Xavier Becerra Wins California Primary; Democrats Nominate First Latino Governor

The Associated Press called the contest a minute after polls closed on Tuesday night. Xavier Becerra, a Democrat with extensive experience and a calm approach, won over Republican Steve Hilton in a primary that many predicted would extend into the final hours of vote counting, according to KQED. The instant call underscored the size of Becerra’s win and made him the first Latino person elected governor of California, a milestone that arrives as the state’s Latino population continues to reshape its political landscape.

Becerra took the stage at Drake’s: The Barn in Sacramento on Nov. 3, 2026, to chants of “Sí, se puede.” He told supporters that the past two years had been tough, citing higher prices, more wars, corruption, and lawlessness. “But we hung in there, fought back,” he said. The victory capped a comeback that saw him transform from a candidate lagging in single digits during the June 2 primary to the nominee who sailed past a crowded field that included Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Chad Bianco, Matt Mahan, Tony Thurmond, and Antonio Villaraigosa.

Xavier Becerra gives victory speech after being projected to win California governor's race

The Insider Against the Outsider

The two men offered Californians starkly different resumes and campaign styles. Becerra represented Los Angeles in Congress for years before serving as California attorney general and then as secretary of Health and Human Services under former President Joe Biden. Hilton, born in Britain, served as an adviser to former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and later hosted a show on Fox News after moving to the United States, even appearing at a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco on April 22, 2026. An endorsement from President Donald Trump rallied the Republican vote around Hilton in the June primary and carried him into the general election.

Yet the outsider’s tireless campaigning through the summer and fall—holding regular events, making media appearances, and running ads that directly appealed to Californians who disliked the president—could not match Becerra’s late surge. With then-Rep. Eric Swalwell exiting the contest amid sexual assault allegations and depriving the race of its emerging front-runner, Becerra climbed sharply in the polls and narrowly beat investor Tom Steyer to win the Democratic nomination.

Democrat Xavier Becerra wins California governor’s race

From Single Digits to a Barnstorming Finish

Becerra largely stayed out of sight until the final weeks of the race, at one point lagging in single digits with some party leaders pressuring him to drop out. When he reemerged, he barnstormed the state, attending events like the one at Homegirl Cafe in Los Angeles on Nov. 2, 2026, and promised to examine changes to the tax code or tax increases to offset federal health cuts. He also pledged a free daily hour of electricity for low-income residents and increased state funding to fireproof homes. These specifics mattered in a state where economic security feels out of reach for many families, as Becerra put it at his election night party: “Despite all our fortune, economic security is slipping out of reach for too many of our families. Despite our shared values, not everyone who builds and harvests the Californian success story gets to enjoy its fruit.”

Big issues await him in Sacramento. Lawmakers ended their session without settling a dispute over how utilities and insurance companies ought to divide the expense of destructive wildfires. Meanwhile, Becerra’s administration must meet a March deadline to outline proposals for making corporations pay more of the cost of Medi-Cal, the state’s healthcare safety net program that was cut by the federal government last year.

California gubernatorial candidate xavier becerra speaks during a campaign event in los angeles saturday april photojae c hon

A New Demographic Reality in Sacramento

Becerra’s election marks what political strategist Mike Madrid called “an extraordinary demographic change and transformation.” The governor-elect will take office alongside a Latina president pro tem of the state Senate, Sen. Monique Limon, and a Latino speaker of the state Assembly, Robert Rivas.

“All of this changes the perspective and I believe the priorities — a focus more on blue-collar, economic issues that have always taken a back seat in the last 30 years in California,” Madrid said.

That shift arrives as California grapples with the practical weight of governing. Becerra’s mission, he said Tuesday night, is to “deliver a California we can afford, and defend a California that we can’t afford to lose.” With a Democratic surge in races nationwide behind him, he now has to turn that rhetoric into policy before the March deadline arrives, starting with the unresolved wildfire funding debate and the Medi-Cal cost crisis that will define his first months in office.