Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for California governor, is a heavy favorite to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom in a state that has not elected a Republican to the top job in 20 years.
Mr. Becerra, 68, is a longtime congressman and state attorney general, but he may be best known nationally as the Biden administration’s health and human services secretary, a position in which he faced a fair amount of criticism during the coronavirus pandemic and migrant surge.
He entered the governor’s race last year to little fanfare and low polling numbers, but then jumped to the top of the pack in the spring after the exit of Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat, amid sexual assault accusations.
In the June open primary, in which the top two vote-getters advanced, Mr. Becerra received 28 percent of the vote, finishing first overall and coming ahead of other Democrats, including Tom Steyer, a progressive billionaire, and Katie Porter, a former congresswoman from Orange County. In the general election on Nov. 3, Mr. Becerra will face Steve Hilton, a Fox News commentator endorsed by President Trump.
If elected, as is expected in his heavily Democratic state, Mr. Becerra would be California’s first Latino governor since 1875. It’s a fitting milestone for someone who has had a career full of firsts.
Mr. Becerra was born in Sacramento to Mexican immigrants, who he says came to the United States with just $12. He earned an undergraduate degree from Stanford University — he was the first in family to obtain a bachelor’s degree — as well as a law degree. Stanford was also where he met his wife, Dr. Carolina Reyes, a Harvard-trained physician with whom he has three children.
At age 34, Mr. Becerra was elected to Congress, where he served for 24 years. He fought for immigrant rights and gay rights, and against the privatization of Social Security. But his most well-known accomplishment in Congress was helping to shape and whip votes for the landmark health legislation known as Obamacare, which dramatically expanded health care coverage for Americans.
Mr. Becerra later made a name for himself as California’s attorney general, a role he assumed in 2017, just after President Trump’s first inauguration. Mr. Becerra’s office sued the Trump administration more than 100 times, including over construction of the border wall, rollbacks of environmental protections and plans to increase offshore oil drilling.
His most controversial stint in public office was when he served as health and human services secretary in the Biden administration, a role he assumed in 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic. Some believed he did not have the right experience for the job, and saw him as a weak leader.
As the head of one of the largest federal departments for nearly four years, Mr. Becerra was accused of not doing enough to resolve conflicts between the strong-willed doctors who led some of the agencies that he oversaw, among them the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.
He was also criticized for his agency’s handling of migrant children, some of whom were exploited after they were connected with sponsors. Some were encouraged or even forced them to work, including in jobs that were dangerous. Thousands ended up in punishing jobs that were illegal for minors, such as cleaning slaughterhouses or working at lumber mills or in roofing.
Mr. Becerra said the children were never abused while under the Biden administration’s care, but critics have said that his agency should have tracked what happened to them over time.