Full-Page Ad Slams Cal Chamber for Becerra Endorsement
Even former president Joe Biden didn’t endorse ‘Embarrassment’ Becerra after his incompetent tenure in the Biden administration
By Katy Grimes, June 22, 2026 8:33 am
The California Business & Industrial Alliance (CABIA) has a full-page ad in the California Post that slams the California Chamber of Commerce’s misguided endorsement of Xavier Becerra for Governor.
As the Globe reported, last week the Cal Chamber announced they were endorsing Xavier Becerra in the November general election for governor. Immediately I pictured the Cal Chamber board of directors cowering under their conference room table.
“Cal Chamber going along with Becerra is learned helplessness, given that California has the worst business climate,” Steve Hilton said at a press conference. He must have a similar imagination to mine. “How they say they want more of that – utter quizzlings.”
“It’s a display of utter cowardice on behalf of the Cal Chamber.”
“California is already at the top of the ‘don’t want to go there’ list. You would think that the business community would stand up and fight. Instead we see the business lobby in California caving,” Hilton added.
The ad highlights that the Cal Chamber endorsed Becerra for Governor alongside Big Labor, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). It’s a slap in the face to California business owners who have been targeted by harmful union-backed policies like the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) and a $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers.
The increase to $20 minimum wage for fast food workers went into effect in April of 2024 resulting in Californians bearing the cost of the 25% wage hike through significant job losses and steep food price hikes for consumers. Food prices at local restaurants increased by 14.5% since the legislation was signed, nearly double the national average.
The ad points out that even former president Joe Biden didn’t endorse “Embarrassment” Becerra after his incompetent tenure in the Biden administration.
The ad remarks that it’s no wonder the press says the Cal Chamber needs to “grow a spine.”
Ouch.
This has been a serious problem with the business lobbying associations in California, going back two decades when AB 32 was passed and signed into law. Someone tell them that they don’t really have a seat at the table any more. Cowardice, indeed. With nothing to lose, they should be calling press conferences to expose everything Democrats are doing, we said.
It’s particularly egregious because when Xavier Becerra sat down with Elex Michaelson of CNN for an interview, he said he’d change nothing in California.
Nothing? He gave Gavin Newsom an “A” grade on homelessness. And the CalChamber endorsed this?
Perhaps they should have polled their members first – I expect their business members disagree that nothing should change in California politics, and that the 180,000 to 200,000 homeless drug addicts living on the streets is okay.
SLUGGED_260616_CABIA_Becerra-Ad_v2.2
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.
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Chamber has not done its job in decades.
There isn’t a business I know of that would ever seek their guidance…. * Maybe the senior high school class during a small stint on business ownership… and only because they have to!
At least there is one California business group that has some common sense. The California Chamber of Commerce is run by idiots. Becerra is just more of the same Democrats who are trashing businesses in this state with ridiculous laws, unabated crime, and onerous taxes.
Who does the Cal Chamber of Commerce think they are speaking for? Certainly not for businesses here. They should just rename themselves the DNC Chamber of Commerce.
An estimated 40,000 businesses collapsed in California due to Democrats’ COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, the highest figure of any state in the nation. These closures occurred while business capacity limits and other restrictions were in place from March 2020 until June 2021.
By September 2021, California had recovered only slightly more than 58% of the 2.71 million jobs lost during the initial pandemic shutdowns, ranking the state in the bottom 10 nationally for economic rebound. Some reports also suggest that nearly half of the state’s small businesses faced closure during this period, contributing to a significant exodus of residents and capital.
Then we have the Cal Chamber of Commerce, “Let elect another Democrat as Governor”. I don’t see how people can be this stupid, but there you have it, the dunces of the Cal Chamber of Commerce. If you have any common sense, cancel your memberships. They don’t represent you.
Javier Bockhorrhea??? SERIOUSLY???
This is the typical “go-along-to-get-along” mentality that has taken California to the brink of insolvency and these numbnuts want MORE of this???
If you’re a member, I’d CANCEL my membership… these people are FOOLS….
Katy Grimes is right that the California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) should have polled their members first before endorsing a deep-state career Democrat like Xavier Becerra in the November general election for governor?
The top leadership of CalChamber seems to be lacking real business experience. Take for instance CalChamber President & CEO Jennifer Barrera who laughably said that “California needs collaboration, not conflict. Secretary Becerra represents the best candidate to embrace that style of leadership.” Prior to joining CalChamber, she worked as an attorney at a statewide labor and employment defense firm. She has a B.A. in English from California State University, Bakersfield, and a J.D. from California Western School of Law. She’s never run or started a business and she would probably fail if she tried?
Why would CalChamber leadership endorse a stale career Democrat like Xavier Becerra considering his divisive history spanning four decades as a career Democrat with ZERO ethics who has done absolutely nothing to improve the state’s business climate? Maybe CalChamber’s leadership received lucrative financial incentives from big labor in exchange for endorsing Xavier Becerra?
–“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” Winston Churchill