Xavier Becerra, left, and Steve Hilton take part in a gubernatorial debate at The Bayview Opera House in San Francisco on Feb. 3, 2026.
Nhat V. Meyer/TNS
It’s official: Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton will face off in the November general election to determine California’s next governor.
As a Democrat, Becerra enters the general election race as the heavy favorite.
California voters have not elected a Republican to statewide office since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, buoyed by his international stardom, in 2006. Democrats make up 45% of registered California voters, compared with 25% for Republicans. Most voters registered without party preference in California also tend to vote for Democrats.
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Becerra brings a long history in public office to the race, having served as Health and Human Services secretary under former President Joe Biden, California attorney general, more than two decades representing Los Angeles in Congress and a stint as a state Assembly member.
Hilton is a British-born naturalized American citizen who began his career in politics in London. He served as a top adviser to former Prime Minister David Cameron before he moved to California in 2012. He hosted the conservative commentary show “The Next Revolution” on Fox News from 2017 to 2023. He also hosts a conservative podcast.
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The results come amid intense scrutiny of California’s vote-counting process.
The state mails a ballot registered to every voter that they can return via mail or at a vote center. The system aims to make voting more convenient and increase participation, but it also means the vote-counting process is more time-consuming. Unlike votes cast in person, mail ballots require a signature check, an extra layer of security that adds time to the vote-counting process. Ballots returned via mail also continue arriving at county registrars’ offices for days after the election, and can be counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.
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That has provided fodder for conservatives angry with former reality TV star Spencer Pratt’s poor showing in the Los Angeles mayor’s race. Pratt, a Republican, had always faced an uphill battle to victory in deep-blue Los Angeles, but conservatives have pointed to his higher vote share on Election Day, when roughly half of ballots had been counted, as evidence of something fishy. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called California’s elections “rigged,” without evidence, citing Pratt’s loss. At the same time, Trump has cheered Hilton’s success in the vote tallies.
Under California’s open “top-two” primary system, Hilton and Becerra ran in the same crowded field of more than 60 candidates. Hilton and Becerra’s first- and second-place finishes mean both Republicans and Democrats will be able to vote for a candidate from their own party.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is barred from running again because of term limits. He had previously declined to endorse in the crowded race to replace him, but once the race was called Tuesday he released a statement calling on Californians to support Becerra.
“Becerra has the experience and grit California needs,” Newsom wrote. “He will stand up to Donald Trump, defend our families, and keep our state moving forward.”
Hilton, who was buoyed to victory in the primary by a Trump endorsement, immediately tried to distance himself Tuesday afternoon from the hyper-partisan politics that have made the Republican president so unpopular in California.
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“This campaign is not about Democrat v Republican,” he wrote on social media. “It’s about common sense, change, practical solutions.”
Becerra, for his part, also pivoted to winning over people who did not vote for him in the crowded primary.
“This November, voters will choose between a governor who will fight for that future and one who would hand Sacramento to Donald Trump,” Becerra wrote in a statement Tuesday. “Whoever you voted for on June 2nd, whatever party you belong to — I want to earn your support.”
Political observers had been monitoring the possibility the third-place candidate, Democrat Tom Steyer, might overtake Hilton and finish second, creating a Democrat-on-Democrat matchup for the general election.In the last few days, Steyer did narrow the gap between himself and the frontrunners, thanks to a surge of last-minute ballots cast by Democrats and a late upswing in enthusiasm from liberal voters for the progressive billionaire activist. But ultimately he did not win enough votes to advance.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Becerra was in the lead with 27.9% of the vote. Hilton trailed close behind with 24.9% of the vote. And Steyer remained in third place with 22.6% of the vote.
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The Associated Press called the race Tuesday, determining that Hilton and Becerra’s leads were too substantial for Steyer or any other candidates to overtake them as the remaining votes are tallied.
Steyer conceded the race soon after, acknowledging that the inherent contradiction in his message — that he was a billionaire running to take on other billionaires and mega-corporations — likely hamstrung his own campaign.
“People are fed up with a system rigged to benefit billionaires and leave them behind,” he wrote in a message to supporters. “It’s why so many people voted for our platform. And it’s not lost on me that it’s also why so many people just couldn’t stomach voting for a billionaire. It’s hard to blame them.”