Hilton, Becerra advance to general election for California governor

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Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton have advanced to the general election in the California governor's race.The two candidates emerged from a crowded 61-candidate field in the state's nonpartisan primary.The race is the most expensive gubernatorial contest on record, with more than $316 million spent on ads.Becerra, a former HHS Secretary, and Hilton, a former Fox News contributor, will compete in November to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom who will be term-limited.Democratic frontrunner Xavier Becerra and his Republican counterpart Steve Hilton have advanced to the top two spots in the closely watched, congested primary race for California governor, the Associated Press and NBC News have projected.Hilton and Becerra had been neck-and-neck as they prevailed in the state’s nonpartisan "jungle" primary on June 2, as the race was called a week later on June 9. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election in November for a chance to succeed current Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out after eight years in office, in January.Progressive billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer was in third place, followed by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Congresswoman Katie Porter, according to the outlets.Becerra, a former Health and Human Services Secretary, Hilton, a former Fox News contributor, and Steyer, a progressive billionaire entrepreneur and climate activist, survived amid a packed field of 61 gubernatorial candidates that took up a full page on a nearly two-foot-long ballot."The people of the great state of California, in the greatest nation on earth, have spoken – loudly and proudly," Becerra said in a statement on June 5 after he was announced as the first candidate to advance. "We will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we are never backing down. November, here we come."Hilton, whom President Donald Trump endorses, remained confident about making it to the top two. He's already challenged Becerra to work with him on the campaign trail to reform the state's voter ID process."Change is coming," Hilton told supporters in the Bay Area suburb of San Mateo on June 5. "We can't go on like this. Thanks to this election, we see now change is coming. A belief that we can be the best in everything. The best place to raise a family. The best place to start a business."With more than five dozen candidates ranging from veteran politicians like Porter to unknown novices, including U.S. Army reservist Barack D. Obama Shaw, running for governor, the field is "finally whittled down" to the two candidates most expected for about a month, said David McCuan, a longtime political science professor at Sonoma State University."This race had about a 75% to 80% chance of being between these two candidates," McCuan said. "It'll be a huge proxy war of an existential crisis that is for the midterm elections for Democrats versus the Hilton proxy that is Trump 2.0."Becerra and Hilton took early leadsAfter early voting following the June 2 primary, Becerra, Hilton and Steyer emerged as the top contenders as many of the other leading candidates in the crowded field had dropped out, including Democrats Porter, ex-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a latecomer who raised about $30 million, much of it from Silicon Valley tech insiders.At nearly $316 million, the California governor's race is the most expensive on record and the fifth-most expensive non-presidential race on record for ad spending, according to AdImpact, a media-tracking firm. Steyer's campaign alone spent more than $200 million and accounted for 64% of every dollar spent on the race, AdImpact noted. But it wasn't enough to help him break through the top two, McCuan concludes."Steyer continues the difficult stretch that well-off, rich candidates have in the Golden State," McCuan surmises. "They are far, far better off moving issues over candidates – especially their own political fortunes."Becerra bounced back from the fringesBecerra, the moderate Democrat who six weeks ago was in single digits in several polls, emerged after former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell departed from the race in April amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, which he denies. He leaned on his experience and steadily climbed in the polls, focusing his platform on lowering the cost of health care, housing, child care, and utilities, and fighting Trump. Steyer focused heavily on Becerra in ads, calling him a "corporate Democrat." But he rose from the ruins and heavy criticism.Becerra, who also served in Congress for more than 20 years, has capitalized on loyal Democratic voters, Latinos and even those with no party preference, Rusty Hicks, the California Democratic Party chair, told USA TODAY last month. Becerra told supporters at his campaign party in Los Angeles that he'd defied the odds, despite being outspent and advised to drop out of the race."Well, guess what? The underdog stayed in the fight," Becerra said. "The true spirit of democracy is this: After all of the exhausting ads are run, the pundits are spun, and the billionaires try to buy their way in, it's the people, only the people who get the last word... Loudly and proudly."Hilton maintained relevancy despite late Democratic surge in pollsHilton, the political newcomer who topped many polls for months and received a major endorsement from Trump, seemed likely to make the cut. He remained in the top two despite several polls before primary day that showed Becerra and Steyer were making headway."I thought, 'Is that a little premature to write the words "change is coming"?'" Hilton told cheering supporters during his June 2 themed campaign party in Huntington Beach, California. "I don’t think so, because change is coming. Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue."On June 5, Hilton demanded that Newsom immediately establish an "Emergency Election Support Corps" to count ballots faster.Hilton called the state the "laughingstock of the nation when it comes to election reporting." He urged Newsom to issue an emergency executive order and deploy available state employees and rapid-response support teams to counties facing significant ballot-processing delays.Newsom's office responded, telling USA TODAY that the governor also "wishes the vote count moved faster, too." Newsom's office said the governor does not administer elections, count ballots, or certify results. Those responsibilities belong to local election officials operating under state law, under the authority of the separately elected secretary of state.Trump scrutinizes California's slow ballot-counting processThe final gubernatorial primary results finally arrived after Trump scrutinized the slow-moving counting. In a series of posts on his Truth Social platform last week, the president, without citing proof, wrote that Democrats are "stealing the vote" in the governor's race.That was followed up by Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney representing California's Central District, who said on June 5 that his office will conduct multiple investigations into potential election fraud in Los Angeles.Later that day, the Department of Justice sent one of its attorneys to observe ballot processing in Los Angeles, the county’s elections office told USA TODAY.Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for Los Angeles County's Registrar-Recorder office, said ballot processing in the county is open to public observation. The Justice Department attorney was given an overview of the public observation program and participated in a walkthrough of the ballot processing operations, Sanchez added.But We Are California, a coalition of the state's leading community and advocacy organizations, wrote an Open Letter to California Voters denouncing Trump's ongoing attacks on the state's primary election results and explaining that the state's universal vote-by-mail process was voter-approved."California’s pro-voter protections were fought for and won by generations of Californians who understood that the vote is the most direct way we have to make decisions about our lives," the nonprofit's letter said. "The vote count takes time because every vote is counted. In the coming months, we will face more attacks. We must be ready to protect our votes."We are not going to let anyone – including the President of the United States – take that from us," their letter concluded. What's next?Both candidates will start zigzagiing through California campaigning for the next five months. Becerra could be the state's first elected Latino governor in more than a century, and Hilton could be California's first Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger served in office from 2003 to 2011.California is the nation's most populous state, accounting for roughly 12% of the nation's population, with 1 in 8 Americans living there. Of the state's 23 million registered voters, nearly half are Democrats; a quarter of residents identify as Republicans.The remaining voters call themselves independents or have "no party preference," the Public Policy Institute of California said.Whoever becomes California's governor will manage a state with a roughly $4 trillion budget, making it the world's fourth-largest economy. They will also assume managing California's multibillion-dollar debt, Medicaid access amid federal spending cuts, high housing costs, homelessness, and the persistent crisis of preventing and recovering from wildfires.