a NIMBY?
Instead of picking a side, Becerra offered a philosophical detour.
“It’s interesting, YIMBY-NIMBY.”
“There’s some people who don’t have a backyard at all, and who never get to engage in that YIMBY-NIMBY debate,” the Democrat added.
The exchange prompted one Chronicle editor to say journalists “tried to get him to say literally anything substantive.”
The terms refer to opposing sides of California’s housing fight. NIMBYs, or “Not In My Backyard” advocates, resist new housing developments in their neighborhoods, while YIMBYs, or “Yes In My Backyard” supporters, push for more construction to address the state’s housing shortage.
Becerra’s answer left plenty of Californians wondering where he actually stands.
Housing advocate Toby Muresianu joked: “Finally, a politician with the courage to say ‘Maybe in my backyard?’ What is a backyard anyway, really?”
Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt was less amused.
“Zero charisma, zero clue, zero campaigning,” Pratt said. “It’s such a slap in the face of CA democrats to run this guy. Almost as if they’re pranking them to see how much insanity they’ll accept for tribalism.”
Others questioned whether Becerra understood the backyard reference was metaphorical, while some tried to decipher whether his answer signaled support for more development or opposition to it.
His campaign website promises an executive order declaring a housing shortage state of emergency and directing state agencies to make housing production a top priority. But he also pledges to “keep communities intact as we build.”
That balancing act has become a recurring feature of Becerra’s campaign.
In August, he told CalMatters that his reluctance to offer detailed policy promises stemmed from a political lesson he learned more than three decades ago.
As a freshman congressman representing the Los Angeles area in 1993, Becerra initially opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement before eventually voting for it after being persuaded that labor protections and a domestic lending program would protect American workers.
He later said those assurances failed to prevent American jobs from being displaced.
“No one gets my vote unless I know what I’m voting for completely,” he told the outlet, describing the experience as a “pivotal lesson.”
Now, Becerra says he doesn’t want to make promises he can’t keep — including putting a number on how many homes he would build as governor.
“I would prefer not to run on inflated promises,” he once said. “I will run on my record.”
But with California voters still grappling with a housing affordability crisis, his reluctance to spell out specifics is giving critics plenty of ammunition.
And Becerra may have little political incentive to change course. Recent polling shows him building a double-digit lead over Republican challenger Steve Hilton in a state where Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans.
