NBC News projected Tuesday that Hilton, a former Fox News host, will advance from a crowded all-party primary field to advance to the general election.
Former Fox News host Steve Hilton has advanced to the general election in the California gubernatorial race, NBC News projects, where he will face former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Hilton, a Republican, emerged from a crowded primary where candidates from all parties appear on the same ballot and the top two-vote getters move on. NBC News projected Friday that Becerra, a Democrat, With 88% of the expected vote tallied one week after polls closed, Becerra was taking about 28% support compared to 25% for Hilton.
Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer was in third with roughly 23%, while Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco was the only other candidate in double digits, with 10%. Vote-counting in California can take weeks because of the state’s heavy reliance on mail-in ballots, which take longer to process. And ballots that are postmarked by election day and received up to a week afterward are allowed to be counted. The wait hasregistered Republicans nearly 2 to 1.
California voters haven’t elected a Republican governor in 20 years, and Trump lost the state by 20 points in the Hilton was born in the United Kingdom, where he previously worked as an aide to then-Prime Minister David Cameron before becoming a U.S. citizen in 2021. He was able to consolidate Republican support after Prior to Trump’s involvement, some Democrats feared they were at risk of getting shut out of the general election, with so many of their candidates on the ballot and no clear front-runner.
Bianco, who stirred up controversy afterin March as part of a purported investigation into California’s 2025 election, had also been polling near the top of the field along with Hilton. , pushing for single-payer health care and a billionaire tax. He also poured more than $215 million of his own money into his campaign, allowing him to dominate the airwaves.on unsuccessful campaigns for elected office.
In 2020, he did not win any delegates during his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination after spending more than $300 million of his own money. Term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, remained neutral in the race to replace him. Becerra and Hilton traded barbs during the primary debates that could preview the attacks to come in the general election.
, Hilton described Becerra — and his party more broadly — as responsible for the state’s problems after holding power in California for decades.
“Some of these Democrats on the stage, they talk as if we’re in some parallel universe where Democrats haven’t been running the state for the last 16 years of one-party rule. I mean, you look at Xavier — 36 years he’s been a career politician for Democrats,” Hilton said.
“What does a Fox News talking head know about running government,” he said. “You’ve never balanced a budget the size of California’s. ”
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