California held its nonpartisan "jungle primary" election for governor on June 2, 2026, with 61 candidates on the ballot. Steve Hilton, a former UK political strategist turned American conservative commentator and Fox News personality, advanced to the November general election to run for governor [1, 2, 3].
Hilton has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, bolstering his campaign as the leading Republican contender [1, 4, 2, 3]. Hilton said, "Change is coming," and declared the race offers "a new direction instead of another four years of the insanity" while expressing optimism after the primary results: "So very happy, but we’ve got work to do to turn this state around, but I'm excited. It's a great night" [3].
Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, former California attorney general, and former US Health Secretary, also secured enough votes to advance to the November runoff [1, 5, 4, 2]. Initially, Hilton led the vote count, but Becerra overtook him as more ballots were tallied [1, 6]. As of early June 10, over 90% of votes were counted, with Becerra holding approximately 27.9% of the vote and Hilton about 25% [5, 6].
Billionaire progressive Tom Steyer finished behind both candidates and did not advance to the runoff [1, 5, 2]. The Democratic field saw turbulence with prominent candidates like Eric Swalwell dropping out amid allegations [6, 2].
California’s roughly 39 million residents live in the world’s fifth-largest economy, valued at about $4.25 trillion [4]. Hilton's campaign centers on addressing California’s high cost of living, homelessness, and taxes while criticizing Democratic leadership [5, 3]. A Republican strategist noted the party has lacked "rising stars" and healthy internal debate for a generation, which adds to the challenge Hilton faces in a state that has not elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election [4, 6, 2, 3].
The statewide general election between Hilton and Becerra is set for November 2026.
