Hilton, Becerra lead California governor primary

Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra moved into early position Tuesday to advance in California’s race for governor, raising the possibility of a rare Democrat-versus-Republican general election in a state where Democrats have held the governor’s office since 2011.

Under California’s top-two primary system, the two candidates with the most votes advance to the November general election regardless of party. Hilton, a former Fox News host, led with 26.9% of the vote, while Becerra, a former U.S. health and human services secretary, had 25.7% with 76.1% of election precincts partially reported, according to official results cited by Al Jazeera. Each had more than 1.1 million votes, with Becerra about 49,000 votes behind Hilton.

Democratic billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer trailed at 19.8%, nearly 260,000 votes behind, while no other candidate in the crowded field reached double digits. CBS News reported that preliminary results showed Hilton, Becerra and Steyer as the leading contenders to advance.

The race will determine who succeeds term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The next governor will take charge of a $4 trillion economy while facing major challenges including affordability, homelessness and water accessibility, Al Jazeera reported. Candidates throughout the campaign also faced questions about public safety, immigration, gas prices, energy policy and housing affordability.

Cost of living has dominated the race. A recent CBS News poll found that 70% of registered California voters said the cost of living is “unmanageable” where they live. In the same poll, 7% said the “California Dream” is still attainable today, 29% were somewhat confident it is and 64% were not confident.

Hilton, who was born in London and became a U.S. citizen in 2021, previously served as director of strategy for former British Prime Minister David Cameron. Backed by President Donald Trump, he has centered his campaign on making the state “Califordable” and criticized Newsom’s record on housing, homelessness and regulations.

“We want [young people] to be able to make your life here in California,” Hilton said during an April CBS News debate, saying he wanted to make housing affordable and “restore that California dream of home ownership.” Speaking to supporters Tuesday, he said: “California, what an incredible honour. The first time I’ve run for office, over a million people rising, voting for me this time with a funny accent.”

Becerra, who served as California attorney general from 2017 to 2021 and represented parts of Los Angeles in Congress for 24 years, has emphasized his government experience. “The governor’s office is not a place with training wheels,” he said during the April debate. “You need people who have experienced those challenges, have dealt with national crisis.”

If elected in November, Becerra would become the first Latino elected governor of California, where 40% of the population is Hispanic or Latino, Al Jazeera reported. In a Tuesday night speech mixing Spanish and English, he said: “While I take nothing for granted – there are lots of ballots left to be counted – it appears that we are on track to advance to November.” He added that the result would put him “one step closer to the son of those hardworking immigrants, Maria and Manuel Becerra, becoming the next governor of the great state of California.”

Several major candidates acknowledged Tuesday night that they would not become governor, including former Rep. Katie Porter, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Porter said, “The votes are still being counted and it may take a few days here in California to have final numbers, but we know tonight that we will not advance to the general election in November.”

Mahan said, “This is not the last time I will ask Californians to come together to fight for a better state.” Villaraigosa congratulated the winners and said, “I’m not stepping aside from the cause, only from the race.”

Other candidates included Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican who argued that regulations and taxes “have got to go,” and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, whose campaign struggled to gain traction.