Tesla Choosing Nevada Likely To Factor In Thursday's California Gubernatorial Debate

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Tesla's decision to choose Nevada as the site of its new $5 billion factory over its home state will likely be front and center at Thursday's California gubernatorial debate.

The California-based car maker jumpstarted the intrigue of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and Republican challenger Neel Kashkari's first faceoff with the deal to be announced on Thursday.

Political observers expect the decision to dominate the debate as Kashkari has made the jobs issue the centerpiece of his campaign.

Brown has downplayed criticism of the business climate before, citing statistics that California is leading the nation in job growth.

But losing Tesla's gigafactory to Nevada is a bad sign, says Sacramento State professor Sanjay Varshney.

"It's a question that I think should give us some pause, which is really based here, out of California, not choose Tesla, to do business. Why did they choose Nevada?" he said.

The debate will air at 7 p.m. Thursday on CBS13.com