SACRAMENTO, California – Xavier Becerra has moved to the edge of the California governor’s race, 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 the heavily Democratic state and a chance to become California’s first Latino governor in modern history.
Former California attorney general and Biden Cabinet secretaryadvanced after a high-profile and unpredictable primary that at one point threatened to spell disaster for Democrats: Two Republicans leading a fractured Democratic field and locking California’s main party out of the gubernatorial race.
Instead, California produced a more familiar result – one Democrat and one Republican heading into November, with Becerra likely to beat Hilton, given California’s Democratic electorate. That will now free up Democrats, donors, 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 majority of Latino voters transformed the state’s demographics, bolstering Democratic rule, while fueling a generation of leaders like Becerra. Despite a major upset in November, he will be one of the most prominent Democrats in the country as the 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 going on, and they know who’s to blame,” he said. “That’s why so many people voted for our platform. And it’s not lost on me why so many people couldn’t vote for the billionaire.”
Becerra’s success was not spectacular. While he was leading his Democratic rivals, he fell short of a large majority — a result expected to reflect the lack of a front-runner like Gavin Newsom when he won office in 2018.
But the former attorney general and secretary of Health and Human Services of the Biden era won after taking advantage of the information of former Representative Eric Swalwell’s late departure, gaining new endorsements and presenting himself as a moderate unity candidate.
Becerra survived the brief death of Steyer’s ads — the billionaire Democrat who overwhelmingly beat everyone else in the race — and was buoyed by late support from work and treatment. A “Stop Steyer” push sponsored by foes such as utilities and real estate helped prevent Steyer from overtaking Becerra.
