Both campaigns declared a "clear victory." A spokesman for Republican candidate Meg Whitman said she quote "stood in stark contrast to Jerry Brown's muddled and inconsistent message" while a spokesman for Brown said the Democrat showed a quote "clear contrast in substance and style."
Audience reaction was mixed. David Townsend from Sacramento said Whitman stuck to her talking points too closely.
She was obviously scripted and didn't have really any original thoughts and I thought Jerry was very strong and really went to his record.
While Whitman fan Richard Rader, also from Sacramento, said he'd like to see someone new, since he didn't think Brown did great job the first time around.
I've been here in California and I've seen what he did when he was 'Mr. Moon Beam' and you're not going to change an old dog, he's not going to learn new tricks right away.