SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Republican candidate Steve Hilton has secured his position in California’s gubernatorial general election, campaigning on a platform that the Golden State requires fresh leadership after more than a decade and a half under Democratic control.
Hilton will square off against Democrat Xavier Becerra, who previously served as the state’s attorney general and as health secretary in the Biden administration. The Associated Press had earlier confirmed Becerra secured sufficient votes to advance.
The Republican candidate confronts difficult electoral math this November, given that California’s registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by nearly two-to-one. Should he prevail, Hilton would become the first Republican to capture statewide office since 2006.
Despite the odds, Hilton remains confident about his chances.
“My mission is clear: to go to Sacramento, clean up the corruption, cut your costs, help your business, and fix our schools,” Hilton said in a statement.
“Xavier Becerra is the ultimate career politician. After 36 years in the political machine, his policies gave California the highest poverty rate, the highest unemployment rate, and the highest cost of living in America. Now he promises ‘no change’ to those policies,” Hilton said.
The results mean Democratic contender Tom Steyer failed to advance to the November contest.
Throughout his campaign, Hilton has targeted Democrats on issues including the state’s expensive living costs, homelessness problems and other challenges. His proposals include reducing prices for gasoline and housing, eliminating income taxes on the first $100,000 earned by Californians, establishing a lending program for first-time home purchasers, and maintaining current tuition levels at state universities.
President Donald Trump backed Hilton in April, which strengthened his support among Republican primary voters but may prove problematic in the general election.
Hilton, who lacks experience in elected positions, arrived in the United States from the United Kingdom in 2012, where he had advised Conservative Party leaders including former Prime Minister David Cameron. He hosted a Fox News program from 2017 through 2023 and obtained U.S. citizenship in 2021.
Hilton frequently references his parents’ escape from communist Hungary before settling in the U.K. as a defining element of his family background that influenced his conservative political beliefs.
