California gubernatorial candidates Steyer, Hilton and Becerra speak on primary night
On election night, California gubernatorial candidates Tom Steyer, Steve Hilton, and Xavier Becerra speak as primary vote counting continues.
- In the California gubernatorial race, Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton advanced to the general election.
- Two candidates emerged victorious from a field of 61 candidates in the state’s nonpartisan primary.
- The race was the most expensive gubernatorial race in history, with more than $316 million spent on advertising.
- Becerra, a former HHS secretary, and Hilton, a former Fox News contributor, will compete in November to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Democratic front-runner Xavier Becerra and his Republican opponent Steve Hilton have advanced to the top two spots in California’s crowded and highly anticipated gubernatorial primary, according to projections from The Associated Press and NBC News.
Mr. Hilton and Mr. Becerra won a landslide victory in the state’s nonpartisan “jungle” primary on June 2, which was declared a week later on June 9. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the November general election for a chance to succeed current Gov. Gavin Newsom, who ends his eight-year term in January.
Progressive billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer came in third, followed by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, the paper said.
Mr. Becerra, a former Health and Human Services secretary, Mr. Hilton, a former Fox News contributor, and Mr. Steyer, a progressive billionaire entrepreneur and climate change activist, survived in a field packed with 61 gubernatorial candidates who took up every page of the nearly 2-foot-long ballot.
“The people of great California, the greatest nation on earth, have spoken loud and proud,” Becerra said in a June 5 statement after being announced as the first candidate to advance. “We will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we will never back down. November is here.”
Hilton is Supported by President Donald Trumphe remained confident of finishing in the top two. He has already appealed to Becerra to work with him on his campaign to reform the state’s voter ID process.
“Change is coming,” Hilton told supporters in the Bay Area suburb of San Mateo on June 5. “This cannot continue. This election shows us that change is coming. The belief that we can be the best at everything we do. It’s a great place to raise a family. It’s a great place to start a business.”
More than 50 candidates are running for governor, ranging from veteran politicians like Mr. Porter to unknown newcomers, including Army reservist Barack D.
“In this race, the odds of falling between those two candidates were about 75% to 80%,” McEwan said. “It will be a massive, existential proxy war between the Democratic midterm elections and Trump 2.0, Hilton’s surrogates.”
Becerra and Hilton took the early lead.
Early voting after the June 2 primary vote left Becerra, Hilton and Steyer among the top candidates, with many of the crowded candidates dropping out, including Democrats Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Public Instruction Director Tony Thurmond, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who raised about $30 million as a latecomer, much of it from Silicon Valley tech insiders.
Ad spending in the California gubernatorial race was about $316 million, the most in history, and the fifth-highest non-presidential campaign ad spend in history, according to media tracking firm AdImpact. AdImpact noted that Steyer’s campaign alone spent more than $200 million, accounting for 64% of every dollar spent on the race.
But that wasn’t enough for him to break into the top two, McCune concluded.
“Mr. Steyer inherits the difficult situation that wealthy, affluent candidates have in the Golden State,” McEwan surmised. “They are much better at driving issues than candidates, especially their own political fortunes.”
Becerra bounced off the fringe.
Mr. Becerra, a moderate Democrat who was in the single digits in some polls six weeks ago, rose to prominence after former Rep. Eric Swalwell withdrew from the race in April over allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, which he denies.
He relied on his experience to steadily climb up the polls and focus his policies on lowering health care, housing, childcare and utility costs and fighting Trump. Mr. Steyer focused his ads on Mr. Becerra, calling him a “corporate Democrat.” But he rose from the ruins and heavy criticism.
California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks told USA TODAY last month that Becerra, who has served in Congress for more than two decades, has taken advantage of loyal Democratic voters, Latinos and even those with no party affiliation.
Becerra told supporters at a campaign party in Los Angeles that he defied the odds despite running out of money and being advised to withdraw from the race.
“Well, guess what? The underdogs stayed in the fight,” Becerra said. “The true spirit of democracy is this: After all the exhausting advertising, after all the toying with the pundits, after all the billionaires trying to buy their way, the people, and the people alone, get the last word…loudly and proudly.”
Hilton remains relevant despite late Democratic poll surge
Hilton, a political newcomer who has been leading in many polls for months and received significant support from President Trump, appears likely to win. He remained in the top two, even though some polls before the primary showed that Becerra and Steyer were making advances.
“I thought it was a little premature to write the words ‘change is coming,'” Hilton told supporters at a themed campaign party on June 2 in Huntington Beach, California. “I don’t think so, because change is coming. Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue.”
On June 5, Hilton called on Newsom to immediately establish an “emergency election assistance force” to speed up vote counting.
Hilton called the state “the laughingstock of the nation when it comes to election coverage.” He called on Newsom to issue an emergency executive order and send available state employees and rapid response support teams to counties facing significant delays in processing ballots.
In response, Newsom’s office told USA TODAY that the governor also “hopes that vote counting will proceed more quickly.” Newsom’s office said the governor does not administer the election, tally votes or certify results. These responsibilities rest with local election officials, who operate under state law under the authority of a separately elected Secretary of State.
President Trump scrutinizes California’s slow vote-counting process
Final gubernatorial primary results have finally been announced after President Trump scrutinized the slow-moving tally. In a series of posts on his Truth Social platform last week, the president wrote, without providing evidence, that Democrats were “stealing votes” in the gubernatorial race.
This followed Bill Ezeiri, the first assistant attorney general for the Central District of California, announcing on June 5 that his office would conduct multiple investigations into possible election fraud in Los Angeles.
Later that day, the Department of Justice sent one of its attorneys to monitor ballot processing in Los Angeles, the county elections office told USA TODAY.
Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office, said the county’s ballot processing is subject to public scrutiny. Sanchez added that Justice Department prosecutors were briefed on the public monitoring program and participated in a demonstration of ballot processing operations.
But We Are California, a coalition of the state’s leading community and advocacy groups, wrote an open letter to California voters condemning President Trump’s continued attacks on the state’s primary election results and explaining that the state’s universal mail-in voting process has been approved by voters.
“California’s voter protections were fought for and won by generations of Californians who understood that voting is the most direct way we make decisions about our lives,” the nonprofit’s letter said. “Vote counting will take time as every vote is counted. We will face further attacks in the coming months. We must be prepared to defend our votes.”
“We will not allow anyone, including the President of the United States, to take that away from us,” their letter concludes.
What’s next?
Both candidates will begin campaigning in California over the next five months. Becerra could become the state’s first Latino governor in more than a century, and Hilton could become California’s first Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger was in office from 2003 to 2011.
California is the nation’s most populous state, with approximately 12% of the nation’s population and one in eight Americans living there. Nearly half of the state’s 23 million registered voters are Democrats. A quarter of residents identify as Republican.
The remaining voters call themselves independents or have “no party preference,” according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Whoever becomes California’s governor will manage the state with a budget of about $4 trillion, making it the world’s fourth-largest economy. They will also be responsible for managing California’s multibillion-dollar debt, Medicaid access amid federal spending cuts, high housing costs, homelessness, and the persistent crisis of wildfire prevention and recovery.
