Becerra and Hilton Face Off in California Governor Race
Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton will face off in California’s November general election after the state’s June 2 primary produced a matchup that will test whether frustration with Democratic rule can overcome a 2-to-1 voter registration disadvantage for Republicans in the nation’s most populous state.
The Associated Press determined Tuesday that Hilton had secured enough votes to advance, finishing with approximately 25% of the vote behind Becerra’s 27.9%. Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer, who spent $215 million of his personal fortune on the campaign, conceded on June 9 and urged his supporters to back Becerra.
The winner will succeed term-limited Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom to lead a state of roughly 39 million people — an economy that by itself ranks among the largest in the world. The next governor will inherit stubborn crises including a high cost of living, housing shortages, homelessness, and a fraught relationship with the Trump administration.
A Contest of Contrasting Backgrounds
Becerra, 68, brings decades of government experience to the race. A former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden, California Attorney General, and 24-year congressman from Los Angeles, he has positioned himself as a seasoned leader ready to defend California’s progressive policies against Trump’s second-term agenda. Born in Sacramento to Mexican immigrant parents, he would be the state’s first Latino governor since the late 1800s.
Hilton, a British-born former Fox News commentator and ex-strategist for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, has never held elected office in the United States. He moved to California in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2021. Endorsed by President Donald Trump, Hilton has campaigned as an outsider promising “radical change” after more than 15 years of one-party Democratic rule in Sacramento.
“If you’re happy with the way that California is being run, Xavier Becerra is your guy,” Hilton said in a recent interview. “If you want change, vote for me.”
Becerra, meanwhile, has made resistance to Trump a central theme of his campaign. “Donald Trump is doubling down on decline and counting on people being too fearful, distracted or gullible to fight back,” he told supporters on primary night. “As governor I will never back down from the threats of small cowards in big offices.”
The Steyer Factor and Democratic Consolidation
Steyer’s $215 million campaign — one of the most expensive self-funded primary bids in California history — dominated the airwaves but ultimately fell short. The billionaire climate activist steadily narrowed Hilton’s lead for second place in the days after the election as late-arriving mail ballots were counted, but CBS News reported that election data showed there were not enough outstanding votes for him to catch Hilton.
Steyer’s endorsement of Becerra could help consolidate Democratic support, though his attacks on Becerra as a “corporate Democrat” during the primary may have left some progressive voters skeptical. “It would be a travesty for Steve Hilton to win the governorship, and Californians must unite behind Xavier Becerra to ensure he does not,” Steyer said in his concession statement.
Affordability at the Forefront
Both candidates agree that California’s cost-of-living crisis is the defining issue of the race, though they propose dramatically different solutions. Hilton has promised to make the first $100,000 of income tax-free, create a loan program for first-time homebuyers, and freeze in-state tuition at public colleges — a platform he has branded as making California “Califordable.”
Becerra has proposed declaring states of emergency to address high energy costs and housing shortages, and freezing home insurance rates. A recent CBS News poll found that 70% of California registered voters say the cost of living is “unmanageable” where they live, and only 7% believe the “California Dream” is still attainable.
The Trump Factor and Electoral Math
Hilton’s endorsement from Trump was crucial for consolidating Republican support in the crowded primary, helping him leapfrog over Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a longtime Trump supporter. But the endorsement is a double-edged sword. According to The Guardian, Trump’s approval rating in California runs about 10 points lower than the national average.
Hilton has already begun distancing himself from the president on key issues. In a notable shift after the primary, he acknowledged that Joe Biden won the 2020 election — something he had previously refused to say. “Everybody knows that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” he told an LA public radio station.
Democrats hold a 45% to 25% registration advantage over Republicans in California, and no Republican has won a statewide office since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 reelection — 20 years ago. Democratic strategist Garry South told the Guardian: “The Trump endorsement that was the booster shot he needed … to make the top two will be the political equivalent of monkeypox in the run-off. Steve Hilton has as much chance of becoming governor as I do.”
What to Watch
Becerra enters the general election with vulnerabilities that Hilton is likely to exploit. His tenure as California Attorney General was marked by criticism over his handling of an $11 billion unemployment fraud scandal during COVID, and a campaign finance scandal involving his former chief of staff has drawn scrutiny. Hilton has already called Becerra “an amiable but unaccomplished establishment nonentity.”
Hilton, meanwhile, faces questions about his lack of elected experience, his association with Trump, and whether his coalition of working-class voters, Latino small business owners, and Silicon Valley tech tycoons can overcome the state’s Democratic registration advantage.
The race will be closely watched as a bellwether for national political trends in the 2026 midterm elections, which are shaping up to be a challenging year for Republicans nationally. A Hilton victory would be a major upset signaling a seismic shift in California politics; a Becerra victory would extend the Democratic lock on the state and potentially position him as a national figure.
The general election is set for November 2026.