Xavier Becerra (D) and Steve Hilton (R) are running in the general election for governor of California on Nov. 3. They advanced from the top-two primary on June 2. In the primary, Becerra received 28% of the vote and Hilton received 25%. Incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is term-limited.
AP's Sophie Austin writes, "The race for California governor this fall will be a battle between a Democrat [Becerra] promising to cement the state’s status as a stronghold of liberal policies and a Republican [Hilton] pledging to dramatically reverse course in the nation’s most populous state."
Becerra is running on his experience as a congressman, attorney general of California, and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Joe Biden (D) administration. Becerra says he is best suited to offer voters what he calls the California Dream and to take on the issues California faces, including a high budget deficit, cost of living, homelessness, and wildfire risk. According to CalMatters, Hilton says Becerra is a career politician and the "embodiment of the same decade and a half of Democratic control." Hilton also argues that he is the candidate for change and that California has been negatively affected by "long term policy failures, serial mismanagement and staggering incompetence of Democrat one-party rule."
Becerra served as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as attorney general of California from 2017 to 2021, and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017. Becerra's priorities include addressing affordability issues related to housing, healthcare, child care, and utilities. Becerra says, "Here's what we are fighting for: a California where every child gets a great education, every family can afford a home, and no one loses their health care because of where they were born or how much money they have. This November, voters will choose between a governor who will fight for that future and one who would hand Sacramento to Donald Trump."
Hilton is a Fox News Channel contributor who hosted The Next Revolution on the network from 2017 to 2023. He previously worked as a senior advisor to former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and as an advertising executive. Hilton's priorities include addressing housing, affordability, and education, cutting income and gas taxes, and increasing oil drilling. Hilton says, "We need to make California an inspiration again, not a warning of what not to do. We need to revive our spirit, our energy, our optimism, our dynamism. It’s time to restore the California Dream – especially for working people who’ve had it so tough these last few years. There’s only one way to do it. We need to end the one party rule that got us into this mess. That’s why I’m running for governor. To make California Golden Again."
California has had a Democratic trifecta since 2011 and last elected a Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in 2006.
This is one of 36 gubernatorial elections taking place in 2026. There are currently 26 Republican governors and 24 Democratic governors. Click here for an overview of all 36 gubernatorial elections taking place in 2026.
