Former Biden administration Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has defeated Republican Steve Hilton in the race to succeed term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom, according to a Fox News Decision Desk projection. The result keeps California’s governorship in Democratic hands.
Becerra has spent more than three decades in public office. He was elected to the California State Assembly in 1990 and later served more than two decades in Congress. He left the House in 2017 after then-Governor Jerry Brown appointed him California attorney general. He won a full term in that post the following year and later served as HHS secretary under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025.
Becerra and Hilton emerged from California’s crowded nonpartisan top-two primary in June. Becerra finished first with roughly 28 percent of the vote, and Hilton advanced in second with about 25 percent. More than 9.4 million Californians cast ballots in that primary, according to certified results from the California secretary of state’s office.
The victory extends Democratic dominance of statewide politics in California, where registered Democrats substantially outnumber Republicans. A Republican has not won a California gubernatorial election since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reelection in 2006, and no Republican has occupied the governor’s mansion since he left office in January 2011.
Hilton, a former Fox News host and onetime policy adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, ran as a change candidate. He argued that years of Democratic control in Sacramento had contributed to California’s high cost of living, homelessness and other problems. He proposed cutting taxes and state spending, rolling back regulations and climate mandates, and expanding energy production to lower housing, electricity and gasoline costs. Hilton also received President Donald Trump’s endorsement, but said during the general election that he would work with the administration while disagreeing with the president when necessary.
Affordability was a central theme of Becerra’s campaign, which argued that rising costs threatened what he called the «California Dream». He offered a markedly different prescription from Hilton, proposing a larger role for state programs and enforcement rather than broad cuts to taxes, spending and regulation. Becerra proposed accelerating housing construction, expanding childcare assistance and early education, strengthening Medi-Cal, and cracking down on landlords he accused of gouging prices. He pointed to his HHS record, including efforts to lower prescription drug costs and expand access to health coverage.
Becerra will inherit a state confronting persistent challenges over housing and energy costs, homelessness and looming budget deficits. Campaign coverage also described his promise to protect California policies and programs from federal challenges, drawing on his record of repeatedly taking the first Trump administration to court while serving as attorney general. He also reaffirmed his support for protecting access to transgender medical procedures, including for transgender youth, an issue he had championed as HHS secretary when he defended leaving treatment decisions to families and medical providers rather than politicians.
Hilton had argued that Californians were growing fed up with Democratic leadership, citing homelessness, high taxes and the soaring cost of living. «I know everyone says, well, it’s California, Republicans can’t win. I don’t know. I think people are sick of all this,» Hilton said. «And they’re sick of Becerra just taking them for granted, and I think we can win this election.»
Newsom was barred from seeking a third consecutive term after winning the governorship in 2018 and reelection in 2022. His departure comes amid continued speculation about a potential 2028 presidential bid. Becerra is scheduled to be sworn in as California’s 41st governor in January 2027.