Californians picked their top two candidates in the primary election to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is term-limited. Now, officials are close to certifying these results.
This race attracted more than 60 candidates, with Xavier Beccera and Steve Hilton rising to the top.
With 95% of the votes reported, Becerra garnered 28% support, and Hilton secured 25%, according to the results posted as of Thursday evening.
Earlier this week, billionaire Tom Steyer, a progressive populist who came in third place, formally conceded the race.
After facing scrutiny for its lengthy election tabulation process following the primary that drew national attention over allegations of election fraud, California is now looking toward the general election.
According to the latest survey by Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, Becerra holds 52% support compared to Hilton’s 31%.
Here’s what we know about the two candidates who advanced to the November election.
Who is Becerra?
Placing first in California’s jungle primary, Becerra, in a statement, promised to push back against the Trump White House.
“Last week, Californians sent a clear message: more than four million voters chose a different path than the one Steve Hilton and Donald Trump are offering. That’s the mandate I’ll carry into November,” Becerra said.
Born and raised in Sacramento, he served as the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden.
Becerra received endorsements from Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom after the primary. Both Harris and Newsom held off on throwing their support behind Becerra so as not to tip the scales in the primary.
Harris congratulated Becerra on social media, stating, “I am excited to offer him all the support I can as he sets out to become our state’s next governor.”
She praised Becerra’s time serving the White House and California, where he succeeded Harris as the attorney general from 2017 to 2021.
“I have been fortunate to see firsthand how Xavier never shies away from the biggest fights,” she said, “whether it was taking on the drug companies as Secretary of Health and Human Services or going after sex traffickers and big polluters as California’s Attorney General.”
Becerra began leading in the polls after front-runner Eric Swalwell, a former representative, dropped out of the race following allegations of sexual misconduct.
Who is Steve Hilton?
Hilton, who previously worked as a Fox News host, has not held elected office before but he served as a top aide to ex-United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron.
The British-born California gubernatorial candidate became an American citizen in 2021.
He gained popularity after receiving Trump’s endorsement. Aside from endorsing Hilton, Trump also alleged voter fraud in California.
“I started talking about Steve Hilton who’s a fantastic guy and I saw them say it was going to be two weeks before they knew, and I started hitting them,” Trump said at the Oval Office.
The president said California officials approved Hilton to advance in the general election because “There was too much heat on them.”
Trump’s support “is unlikely to broaden Hilton’s base of support among the overall electorate in the general election,” according to the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.
“This is because large majorities of the state’s electorate have consistently viewed Trump and the job he is doing as president in highly negative terms.”
California’s rules regarding mail-in ballots are the reason why it takes the state days and weeks to finalize election results.
Hilton’s disadvantage ahead of the November election is the registration gap. As the Deseret News reported, California is home to about 10 million registered Democratic voters and 5.8 million Republican voters. Independents make up 5.23 million voters.
According to NBC News, Hilton, during a campaign event, told voters, “It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican or Democrat, I think it’s important to understand if we don’t change direction in California, we really could be heading toward an economic crisis.”
“If we continue down this path, we’ll see more, more businesses leaving, more pressure on the budget that means taxes will have to go up,” he added.