Veteran Democratic politician Xavier Becerra won one of the top two spots in California\u2019s primary election for governor, according to the Associated Press, a finish that puts him in a prime position to win in November and make history as California\u2019s first elected Latino governor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people of the great state of California, in the greatest nation on earth, have spoken \u2014 loudly and proudly,\u201d Xavier Becerra said in a statement Friday. \u201cWe will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we are never backing down. November, here we come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican, remains in a close second and appears on the cusp of securing the right to face-off with Becerra in the November general election. <\/p>\n
Tom Steyer, a hedge fund manager turned climate change activist, may be destined to finish in third place \u2013 which would be a disappointing end to a campaign that saturated California\u2019s television screens, social media scrolls and mailboxes thanks to the progressive Democrat spending $216 million of his own wealth.<\/p>\n
Becerra\u2019s victory was declared by the Associated Press Friday evening, three days after the June 2 election \u2013 an indication of the competitive race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom and California\u2019s lengthy process of counting ballots. Still, Becerra and Hilton were within a percentage point of one another, though that could change as the vote tally continues. While he fate is not sealed, Steyer faces long odds to finish in the top two.<\/p>\n
Under California\u2019s primary system, only the two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary advance to the November general election, regardless of their party affiliation.<\/p>\n
Becerra would enter the general election campaign with a significant edge over Hilton since Democratic voters in California outnumber Republicans by almost a two-to-one margin, a telltale reason why no GOP candidate has won a statewide race since 2006.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s endorsement of Hilton helped consolidate support from Republican voters, which was pivotal to his success in the primary, but would likely will hurt him in a face-off against Becerra. Nearly two-thirds of voters in the state want a governor who will fight President Trump\u2019s policies, according to the survey by UC Berkeley\u2019s Institute of Governmental Studies that was co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.<\/p>\n
Becerra could make history by becoming the first Latino to be elected governor \u2014 and the first to lead the state in more than 150 years. The last time a Latino held the office was in 1875, when then-Lt. Gov. Romualdo Pacheco was elevated to fill a vacancy and served for 10 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia has made history. Xavier Becerra\u2019s advancement to the general election is a defining moment both for the state, and for the millions of Latino families who have been instrumental in shaping the state\u2019s future. … As home to the nation\u2019s largest Latino population, California will once again demonstrate the decisive power of Latino voters,\u201d said Voto Latino Executive Director Beatriz Lopez.<\/p>\n
Though Latinos make up about 40% of the state\u2019s population and are California\u2019s largest ethnic group, they historically have lower turnout in elections and are underrepresented in government. Though Becerra often cites his upbringing as a child of working-class Mexian immigrants, he will still need to demonstrate he can deliver for those communities, said Christian Arana, vice president of civic power and policy at the California-based Latino Community Foundation. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of excitement about the representation side,\u201d Arana said. \u201cYou can have Latino representation, but whether or not that will actually lead to tangible outcomes for Latino communities, that\u2019s what people want to know.\u201d <\/p>\n
Once stuck in the single-digits in public opinion polls with a handful of other Democratic candidates, Becerra rose quickly and unexpectedly following the political demise of former Rep. Eric Swalwell.<\/p>\n
Becerra\u2019s rise began days after Swalwell dropped out in April following allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, which he denies. Becerra quickly consolidated support from elected officials including Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and influential groups like Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and California Medical Assn.<\/p>\n
But both supporters and critics of Becerra struggle to explain exactly how or why he became the main beneficiary of Swalwell\u2019s downfall.<\/p>\n
Becerra\u2019s campaign credits the timing of a major television and digital advertising push. The political ads began running just before the allegations against Swalwell came out and depicted Becerra as a calm, experienced leader with a record pushing back against Trump and support from Young Democrat groups.<\/p>\n
Steyer\u2019s campaign hired an intelligence firm to look into the online surge favoring Becerra and found thousands of bot accounts had amplified Becerra on various social media platforms. Becerra\u2019s campaign denied any involvement and dismissed the influence of the fake accounts.<\/p>\n
Political experts describe it as the stars aligning for the longtime Democratic politician. In the aftermath of the scandal, voters were apparently drawn to Becerra\u2019s long resume and calm, thoughtful demeanor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just never overreacted. Even when attacked [during debates], he was calm,\u201d said Fernando Guerra, professor of Chicano Studies at Loyola Marymount University. That \u201cgave the sense of being a moderate, while he\u2019s really a liberal, so he was able to appeal not only to Latinos, but to liberals and to moderates.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Swalwell\u2019s campaign crumbled, members of the political brain trust \u2013 many with ties to Newsom \u2013 that had been advising the former congressman began working for Becerra, including digital strategist Alf LaMont and veteran consultants Courtni Pugh and Lindsey Cobia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was nothing going for him for a long, long time,\u201d said Jason McDaniel, associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University. \u201cI do think it was just people looking for someone who had a lot of experience who could win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Becerra\u2019s first election victory was to the state Assembly in 1990. He served one term before successfully running for a Los Angeles congressional seat, which he held for 24 years. <\/p>\n
Then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Becerra as state attorney general in 2017, a post he used to challenge Trump administration policies in the courts more than a 100 times \u2014 with great success. Becerra helped craft the Affordable Care Act in Congress and defended it as attorney general, and Joe Biden nominated him to serve as Health and Human Services secretary.<\/p>\n
The 68-year-old veteran elected official has faced criticism on the campaign trail for his record leading the massive federal agency, particularly over a New York Times investigation that found thousands of unaccompanied migrant children ended up working in dangerous jobs after they were released to sponsors.<\/p>\n
Some former Biden administration officials, many of them anonymous, have also criticized Becerra\u2019s leadership of the agency.<\/p>\n
Still, Becerra\u2019s supporters said the candidate\u2019s experience, particularly when it comes to fighting the Trump administration, qualify him for California\u2019s top job.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s had some very important positions in government,\u201d labor leader Dolores Huerta said at Becerra\u2019s election night party in downtown Los Angeles. \u201cHe is qualified. He doesn\u2019t have to go into a learning mode.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a legal scholar,\u201d said David Dixon, a political science professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills and brother to a longtime Becerra aide. \u201cWhen our constitution is threatened, we need people like him to be in positions of power to reclaim things we are losing now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Times staff writer Seema Mehta, Dakota Smith and Andrew Khouri conributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veteran Democratic politician Xavier Becerra won one of the top two spots in California\u2019s primary election for governor,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[29238,7,9,8,3705,13540,8642,418,142786,127446,592,45070,225,4190,38105,1519,1522],"class_list":["post-348855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-becerra","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-campaign","tag-candidate","tag-hilton","tag-history","tag-latino-governor","tag-november-general-election","tag-people","tag-primary-election","tag-state","tag-support","tag-swalwell","tag-trump","tag-voter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348855","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=348855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}