California’s presumed next governor is still struggling to explain how he would tackle the state’s biggest challenges. Now, a puzzling response about the housing crisis is drawing renewed mockery just days before Election Day.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra went viral after a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, where reporters pressed him to take a position on one of California’s most divisive housing debates.
The question was straightforward: Is he a YIMBY or a NIMBY?
Rather than choosing a side, Becerra responded with a philosophical reflection.
“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 led one Chronicle editor to remark that reporters had “tried to get him to say literally anything substantive.”
The labels describe opposing positions in California’s housing battle. NIMBY, short for “Not In My Backyard,” generally refers to people who oppose new housing developments in their neighborhoods. YIMBY, or “Yes In My Backyard,” describes advocates who support building more homes to ease the state’s housing shortage.
Becerra’s response left many Californians still trying to determine where he 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 more scathing.
“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.”
Some critics questioned whether Becerra understood that the backyard reference was metaphorical. Others tried to determine whether his answer suggested support for additional development or opposition to it.
Becerra’s campaign website calls for an executive order declaring a housing shortage state of emergency and directing state agencies to make homebuilding a top priority. At the same time, he pledges to “keep communities intact as we build.”
That attempt to balance development with neighborhood concerns has become a recurring theme in Becerra’s campaign.
In August, he told CalMatters that his hesitation to outline detailed policy promises was rooted in a political lesson from more than 30 years ago.
As a freshman congressman representing the Los Angeles area in 1993, Becerra initially opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement. He ultimately voted for it after being persuaded that labor protections and a domestic lending program would shield American workers.
He later said those assurances did not prevent American jobs from being displaced.
“No one gets my vote unless I know what I’m voting for completely,” he told the outlet, calling the experience a “pivotal lesson.”
Today, Becerra says he does not want to make promises he cannot keep — including committing to a specific number of homes he would build as governor.
“I would prefer not to run on inflated promises,” he said previously. “I will run on my record.”
But as California voters continue to confront a severe housing affordability crisis, his refusal to provide more concrete details is giving opponents fresh material to use against him.
Becerra may also have little political motivation to change course. Recent polling shows him holding a double-digit lead over Republican challenger Steve Hilton in a state where Democrats far outnumber Republicans.
