Editorial: Becerra's big comeback and Hilton's uphill battle
While the California Secretary of State’s office reports there are still over 700,000 left to count as of this writing, it seems certain that the top-two vote getters to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom are Democratic former Health and Human Service Secretary Xavier Becerra and Republican pundit Steve Hilton.
As of this writing, Becerra leads the pack with 27.9% of the vote and Hilton with 25% of the vote. Though he experienced a surge in the vote count, billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer has failed to catch up with 22.5% of the vote, proving yet again that it’s really hard to “buy” an election. He spent over $200 million to achieve this result.
The primary brings to a close the chaotic and ever-fluctuating race for governor, which for most of it saw Becerra near the bottom of voter preferences. It wasn’t that long ago that Becerra’s low poll numbers saw him excluded from a debate hosted by the University of Southern California. That debate was scrapped amid complaints the organizers excluded all of the non-white candidates, while allowing the low-polling San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan in.
Becerra is now the clear favorite to be the next governor of California.
Of course, Hilton can use his platform to help raise issues and elevate the debate on important matters of public policy in California. So far, Hilton has appropriately steered away from indulging unfounded hysteria on the right about election fraud, recently saying, "We've seen nothing that would warrant … intervention.”
For all Californians who simply want a competent, fiscally responsible governor, Becerra at least said the right things on election night: “We'll be big-hearted, sure, but tight-fisted with taxpayer dollars. We'll build a government that runs, not on promises, but on time and under budget. And holds itself accountable when it doesn't.”
Whether Becerra can live up to that vow remains to be seen.
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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 3:17 PM.