Xavier Becerra Wins California Governor Race Over Steve Hilton

Democrat Xavier Becerra defeated Republican Steve Hilton in California’s governor’s race, the Associated Press projected shortly after polls closed Tuesday, according to KTVU and Bloomberg News. Becerra will succeed term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom and become the state’s first Latino governor in more than 150 years, BBC News and Bloomberg News reported.

Hilton, a British-born former adviser to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and a former Fox News host, was endorsed by President Donald Trump, BBC News said. He faced long odds in a state that leans Democratic. Bloomberg News said Becerra held about 64% of the vote with roughly 44% of ballots counted when the race was called; KTVU said early returns showed him at 59.3% with more than 1.6 million votes counted by 8:20 p.m. Pacific time.

Hilton concedes after a national Democratic wave

Hilton told supporters he had lost and pointed to the broader Democratic gains that gave the party control of Congress, BBC News reported. “Maybe this isn’t the best year to be running for office as a Republican when you see what’s going on around the country,” he said, according to the BBC. He called California “the greatest place in the greatest nation on earth” and said the change he sought “may be delayed but the change is coming.”

Becerra, speaking in Sacramento, told supporters, “We fought and we won,” and said voters had “entered the Becerra era,” according to BBC News. He said recent years under Trump had been difficult for the state but that Californians “hung in there, fought back.”

Path from Congress to the governor’s office

Becerra represented Los Angeles in the U.S. House for 24 years, served as California attorney general and was health secretary in the Biden administration, BBC News and KTVU reported. He was born in Sacramento to Mexican American immigrants, graduated from Stanford University and was appointed attorney general by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017 before winning a full term in 2018, KTVU said.

KTVU reported that Becerra campaigned on affordable housing, health care access, clean energy and lowering the cost of living, and that he cited 122 lawsuits filed against Trump’s first administration while he was attorney general. In the June primary, Becerra and Hilton advanced after Rep. Eric Swalwell left the race amid sexual assault allegations that he has denied, BBC News said; they edged out progressive billionaire Tom Steyer.

California’s last Latino governor, Romualdo Pacheco, served in the 19th century after ascending from lieutenant governor when his predecessor left for the U.S. Senate, KTVU reported. Becerra is the first Latino elected by voters to the office, according to KTVU.

Sources: BBC News, KTVU, Bloomberg News, The Associated Press.