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HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA – Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra were leading in unofficial early returns Wednesday morning and appeared positioned to advance to the November California gubernatorial election in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in steering the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest economies.
Hilton, a one-time British political strategist turned American conservative commentator and former Fox News Channel host who is backed by President Donald Trump, and Becerra, a former California attorney general who later served as a Cabinet secretary in former President Biden’s administration, were in the lead early Wednesday morning, with votes still being counted and results not yet certified.
“Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue,” Hilton told supporters at his primary night watch party in Orange County.
Hilton, in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview following his speech, said speaking “honest, simple truths” to voters boosted his campaign. “Everything is too expensive in California. We’re going to cut people’s costs,” he pledged.
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks to supporters at his primary night watch party, in Huntington Beach, California on June 2, 2026 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Becerra, who, if elected in November, would make history as California’s first Latino governor since Romualdo Pacheco briefly served in 1875, told supporters that his campaign’s success is “more than a Hollywood ending. More than a milestone. That’s the everyday miracle of living in a state that makes the improbable seem inevitable. And I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Democrat-dominated California holds what’s known as a jungle primary in which all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, appear on the same ballot, with the top two finishers advancing to…
