{"id":320736,"date":"2026-05-18T03:25:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T03:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/320736\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T03:25:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T03:25:44","slug":"xavier-becerra-now-2026-california-governors-race-favorite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/320736\/","title":{"rendered":"Xavier Becerra now 2026 California governor\u2019s race favorite"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Vegas betting odds heavily favor former Biden Cabinet official Xavier Becerra<\/a> in California\u2019s crowded governor\u2019s race<\/a> \u2014 and it\u2019s not even close.<\/p>\n

Prediction market Polymarket currently gives Becerra a commanding 52% chance of winning the 2026 gubernatorial contest, far outpacing his nearest rival, billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer<\/a>, who trails at around 32%.<\/p>\n

New Vegas betting odds heavily favor former Biden Cabinet official Xavier Becerra in California\u2019s crowded governor\u2019s race\u2014and it\u2019s not even close. AP<\/p>\n

The sharp divide underscores just how dramatically Becerra has surged from early uncertainty to become the race\u2019s dominant frontrunner. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Polymarket odds Sunday night went as follows: <\/p>\n

Becerra 52%<\/p>\n

Steyer 32%<\/p>\n

Hilton 9%<\/p>\n

Bianco 3%<\/p>\n

Porter 2%<\/p>\n

Mahan 1%<\/p>\n

The sharp divide underscores just how dramatically Becerra has surged from early uncertainty to become the race\u2019s dominant frontrunner. Godofredo A. V\u00e1squez\/Pool AP via AP<\/p>\n

The latest odds mark a major boost for the former Health and Human Services secretary, whose campaign has gained steam as California\u2019s June primary nears.<\/p>\n

Polls conducted after Swalwell\u2019s career implosion showed Becerra skyrocketing near the top of voter surveys. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Becerra, who also served in the California state legislature before becoming attorney general, had struggled to gain traction until the spectacular implosion of ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell\u2019s campaign this month following allegations of sexual assault.<\/p>\n

Polls conducted after Swalwell\u2019s career implosion showed Becerra skyrocketing<\/a> near the top of voter surveys.<\/p>\n

His rise comes after weeks of political momentum, with recent polling and betting markets increasingly positioning him as the clear favorite to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom in deep-blue California.<\/p>\n

While Republican Steve Hilton<\/a> and other challengers remain in the broader field, Polymarket traders appear overwhelmingly convinced Becerra has emerged as the candidate to beat.<\/p>\n

Polymarket traders appear overwhelmingly convinced Becerra has emerged as the candidate to beat. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The prediction platform, which has generated more than $22 million in trading volume on the California governor\u2019s race, reflects growing confidence from political bettors who increasingly see Becerra as the safest wager in one of the nation\u2019s highest-profile gubernatorial contests. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The prediction platform has generated more than $22 million in trading volume on the California governor\u2019s race. Syda Productions \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Though political markets can shift rapidly, Becerra\u2019s commanding lead signals just how far ahead he currently stands in the battle for Sacramento\u2014with Vegas-style odds painting a picture of a race that, for now, looks firmly in his favor.<\/p>\n

Critics, however, have called out Becerra\u2019s tumultuous tenure as Health and Human Services chief\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 when he was ripped for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and a crisis in which the agency lost contact with 85,000 migrant children.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also been dinged for his ties to a Sacramento corruption scandal involving his former aide, Sean McCluskie, who pleaded guilty to his role in an alleged scheme to skim funds from a dormant campaign account for a \u201cno-show\u201d job for his wife.<\/p>\n

Becerra has not been accused of wrongdoing and has denied knowledge of the alleged activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Vegas betting odds heavily favor former Biden Cabinet official Xavier Becerra in California\u2019s crowded governor\u2019s race \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,46666,9,8,989,457,943,8642,1421,4182,18562,25299,3586,3707],"class_list":["post-320736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-governor-election-2026","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-elections","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-governor","tag-hilton","tag-las-vegas","tag-metro","tag-polls","tag-tom-steyer","tag-us-news","tag-xavier-becerra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}