{"id":313,"date":"2026-06-10T05:11:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T05:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=313"},"modified":"2026-06-10T05:11:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T05:11:30","slug":"ex-fox-news-host-steve-hilton-to-face-xavier-becerra-in-california-governors-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=313","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Fox News Host Steve Hilton to Face Xavier Becerra in California Governor\u2019s Race"},"content":{"rendered":"
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California\u2019s quest to find Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s successor has truly been a race of fits and starts: Some of the state\u2019s biggest political names opted<\/u><\/span> against running<\/u><\/span>, a front-runner dropped out<\/u><\/span> amid allegations of sexual assault<\/u><\/span>, and the batch of remaining candidates struggled to find traction with voters.<\/p>\n

Read more South Carolina Governor\u2019s Race Heads to a Runoff<\/a><\/p>\n

But the voters have spoken following almost a week of vote counting after last Tuesday\u2019s nonpartisan primary: Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton will advance to November\u2019s general election, according to Associated Press projections.<\/p>\n

Becerra finished with almost 28% of the total vote, and the Associated Press called his advancement to the November general election on Friday night. The race then turned to who would finish in the number two slot, with Hilton slowly edging out billionaire Tom Steyer with roughly 25% of the vote. <\/p>\n

He faces long odds in the deep-blue state. California has not seen a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011 after serving two terms. <\/p>\n

President Donald Trump endorsed<\/u><\/span> Hilton, a former Fox News host, in early April. A day before the Associated Press called the race, the president posted<\/u><\/span> to Truth Social celebrating Hilton\u2019s advancement.<\/p>\n

Read more Platner Won. Democrats Are Scared.<\/a><\/p>\n

The top-two finish by Becerra and Hilton caps a primary campaign that was equally notable for the names who weren\u2019t on the ballot.<\/p>\n

Former Vice President Kamala Harris<\/u><\/span> and Sen. Alex Padilla<\/u><\/span> (D-California) decided not to run. Multiple allegations of sexual assault<\/u><\/span> and misconduct spurred the race\u2019s front-runner, Eric Swallwell, to suspend<\/u><\/span> his gubernatorial campaign in April, as well as resign his House seat<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

What was left was a field of candidates that struggled to set themselves apart.<\/p>\n

Becerra, who served as health secretary during the Biden administration and as California attorney general before that, pulled ahead in polling<\/u><\/span> ahead of the primary following Swalwell\u2019s exit, after months of languishing in the single digits. Steyer, the billionaire progressive who largely self-funded his campaign, blanketed the state in ads. Former congresswoman Katie Porter\u2019s campaign<\/u><\/span> stagnated in the polls after videos surfaced of her yelling at a former staffer and threatening to walk out of a TV interview. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan<\/u><\/span> made a splash with housing and affordability proposals when he jumped in the race in January.<\/p>\n

And then there were the two Republicans: Riverside sheriff Chad Bianco and Hilton, who for a time seemed like they might lock out Democrats in a jungle primary <\/u><\/span>where the top two, regardless of party, would move on to November.<\/p>\n

Read more Political Reviews Are Causing a Huge Grant Backlog at the National Park Service<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The results cap a tumultuous primary that several prominent Democrats sat out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-election"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-Fox News Host Steve Hilton to Face Xavier Becerra in California Governor\u2019s Race - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=313\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-Fox News Host Steve Hilton to Face Xavier Becerra in California Governor\u2019s Race - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The results cap a tumultuous primary that several prominent Democrats sat out.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=313\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T05:11:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-Fox News Host Steve Hilton to Face Xavier Becerra in California Governor\u2019s Race\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T05:11:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313\"},\"wordCount\":461,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/8d8cd6cd7c5ace5830ea18bca8bb2478-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"2026 Election\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313\",\"name\":\"Ex-Fox News Host Steve Hilton to Face Xavier Becerra in California Governor\u2019s Race - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/8d8cd6cd7c5ace5830ea18bca8bb2478-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T05:11:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=313#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/8d8cd6cd7c5ace5830ea18bca8bb2478-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/8d8cd6cd7c5ace5830ea18bca8bb2478-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton gestures after speaking at a news conference at the San Mateo County Elections office Friday, June 5, 2026, in San Mateo, Calif. 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