Steve Hilton, the former Fox News personality turned Republican candidate, has secured a spot in California's November gubernatorial general election, where he will face Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former federal health secretary and state attorney general.
Hilton emerged from California's March primary, which features an unusual top-two format allowing candidates from all parties to compete on a single ballot. With 88% of votes counted a week after Election Day, Becerra held 28% support to Hilton's 25%. Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer finished third with roughly 23%, followed by Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 10%.
The race sets up as an uphill climb for Hilton in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two-to-one. California hasn't elected a Republican governor in two decades, and President Trump lost the state by 20 points in 2024.
Hilton's path to the general election depended heavily on consolidating Republican support after Trump endorsed him in April. The primary field had initially posed risks for Democrats, with multiple candidates splitting the party vote and no clear leader emerging early. Those anxieties shifted dramatically when former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who had been polling well, dropped out in April following sexual assault and misconduct allegations, which he has denied.
Swalwell's departure cleared the field for Becerra to rise. The former congressman, who had languished in single-digit support for months, quickly became the preferred choice for moderate Democrats seeking a unifying candidate. His momentum built as the race progressed toward Election Day.
Steyer, meanwhile, bankrolled his campaign with more than $215 million of his own fortune, dominating television advertising and pushing a progressive platform centered on single-payer health care and a tax on billionaires. The former hedge fund manager has now spent more than half a billion dollars across multiple unsuccessful bids for elected office, including a 2020 presidential campaign that yielded no convention delegates despite a $300 million personal investment.
Born in the United Kingdom, Hilton worked as an adviser to then-Prime Minister David Cameron before becoming a U.S. citizen in 2021. The contrast between his background and Becerra's four-decade career in California politics already surfaced in primary debates, with Hilton blaming Democrats for decades of governance failures while Becerra questioned his rival's readiness to manage a state budget of California's scale.
Vote-counting has stretched beyond Election Day due to California's reliance on mail-in ballots, which can take weeks to process and tabulate. Ballots postmarked by Election Day are counted if received within a week, a standard that has drawn unfounded fraud claims from Trump and some Republican allies.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited and considered a potential 2028 presidential contender, remained neutral throughout the primary despite significant influence over state politics.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Hilton's Trump endorsement unified Republicans, but it may become a liability in a state where the former president's popularity has cratered."
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