California Republican Steve Hilton was on track to qualify for November's runoff for governor, but the ex-Fox News star's fate hangs in the balance of the state's hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots. Hilton was leading the pack as counting continued early Wednesday morning. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was the top Democratic vote-getter, with billionaire Tom Steyer, running in third place.But it could take days before a final call is made in the high-stakes race to lead the world's fourth largest economy. In the closing weeks of the gubernatorial primary campaign, it became apparent that the race had turned into a three-way contest to replace term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom.Instead of voters from each party choosing a candidate that will advance to the general election, California uses a jungle primary, meaning the two top vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to November. Deep blue California hasn't seen a Republican governor since movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger's tenure, from 2003 to 2011. Hilton gave a hat-tip to Schwarzenegger onstage with supporters Tuesday night, revealing he had a jacket made that had American and California flags stitched inside. 'Arnold, that was for you!' he said. Republican gubernatorial hopeful Steve Hilton shows off his jacket that has a California and USA flag stitched inside as he addresses supporters Tuesday night. Hilton looked poised to head to the general election Leading the race Tuesday night was former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (left) while billionaire and 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Tom Steyer (right) was coming in third, early results showed