(L-R) Democrat Matt Mahan, Democrat Xavier Becerra, Republican Chad Bianco, Republican Steve Hilton, Democrat Tom Steyer and Democrat Katie Porter during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
Pool/Jason Henry/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The most recent poll of the California governor’s race shows that Xavier Becerra, the former state attorney general, is one of two leading Democrats in the race after an April surge.
The poll, published Monday by CBS and YouGov, asked likely voters dozens of questions about their feelings on the race, including which gubernatorial candidate they’re most likely to vote for and their opinions on major state and national issues.
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Republican candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton remains in the lead with 16% of voter support. Billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democrat, is second with 15%, and Becerra is in third with 13% — a considerable bump in support compared with previous polls.
Becerra has a high-profile resume, previously serving as attorney general in California and then as health and human services secretary in the Biden administration. In the CBS poll, 56% of voters said a candidate’s experience is most important to them.
When he joined the race last April, Becerra was well received. At one point, he garnered 14% of likely voter support in a November poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, but he took a dip in the months to follow as more viable Democrats jumped into the race and he struggled to differentiate himself.
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The even-tempered and, at times, bashful candidate made some big swings during a gubernatorial debate on Tuesday evening co-hosted by CBS. Becerra made headlines in March when he was excluded from a debate hosted by the University of Southern California, blaming the university for leaving out all of the candidates of color (there were four at the time, though Betty Yee has since dropped out).
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Xavier Becerra, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, speaks during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
Pool/Jason Henry/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Becerra received decent air time during this debate. He got spicy at one moment when he said his priority is to stop “Steve Hilton’s daddy,” referring to President Donald Trump, who recently endorsed the British former news host. “We need someone who’s going to fight Donald Trump,” he said.
When Steyer first entered the race, he was known only by the few voters who likely remembered he ran for president in 2020. He started off with a mere 1% in the first October poll he appeared in from UC Berkeley, but after spending upward of $120 million on his campaign — the most expensive campaign in the country right now — he has inched his way up as a leading Democratic contender for the race. (Most of that money, by the way, came from his personal fortune.)
During Tuesday night’s debate, Steyer emphasized one of his big campaign pillars, saying, “We need to make structural change in every one of the places where Californians can’t afford to live.”
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With Rep. Eric Swalwell out of the race, after allegations of sexual assault, some candidates are absorbing his support.
According to the CBS/YouGov poll, Chad Bianco, the Republican Riverside County sheriff, is fourth with 10% of likely voter support; former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter is in fifth place with 9%. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, despite being the early pick of the Silicon Valley donor set, hasn’t seemed to absorb any of Swalwell’s support, staying tied in the CBS poll with former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa with 4%. Tony Thurmond, the public schools superintendent, is last of the named candidates with 1%.
California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer speaks after a debate on April 22, 2026, in San Francisco.
Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images
On Tuesday, Bianco, who is a law enforcement officer, focused largely on crime and homelessness. Porter stuck to her same core talking points, coining herself as the most relatable candidate to hard-working parents because she is a single mom who takes her kids to school in her mini van. She has also repeated the line that she is “not for sale” to special interest money. Among the policies she wants to push forward are free child care and two years free at California public universities. She also pointed to her work as a former congresswoman, citing her own experience crafting mental health support bills and criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s CARE Court plans, a newly created statewide mental health program.
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Mahan, whose campaign has received millions from Silicon Valley executives, tried to brand himself as a relatable candidate, saying he was raised by a mother who was an educator and a dad who was a mail carrier. But he also tried to diverge from the rest of his Democratic opponents, explicitly calling out Steyer and Porter for their plans for single-payer healthcare. He also came for the surging Becerra, calling Becerra out for representing the status quo and criticizing him for the work he did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CBS poll showed 26% of voters are still undecided. The poll surveyed 1,479 registered voters April 23-27. It has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.