Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was the top vote-getter in California’s gubernatorial primary election and has pitched himself to voters as the experienced choice.
The exit of then-Rep. Eric Swalwell before the primaries created a vacuum in the crowded race for Becerra, who also served as a Los Angeles-area US congressman and California attorney general.
Becerra has been arguing he’s already taken on many of the roles expected of the next governor, including balancing budgets and managing large, complex agencies as HHS secretary. As California attorney general, he sued President Donald Trump’s first administration more than 120 times.
Nominated by President Joe Biden in December 2020 to serve as the Health and Human Services secretary, Becerra faced a contentious Senate confirmation process due to his legal background rather than a traditional medical career. He was the first Latino to hold the job.
But during the Covid-19 pandemic, Becerra was criticized for maintaining a lower profile.
Administration officials who were in meetings and virtual calls with the secretary at the time say he took a conflict-averse approach in dealing with the administration’s other Covid-19 leaders. Still, his department coordinated the undertaking of distributing vaccines to hundreds of millions of Americans.
As secretary, he also faced scrutiny for his department’s handling of a record surge of unaccompanied migrant minors who arrived at the US-Mexico border. The children were placed in HHS custody, with some languishing in emergency facilities.
CNN’s Elise Hammond contributed to this report.