Democrat gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra will finally face Republican candidate Steve Hilton in a real, one-on-one debate on Wednesday evening. 

Until now, he’s been running a no-show campaign that raises fears he’ll be a do-nothing governor.

Hilton has run an energetic campaign, proposing dozens of reforms to failing state policies. He has crisscrossed the state and made himself available to the press on an open basis.

Becerra, in contrast, has run from the media. Worse, he hasn’t bothered to tell voters much about his policies. He’s just running as “generic Democrat.”

Maybe it’s working. 

Becerra has a huge lead in the polls, which may even be growing, as voters, lacking further information, retreat to the comfort of partisan identity.

It’s true that Trump is unpopular in the Golden State. It’s true that the Republican brand is a toxic label here.

But it’s equally true that Democrats have let California down.

Yes, we have the world’s fourth-largest economy, but that’s in spite of our government, not because of it. 

State spending is out of control, and so is fraud. The cost of living is astronomical. 

Water is scarce, and fuel is expensive. Police are in short supply, but the homeless are everywhere. Our roads are crumbling, and our schools are dismal.

We still have the beaches and the mountains — at least we did, until El Niño washed away the shore and wildfires spread across the state.

We need to turn California around.

But there are never political consequences.

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Becerra has decided that the best way to get elected is not to articulate policy, but rather to count on Democrats mailing in their ballots.

It’s arrogant, it’s dismissive of the electorate, and it does not give us any vision or even a direction.

It’s just more of the same. 

You should have to make a case to get elected. You should have to ask Californians for their vote. 

Instead, we have a likely governor who hasn’t bothered to tell us who he is or what he stands for. 

This is a truly significant moment for our state. We have a massive budget — and a looming structural deficit.

We have a booming AI economy — and new challenges to it.

We have natural disasters of every kind — and our state always seems unprepared.

Becerra is sleepwalking to November. 

The debate is an opportunity for him to make his case, and defend it. 

California deserves no less.