- Xavier Becerra leads with 23%, but competition remains tight among many candidates.
- Steve Hilton has President Donald Trump's endorsement, placing second with 20% support in recent polls.
- Concerns about housing affordability and economic stability dominate voter priorities across California.
With mere days until the California primary election, Xavier Becerra, a Democrat who served as the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, has gained momentum in the race for governor.
The latest poll from the Public Policy Institute of California positions him as the favorite with 23% support. But there is no clear front-runner in this crowded race.
Trailing behind him is Republican Steve Hilton, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement with 20%.
Tom Steyer was third with 15% support. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco garnered 13%, a point more than former Rep. Katie Porter.
Before the gubernatorial debate, Becerra polled at 19 percentage points. Although he has made gains with voters, the race is still wide-open, with the vote split among several candidates and 15% of voters who were polled hoping to vote for other options on the ballot.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has remained neutral and avoided endorsing a candidate to prevent internal fracturing, but he made a late endorsement in the Los Angeles mayoral race, throwing his support behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.
Roughly 60 candidates are running for governor to replace Newsom.
Another recent poll found that Becerra leads among Latino voters with 19%. Behind him are Steyer and Hilton, tied at 11%, and former Rep. Katie Porter at 9%.
This survey also shows that Latino voters are most concerned about the economy and their top priority is housing.
The lack of affordable homes for sale or rent has made it harder for working-class families to sustain living in the Golden State and the survey backs these struggles.
“California’s economy depends on working families and this poll shows: housing, utilities, food and healthcare are taking up more of every paycheck, and too many families are being pushed further from stability,” said UnidosUS California State Director Esmeralda López.
Roughly 11% of California Latino voters say they live comfortably, she noted.
“That is a warning sign for the whole state,” López said.
“Leaders should be building relief into the systems families rely on — housing, healthcare, childcare and wages — instead of allowing costs and red tape to make California harder to call home.”
As Jeff Burton, a lobbyist and longtime strategist for Republican leaders, previously told the Deseret News, the polls don’t necessarily show who will win.
“Opinions change second by second,” he said. “There’s still a lot of voters who are holding their ballots back, waiting and seeing.”
As of Friday morning, only 12% of California voters, or 2.8 million out of the more than 23 million, have cast their ballots, according to a primary ballot tracker.
