Newsom, Dahle debate cost of living, fentanyl crisis, future plans ahead of CA election

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Democratic incumbent Gavin Newsom and Republican challenger Brian Dahle are geared up for their one and only governor's debate ahead of the Nov. 8 election.

Today's event, which was live-streamed on KQED.org at 1 p.m., was moderated by their senior politics editor Scott Shafer and politics correspondent Marisa Lagos.

According to KQED, the moderators questioned the candidates in a conversational format without strict time limits on answers.

This debate comes at a time when many believe Newsom is running away in the governor's race after he finished nearly 40 points ahead of Dahle in the June primary. The incumbent has also led public polling throughout the summer.

FULL DEBATE BELOW:

Newsom and his republican challenger, Dahle, went after each other on many issues.

A common theme: the state's high cost of living.

"He is caught driving up the cost of gasoline and electricity. By the way, California is paying 70% higher electricity rates than they do across the nation. Two-and-a-half-dollars-a-gallon higher gasoline than they do in Nevada," Dahle said.

"You consistently have opposed including these rebate checks, efforts to provide relief for gas and you've doubled down, double down on the talking points of Big Oil," Newsom said.

On the state's fentanyl crisis, things got heated.

"Day one as governor, I would make fentanyl a state of emergency and tackle fentanyl," Dahle said.

"That's what my opponent just said. Somehow it magically will disappear on the basis of a state of emergency, that somehow he will adopt a secret strategy," Newsom said.

And both candidates had big plans for their next four years.

"We want to double-down, quadruple-down on our energy policies, our climate policies. We want to address the vexing issues of extremes: extreme drought, extreme weather," Newsom said.

"If you want four more years of what you've already been getting, you can vote for him. If you want some change, you can vote for me, and you can have the ability to live the California dream," Dahle said.

Visit abc30.com/politics for all our election coverage.