SACRAMENTO, California — Xavier Becerra has moved to the brink of the California governorship, after Tom Steyer was eliminated from the race on Tuesday.
Instead of running against a Democrat, Becerra will face Republican Steve Hilton in the November election, giving Becerra a clear path to victory in this heavily Democratic state and positioning him to become California’s first Latino governor in modern history.
The former California attorney general and Biden Cabinet secretary advanced after a remarkably messy and unpredictable primary that threatened, at times, to produce Democrats’ nightmare scenario: two Republicans topping a fractured Democratic field and locking California’s dominant party out of the governor race.
Instead, California delivered a more familiar outcome — one Democrat and one Republican advancing to November, with the high likelihood that Becerra will defeat Hilton, given California’s lopsidedly Democratic electorate. That will now free Democrats, funders, and allies like labor unions to focus their general election resources on flipping key House seats.
It also means California is poised to elect its first Latino governor since the 19th century. In recent decades, a booming Latino electorate transformed the state’s demographics, cementing Democratic dominance, while propelling a generation of leaders like Becerra. Barring a major upset in November, he will become one of the country’s most prominent Democrats as leader of the nation’s most populous state.
In a statement Tuesday after the call, Steyer said “people are fed up with a system rigged to benefit billionaires and leave them behind.”
“They see what’s happening, and they know who to blame,” he said. “It’s why so many people voted for our platform. And it’s not lost on me that it’s also why so many people just couldn’t stomach voting for a billionaire.”
Becerra’s breakthrough was hardly a landslide. While he topped his Democratic rivals, he fell far short of an outright majority — an expected result reflecting the race’s lack of a dominant frontrunner like Gavin Newsom when he won the office in 2018.
But the former state attorney general and Biden-era Health and Human Services secretary prevailed after capitalizing on former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s late exit, scooping up newly up-for-grab endorsements and presenting himself as a temperate unity candidate.
Becerra survived a blitz of advertising by Steyer — the billionaire Democrat who vastly outspent everyone else in the race — and was buoyed by a late assist from labor and medical interests. A “stop Steyer” push bankrolled by foes like utilities and realtors helped prevent Steyer from overtaking Becerra.