{"id":467773,"date":"2026-09-18T09:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467773\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T09:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:32:18","slug":"new-california-governor-poll-shows-becerra-widening-lead-over-hilton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467773\/","title":{"rendered":"New California governor poll shows Becerra widening lead over Hilton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Xavier Becerra<\/a> has widened his lead over Steve Hilton<\/a> to 22 points, according to a new statewide survey.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Democrat leads the Republican 60% to 38%\u00a0among likely voters if the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election were held today, according to the Public Policy Institute of California poll <\/a>conducted Sept. 4\u201310.<\/p>\n

The latest numbers mark a notable change from the summer campaign.<\/p>\n

Here is the corrected and proofread text:<\/p>\n

A previous poll conducted by UC Berkeley (the Berkeley IGS \/ Los Angeles Times poll) showed Becerra with support from 55% of likely voters surveyed \u2014 compared with Hilton\u2019s 37% \u2014 a previous 18-point margin.<\/p>\n

Hilton characterized the PPIC poll as \u201cmisleading.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis poll is totally at odds with the latest poll on billionaire tax, which is 11% not 22%,\u201d he told the Post, referring to another poll that was conducted by the group. \u201cThe GOP turnout is way off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornians are desperate for change and we have momentum,\u201d he added. \u201cBecerra is a career politician and electing him is four more years of the one-party rule of the last 16.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Post has reached out to Beccera for comment. <\/p>\n

California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton gestures toward the media as he arrives for a campaign event outside a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Los Angeles, Tuesday, September 8, 2026. AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong<\/p>\n

The numbers also represent a substantially wider margin than a separate Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies\/Los Angeles Times poll conducted in August, which put Becerra ahead\u00a055% to 37%\u00a0among likely voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve Hilton needed all the pieces to fall into place and for Xavier Becerra to make a major mistake to have a chance at victory this November,\u201d Matt Klink a Republican strategist told the Post. <\/p>\n

\u201cNeither has happened and, unless something radically changes, we\u2019re looking at a blowout by Secretary Becerra, who is largely hiding from the California voters,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

The latest PPIC survey found that the candidates\u2019 bases remain firmly behind them.<\/p>\n

A whopping\u00a093% of Democrats\u00a0said they would vote for Becerra, while\u00a092% of Republicans\u00a0backed Hilton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Independent voters, meanwhile, favored Becerra\u00a057% to 38%\u00a0\u2014 a 19-point advantage among voters who don\u2019t identify with either major party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra speaks outside the Supreme Court of California in San Francisco. AP Photo\/Noah Berger<\/p>\n

Becerra also held majority support across age, education, gender, homeownership and income groups, according to PPIC.<\/p>\n

The major exception was the Central Valley, where Hilton led\u00a052% to 46%.<\/p>\n

The survey comes with Californians less than two months away from deciding who will replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is barred from seeking another term.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecerra is taking a very low-key approach because he has such a big lead that he is going to run out the clock,\u201d Klink said, pointing to Becerra\u2019s lack of public appearances and media interviews.<\/p>\n

The survey also found support for the controversial billionaire tax: fifty-two percent would vote yes on Proposition 40 which, if passed, would Imposes a one-time 5% tax. <\/p>\n

California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton attends a roundtable discussion with film and television industry leaders about his \u201cBring Hollywood Home\u201d plan. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Affordability could be a major factor in the contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sixty-five percent of likely voters\u00a0said the candidates\u2019 positions on affordability would be very important in determining their vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That issue comes as Californians express considerable economic pessimism.<\/p>\n

PPIC found\u00a071% of California adults\u00a0expect bad financial times for the state over the next 12 months, while\u00a054%\u00a0said things in California are generally going in the wrong direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hilton has made California\u2019s cost of living and business climate central to his campaign, while Becerra is campaigning as the Democratic nominee after serving as California attorney general and U.S. Health and Human Services secretary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra attends a news conference opposing Proposition 39. Daniel Cole<\/p>\n

The former Biden appointee surged into the lead during the primaries when Democratic front-runner Eric Swalwell dropped out amid multiple rape allegations and a DOJ investigation.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s race is not the only contest showing a sizable Democratic advantage.<\/p>\n

In California\u2019s House races,\u00a062%\u00a0of likely voters said they would support the Democratic candidate in their district, compared with\u00a036%\u00a0for the Republican candidate, according to PPIC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The poll surveyed\u00a01,745 California adults, including\u00a01,103 likely voters, and was conducted online in English and Spanish by Ipsos using its KnowledgePanel. <\/p>\n

Election Day is November 3, 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xavier Becerra has widened his lead over Steve Hilton to 22 points, according to a new statewide survey.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,46666,9,8,236,13,17382,3586,3707],"class_list":["post-467773","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-police","tag-politics","tag-steve-hilton","tag-us-news","tag-xavier-becerra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467773","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=467773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}