SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — California’s race for governor is taking shape with no clear front runner.
Candidates are weighing in on major issues including housing, healthcare, and education.
KEYT News Channel reporter Mina Wahab sat down with Green Party candidate Butch Ware for an in-depth conversation about his platform and priorities.
In a wide-ranging interview, Ware, a UC Santa Barbara professor and historian, outlined his focus on what he describes as the most urgent challenges facing Californians.
“Healthcare, housing, human rights, divestment from genocide, and education,” Ware said, listing his top concerns in order of priority.
Ware said he supports a universal, single-payer healthcare system that includes mental health and addiction treatment, arguing it would also help address the state’s homelessness crisis.
He also framed income inequality as a central issue driving broader social challenges.
Ware said, “Capitalism means billionaires get the handouts. Socialism means that the basic needs of ordinary people are met.”
Describing himself as an anti-capitalist, Ware said he believes his political outsider status is an advantage in the race.
On housing and cost of living, Ware laid out a plan that includes statewide rent control and stronger action against large institutional investors in real estate.
He criticized private equity firms such as BlackRock and Blackstone, alleging their role in shaping the housing market by acquiring large numbers of properties.
“Blackstone and Blackrock have thousands of vacant properties empty, while there are hundreds of thousands of people sleeping on the streets at night,” Ware said. “I want to tax those private equity companies that are making it so that none of us can afford a place to live. I want to tax them so hard on those vacant properties that they can't wait to sell those back to the state, and that that becomes the basis for social housing.”
Ware also addressed foreign policy and human rights concerns, saying state spending should not contribute to war-related harm.
“Californians do not want their tax dollars to be used to incinerate children in tents, whether in Gaza or in Iran or in Yemen or anywhere else. We don't want our tax dollars to make us complicit in war crimes,” he said.
He added that he believes state resources should instead be redirected toward education and programs that improve quality of life.
“It's government's job to meet the basic needs of every single person in the society, and to create a just and equitable environment so that people can be successful and thrive,” Ware said.
With the election approaching, Ware is positioning himself as a progressive alternative in a crowded field, emphasizing income inequality and systemic reform as central issues in the race and raising broader questions about who California’s government is really working for.
Inside Butch Ware’s Vision for California: Healthcare, Housing, and a Political Shake-Up News Channel 3-12.
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