Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra to face off in California governor's race

Axios Axios —

Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra are headed to the https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2026/06/03/san-francisco-california-self-funded-candidates-chakrabarti-steyer-election-results" target="_blank">California governor's race in November, according to the https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/california-primary-results-governor/" target="_blank">Associated Press.

The big picture: With 91% of the vote counted as of Tuesday evening:

  • Hilton has 25% of the vote and Becerra 27.9%.
  • The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, face off in November.

Context: It took a week of vote counting for the winners to emerge, https://www.axios.com/2026/06/09/fraud-california-elections-los-angeles-mayor" target="_blank">fueling a familiar ritual where early Republican leads slowly vanish.

  • After a strong showing on Election Night, Hilton's lead slowly diminished, but he still held on to a second-place spot.
  • The delay is in part because mail ballots postmarked by Election Day are still counted.

Friction point: The race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom has been a bumpy one.

  • There were 61 total candidates on the ballot, and initially eight top Democrats running for the seat.
  • Then in April, a Democrat front-m-runner, Congressman Eric Swalwell dropped out amid allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual misconduct, which he denies.
  • Fellow Democrat Betty Yee dropped out shortly after.

Even before Swalwell's exit, political commentators were noting the lack of excitement in the race, especially in the Democratic field.

  • "The fact that there aren't any rising stars is indicative of a party that has not had for a generation competitive disagreements and healthy dialogue about who it is, and so that's atrophied," Republican strategist Mike Madrid told Axios in April.

The losers: The other candidates not advancing include billionaire businessman https://www.axios.com/2025/11/19/tom-steyer-2026-race-california-governor" target="_blank">Tom Steyer, Congresswoman https://www.axios.com/2023/01/10/katie-porter-senate-california-2024" target="_blank">Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor https://www.axios.com/2024/08/26/watch-axios-visionarios-2024-los-angeles" target="_blank">Antonio Villaraigosa, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco.

What's next: The following months will see the Republican Hilton attempt to overcome the odds in California, where https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ror/60day-primary-2026/historical-reg-stats.pdf" target="_blank">nearly half of registered voters are Democrats.

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