Former Fox News host Steve Hilton will go head to head with a Democrat in the race to succeed California Gov. Gavin Newsom — with outlets calling the general election matchup one full week after polls closed.
Democratic former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra came in first place with 27.9% of the vote followed closely behind by the Trump-backed Republican Hilton — the U.K.-born former host of Fox News’ The Next Revolution — who garnered 25.0%, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, with 91% of the vote counted.
Due to California’s all-party primary system, Becerra and Hilton advanced to the November general election as the top two finishers. The AP called Hilton securing the second spot seven days after the polls closed on June 2. The outlet called that Becerra would advance to the general election on Friday, three days after Election Day.
Similar to the gubernatorial matchup, Los Angeles mayoral primary was not called until six days after polls closed. Late-breaking ballot drops propelled socialist Democrat Nithya Raman to edge out Republican Spencer Pratt and advance to the runoff election — despite the fact that Raman had led Pratt for days.
Deep blue California has a reputation for taking much longer than most other states to count its ballots. About 80% of the state’s votes are cast via mail and its election officials can take up to 30 days to count its ballots, according to the BBC.
In California “it’s almost entirely a mail election now,” attorney and former Federal Election Commission (FEC) member Hans von Spakovsky told Fox News. “You can go vote in person, but like in the 2024 election, out of 16 million votes that were cast in the presidential election, 13 million were by mail. It takes much longer to process a mail-in ballot than a ballot that’s cast at a polling place.”
Billionaire climate activist and Democrat Tom Steyer finished in third place with 22.5% of the vote, resulting in his elimination from the race. Steyer spent $213 million of his own money on the race, according to CalMatters.
Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco finished in a distant fourth place with 10.2% of the vote, according to the AP. Scandal-plagued former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter — a frontrunner before reports she abused her staff surfaced — came in fifth with 4.4%. Democratic San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan came in sixth place with 3.6% of the vote while former Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came in seventh with 1.2%.
An Emerson College poll released May 30 found Becerra leading the pack at 28% support, Steyer trailing behind with 22% and Hilton with 21%.
Polling was starkly different prior to the sudden April 12 withdrawal of former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, following multiple women accusing him of sexual assault and rape. Swalwell still remained on the ballot and received 0.3% of the vote, finishing in 11th place.
Polls from late March and early April showed Swalwell and Hilton as the two leading candidates in the race. Trump endorsed Hilton on April 5.
An Emerson College poll released in December 2025 showed Bianco in first place with 13% of support and the Democratic congressman tied for second with Hilton at 12%. That poll and others prior to Swalwell’s exit showed the possibility of a Hilton vs. Bianco general election where Democrats would be locked out.
Hilton correctly predicted that the dream GOP scenario will not “come to pass” in a December 2025 interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “There will be one Republican in the general election, and I’m very confident that that will be me.”
Born in the U.K. to Hungarian parents, the 56-year-old Hilton served as a Fox News host for six years. Previously, he worked as director of strategy for former U.K. prime minister David Cameron. Hilton vowed to “make California Golden Again” when he announced his candidacy.
“We need some balance here after 15 years of Democrat one-party rule,” Hilton wrote in an April 2025 X post declaring his bid. “Positive, practical policies that actually help people, not ideological crusades.”
A Becerra win would represent the fifth consecutive time a Democrat won the Golden State’s governor’s mansion.
During his term in the Biden administration, the now 68-year-old Becerra came under scrutiny after his department reportedly lost track of thousands of unaccompanied minor migrants at the U.S.’ southern border with Mexico.
Villiargiosa pressed Becerra on the report during a May 6 gubernatorial debate asking him, “are you proud that you pushed out 85,000 migrant children?”
“[A]ccording to The New York Times, they were maimed, they were exploited,” Villiargiosa added. “Some were even killed. You said those are MAGA talking points, it’s a MAGA hoax. Tell that to the children who died.”
Becerra responded, “Trump lied about that, this whole situation with the migrant kids.”
Becerra previously served as California Attorney General from 2017 to 2021 and before that represented a Los Angeles-based district in the House from 1993 to 2017.
Steyer is known as a megadonor to traditionally left-wing causes such as combating climate change. The 68-year-old is worth $2.4 billion, according to Forbes. He also mounted a longshot bid for his party’s 2020 presidential nomination.
The term-limited Newsom did not endorse a candidate prior to the primary.
Due to California’s strong Democratic lean, Becerra is heavily favored over Hilton in the November general election. Failed 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris carried the state by 20 points.
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