Xavier Becerra, who served as the Health Secretary under former President Joe Biden, vowed to scrap Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s (D-CA) High Speed Rail project in its current iteration ahead of California Democratic Governor Primaries.
Becerra Vows To Scrap Current Form Of High Speed Rail Project
On Saturday, the Gubernatorial candidate addressed supporters in California’s Fresno, where he also vowed to scrap the project in its current form, KMPH Fox26 News reported. “I'm going to scrap the current configuration,” he said.
He added that the current plan “has not worked,” stressing that the state needed to “complete” high-speed rail. Becerra then shared that as Governor, he would ensure the project is finished “on budget and on time,” highlighting that it had “already blew past” those factors. “We need high-speed rail in California,” Becerra said.
Notably, Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) recently donated over $500,000 to a Political Action Committee (PAC) associated with Becerra. Chevron has been criticized by Newsom, with the Governor opposing President Donald Trump‘s move to restart the Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) pipeline in California to supply oil to Chevron.
High Speed Rail Project
According to Newsom, the project, which will connect Los Angeles with San Francisco, has already reached a point where 463 miles of the 494-mile project are ready for construction. However, the Governor’s Transportation Secretary Adetokunbo "Toks" Omishakin acknowledged that additional funds would be required to finish the project.
The high-speed rail vision has met with backlash from Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who alleged fraudulent activities taking place in the project, as well as from the President Donald Trump administration.
Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy slammed the project, saying that “not a single high-speed track” has been installed in Newsom’s “train to nowhere.”
California Democratic Primaries
The 2026 Gubernatorial elections are set to take place this year, with voting for the primaries scheduled to kick off in the coming weeks. The Democratic primaries see Becerra joined by billionaire Tom Steyer and San Jose Mayor and tech entrepreneur Matt Mahan, among others.
Newsom would not be contesting for a re-election as he has reached the state’s legal term limit of serving two consecutive four-year terms.
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