Harsh words mark wild final gubernatorial showdown between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown

Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown tussled over taxes, pensions and how to tackle the chronically imbalanced state budget in their final scheduled debate.

The third debate between the two candidates was a freewheeling discussion full of personal attacks, with moderator Tom Brokaw trying to rein in the candidates and an audience that frequently burst in with applause. Perhaps the sharpest exchanges came over a recent recording of someone on Brown’s campaign calling Whitman a “whore” during an endorsement phone call.

The two candidates repeated their campaign themes in the hour-long debate at Dominican University of California in San Rafael.

“It will be the same-old, same-old,” Whitman said of a potential Brown governorship.

Brown cast Whitman as a candidate for the wealthy, challenging her at one point to detail how she would personally benefit from her plan to slash the state’s capital gains tax.

“How much money will you save?” Brown asked pointedly.

But the sparks were brightest in a question Brokaw asked Brown, about the recording on which someone on his campaign called Whitman a “whore” for her attempts to garner a union endorsement.

Brown began by dismissing the recording, calling it a “five-week-old private conversation” before eventually offering a half-hearted apology to Whitman for the “garbled transmission.”

She didn’t accept it. “It’s not just me but the people of California who deserve better than slurs,” Whitman said.

The remark, she said, was “not befitting of the office you are running for.”

The two also tangled over the recent revelations that Whitman’s former maid of nine years is an illegal immigrant.

Brown said Whitman’s firing of Niccandra Diaz Santillan was “kind of a sorry tale,” noting that “after nine years, she didn’t even get her a lawyer.”

Whitman called for an “e-verify system” to make sure the documents presented by immigrants are valid.

The canididates also sparred over and over regarding the role of unions in the state. Whitman said it would be a “fairy tale” to believe Brown could confront them after they’ve spent so much on his campaign. Brown said his long record shows an ability to negotiate with any and everyone.

“I’ve been in the kitchen, I’ve taken the heat,” he said, accusing Whitman of being in the bleachers.

The Tuesday showdown was the final debate of the gubernatorial campaign, but not the last time Whitman and Brown are scheduled to share a stage before the Nov. 2 election. They are set to appear together, along with the man they seek to replace, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the Women’s Conference in Long Beach on Oct. 26, in a conversation moderated by NBC’s Matt Lauer.

Debate moderator Tom Brokaw of NBC, who arrived on stage on crutches before the television broadcast began, had one of the best lines of the evening, though TV viewers missed it.

“It’s kind of a metaphor for California we’re both broken for the moment,” he said of his hobbled state, before adding: “The difference is I hope to be repaired by the first of the year.”

President Obama

7:33 p.m.

The candidates were asked about Presient Obama’s job performance.

Jerry Brown said Obama is “coming to campaign with me and I’m very happy about that.”

Brown’s campaign said Obama would be in California to campaign with Brown next week.

Meg Whitman said she would stay away from Sarah Palin when she visits California later this week.

Whitman said she supported Mitt Romney and John McCain during the campaign, ignoring the fact that Palin was McCain’s running mate during the 2008 presidential election.

Gay marriage

7:27 p.m.

The candidates were asked to rank the importance of Proposition 8 on a scale of one to 10.

Neither did.

Meg Whitman said Jerry Brown “needs to defend that lawsuit,” to try to uphold the state’s gay marriage ban.

Brown said “I’m following the precedent of a prior attorney general,” and said he believes Proposition 8 violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Brown called Proposition 8 “so fundamentally wrong.”

Candidates debate Immigration

7:24 p.m.

Meg Whitman was asked again about her employment of an undocumented immigrant for more than nine years.

“If you couldn’t find someone in your home was undocumented or illegal, how do you expect businesses to do it?” asked moderator Tom Brokaw.

Whitman called for an “e-verify system” to make sure the documents presented by immigrants are valid. She said she wants to give more resources to secure the nation’s border and restart a guest-worker program. She also talked about her opposition to Arizona’s controversial immigration law.

Jerry Brown said it was a federal responsibility and that asking local police officers to raid businesses was a waste of time.

“The biggest problem here is we have millions of people who are here illegally. They”re in the shadows,” Brown said, calling for comprehensive federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for workers who are in the country illegally but otherwise play by the rules.

Brown said Whitman’s firing of Niccandra Diaz Santillan was “kind of a sorry tale,” noting that “after nine years, she didn’t even get her a lawyer.”

Sparks fly over ‘whore’ remark

7:19 p.m.

One of the sharpest moments in the debate has come after moderator Tom Brokaw broached the recent recording of someone on Jerry Brown’s campaign calling Meg Whitman a “whore” during an endorsement phone call.

Brown began by dismissing the recording, calling it a “five-week-old private conversation” before eventually offering a half-hearted apology to Whitman for the “garbled transmission.”

She didn’t accept it. “It’s not just me but the people of Califonria who deserve better than slurs,” Whitman said.

The remark, she said, was “not befitting of the office you are running for.”

Brown began to defend the recording again, saying he was “not even sure it’s legal,” suggesting the campaign had not consented to being recorded. Brown’s former communications director, in his attorney general’s office, resigned after secretly recording interviews with reporters.

Another $20 million

7:13 p.m.

As Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman squared off in their third debate, another $20 million contribution by Whitman appeared on the secretary of state’s website.

The contribution brings Whitman’s personal spending total to $141.5 million, a record for a candidate on a single election.

Greenhouse gas laws

7:10 p.m.

Meg Whitman was asked about her opposition to Proposition 23, which would all but repeal the state’s greenhouse gas law.

She repeated her familiar answer that she supports a one-year suspension of the law, but not the measure on the November ballot.

“AB 32 is going to do real damage to the 97% of the jobs in the rest of the economy,” she said. “So, I called for a one-year moritorium on AB 32.”

“We can be green and smart,” she said, but we must be mindful of record-high unemployment. “What’s wrong with taking a pause?” she asked.

Brown said Whitman was trying to have it both ways and that her proposal creates “regulatory uncertainty.” He touted his plan to produce 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy in the state. “The people who are crying are two big oil companies in Texas and a petrochemical company in the Midwest,” a reference to the funders of the Yes on 23 campaign.

What to do about public pensions

6:59 p.m.

The next question is about public pensions.

Jerry Brown said: “We need a two-tier pension system,” with lower retirement benefits for future employees.

For current employees, he said: “They can contribute more to their pension.”

Meg Whitman went on the offensive saying: “It’s a little bit do as I say, not as I do,” criticizing Brown’s record as mayor of Oakland.

She then took on pensions at the state’s universities: “The pensions have gotten so big for all the faculty and staff that it’s squeezing out the students.”

She said she supported 401(k)-style retirements for public rank-and-file employees.

California state budget

6:55 p.m.

Tom Brokaw called the California budget a budget of “smoke and mirrors” and pressed Jerry Brown to talk about what he would propose as governor.

Brown said he wanted to fast-track the budget process, starting “two weeks after the election,” even before he’s sworn in. “I want to take it on the road,” he said. “I think we have to articulate in a very clear way, what is California government?”

“I want to see the governor cut 10 to 15% of his budget,” he said.

Whitman said “the next governor has to have a plan,” and criticized Brown for not having one.

“It will be the same old, same old” if Brown is elected, she said.

“I’ve got a very detailed plan,” said Whitman, who also talked about wanting to “engage the Legislature.”

“I’ve got 30 years of experience of balancing budgets and using technology,” she added.

Tangling over taxes

6:50 p.m.

The first direct confrontation of the debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman came over taxes.

Whitman touted her plan to cut capital gains taxes.

“It’s a tax on jobs, it’s a tax on job creators and it’s a tax on investments,” she said.

But then Brown turned to Whitman and asked: “How much money will you save” under such a plan?

Whitman didn’t give a specific answer, but turned the tables on Brown, saying her plan would create jobs and, “You have been part of the war on jobs ... for 40 years.”

Candidates debate Proposition 13

6:48 p.m.

The candidates were asked about their position on Proposition 13, which Tom Brokaw called “a sacred cow” and whether they were willing to reform it.

“Proposition 13 is absolutely essential to the future of California and I want to defend Proposition 13,” Meg Whitman said. “The really only sustainable way to create more tax revenues is to create more jobs.”

Whitman said she would cut taxes and streamline regulations to create more tax revenue for the state.

Brown, who was governor when Proposition 13 was passed, also said he was in no hurry to change the law.

“There’s no sacred cows over the long term. We have to look at things,” Brown said. But he said he would abide by the existing law. “A lot of the problem of 13,” Brown said, is that “the state took over more and more power. ... I would do my utmost to return authority and decision-making to the locals.”

Are voters ‘utterly unrealistic’ about government spending?

6:44 p.m.

The second question from Tom Brokaw is about whether voters have become “utterly unrealistic” about what can be cut from government spending without affecting services.

Meg Whitman said “the voters of California have the rigth instinct” and that billions can be cut.

“We need to shrink the size of government,” she said, specifically naming public pensions, welfare and the need to “use technology to do more with less.”

Jerry Brown took a different tact, saying: “We’re all unrealistic when it comes to pain or sacrifice or hard choices.”

He said that, as governor, he would lead by example: “Those at the top should cut first.”

Brown-Whitman debate: Opening statements

6:40 p.m.

Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman were asked to tell California citizens what they must do for California.

Whitman said she and her husband moved to California 30 years ago as newlyweds, and said they lived “the California dream. ... Today, what I see is the California dream is broken. I want to bring that California dream alive.”

Whitman said we have “a government we can no longer afford” and talked about “tough trade-offs.”

Brown said “we do have to make some tough decisions, we have to live within our means.” He said “we can’t scapegoat” immigrants, public employees or other groups. “We must rise above the poisonous partisanship,” he said. “We have to think as Californians first.”

Brown disavowed the notion of California as a failed state as an “East Coast” idea. The debate is being moderated by NBC’s Tom Brokaw.

Moderator Tom Brokaw on crutches -- ‘a metaphor for California’?

6:27 p.m.

NBC’s Tom Brokaw, the debate moderator, arrived on stage Tuesday on crutches. And he offered an explanation to the audience before the debate began.

“It’s kind of a metaphor for California. We’re both broken for the moment,” he said of his hobbled state.

Then he delivered the laugh line: “The difference is, I hope to be repaired by the first of the year.”

The debate between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown about how they hope to fix California is about to begin.

Brown-Whitman debate: Protesters shout at each other

6:16 p.m.

It’s the age-old pre-debate tradition: Backers of each candidate yell at one another just outside the debate hall. And Tuesday’s matchup between gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman in San Rafael, Calif., was no different.

“Meg Whitman does not care,” Brown supporters shouted in unison, in between chants of “Vote for Jerry.”

Whitman backers yelled, “Meg, Meg, Meg.”

In between, representatives of third-party candidates shouted to be recognized: “Open the debates.”

Meanwhile, Green Party standard-bearer Laura Wells was arrested amid the pre-debate protests.