SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Republican Steve Hilton has advanced to the November general election for California governor after securing the second spot in the state’s top-two primary, according to projections by the Associated Press.
Hilton, a former political strategist for British Prime Minister David Cameron who relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2021, will face Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former California attorney general and Biden administration health secretary. The Associated Press previously determined Becerra had secured enough votes to advance.
The general election will test whether a Republican can win statewide office in California for the first time in two decades. No GOP candidate has won a statewide election in California since 2006. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly two to one, and Democratic candidates have captured roughly 60% of the vote in each of the last three gubernatorial contests.
In a statement, Hilton framed the general election as a referendum on Democratic governance in the state.
“My mission is clear: to go to Sacramento, clean up the corruption, cut your costs, help your business, and fix our schools,” Hilton said.
“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 National Bureau of Economic Research reported a U-3 unemployment rate of 4.3% as of the article’s publication date, a broader measure of labor market conditions.
The primary election, held June 2, saw a tight race that unfolded over several days as mail ballots were counted. When initial returns were tallied, Hilton led the field. President Donald Trump prematurely declared Hilton the winner. By the next day, as Becerra won more of the votes counted late, Trump, without evidence, accused the state of election rigging.
As California counted millions more ballots sent by mail, Becerra overtook Hilton on June 5. Hilton still finished ahead of Tom Steyer, the billionaire hedge fund investor running as a progressive.
MSI previously reported that Hilton expressed optimism as the race remained undecided, and that Becerra had clinched a general election spot. The Associated Press formally projected Hilton’s advancement on June 9.
Hilton has attempted to cast himself as a pragmatist who can work across party lines, pointing to his experience in a coalition government during Cameron’s premiership. He has said his ability to get along with Trump and his cabinet could attract federal dollars and lower tensions between Sacramento and Washington after more than a year of feuding between Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“My job will be to deliver pretty pragmatic things, all focused on making your life easier and better,” Hilton told The Guardian last month.
Hilton, who was known in British political circles as the “pint-sized Rasputin” of Conservative politics, was credited with inventing the “hug a hoodie” campaign under Cameron. He is now campaigning under the slogan “Califordable.” Hilton was endorsed by Trump in the race.