Matt Mahan

They're telling us.

It's cost of living.

It's quality of schools.

It's public safety issues.

It's very basic issues.

Now it's the cost of gas.

And yeah, we could spend all of our time arguing how much of the cost of gas is Trump's war versus a lot of it.

Yeah, the last, what, $1.50, $2, something like that is thanks to Donald Trump.

But the $1.50 before that is largely our own policy decisions.

And we need to be honest about that.

I've argued that the gas tax in California has become the most regressive tax that affects people living in the kinds of communities I grew up in.

I grew up in a small farming town on the Central Coast.

people who can't afford an EV, Californians who are driving farther because they live in rural communities or out in the suburbs and they're commuting every day.

And we should keep it, but we should right-size it.

In fact, I would convert it into a flat fee that makes sure EV owners are paying their fair share.

That would be fair.

You'd provide some relief to people and you'd show that the Democratic Party is still fighting for working people and trying to make a real impact in their daily lives.

I mean, look, there's a lot of fluidity in the polls.

We also recently had a poll that showed us at 10%.

Look, when it's a low turnout race and voters are holding onto their ballots, it means there's a lot of uncertainty and therefore variability in terms of what can happen.