It’ll be a competition between an immigrant and a son of immigrants.
With 88% of the votes counted, Hilton received 25% of the votes compared to Becerra’s 27.9%. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
Republican Steve Hilton has secured a runoff spot in the California governor's race, setting up a November showdown with Democrat Xavier Becerra, NBC News projected Monday. WATCH HERE Billionaire candidate Tom Steyer was stuck in third place with 22% of the votes while Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco was in fourth place with 10%.
The former Fox News host, who was in the lead at the beginning of the vote counting process, managed to beat out Steyer to safeguard his spot in the primary election, four days after NBC News projected Becerra's advancement to the primary election. Hilton released a statement after NBC News' projection came out, claiming that the state is on the wrong track despite California being"the greatest state in the greatest nation on earth.
" "In the weeks ahead, we will lay out my plan in detail to make our state Califordable - particularly for workers and small businesses," the Republican candidate said while calling his Democratic rival the ultimate career politician. "We will draw a powerful contrast with Xavier Becerra, who represents more of the same cost, incompetence, and corruption. "Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, cost of living and more.
Here's your go-to source for today's LA news. The British-born Republican, who was a close advisor to former British Prime Minister David Cameron, has boasted about being an immigrant to the U.S. and California. Sounding triumphant before his supporters on election night, he suggested he could follow former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a possible immigrant-turned-governor.
"California, what an incredible honor. The first time I've run for office, over a million people rising, voting for me this time with a funny accent," Hilton said, before leading the crowd in chants of"Change is coming!
" Hilton, born to Hungarian refugees in the U.K. and an immigrant to the U.S. himself, told NBC Los Angeles' Political Chief Correspondent Conan Nolan that he is"100% in favor of legal immigration. " But he makes an argument made by other conservative voices: cheap foreign workers are taking jobs away from Californians.
" said he's been laid off because the employers are now hiring illegal immigrant workers that they don't have to pay health care, they don't have to pay all these costs, don't have to pay proper taxes," Hilton said on NBCLA's NewsConference on March 22. "That's not fair to regular Californians.
" When asked who will be replacing undocumented workers in the farming industry and"pick crops," Hilton predicted that most of the farm work will be automated in five years. The debate over immigration will likely heat up leading up to the November runoff as Hilton's proposals on immigration would be countered by Becerra, who, throughout his political career, has discussed his upbringing as the son of Mexican immigrants with blue-collar jobs.
"I defend immigrants with a passion because I saw immigrants every day of my life. And I know how hard they work. I never saw a day where my dad didn’t work," Becerra Becerra has said as governor, he would defend California's sanctuary-state policies and resist federal efforts to weaken protections for undocumented immigrants. The former Health and Human Services secretary has also pledged to provide health care coverage to undocumented immigrants after he criticized Gov.
Newsom's decision to roll back the program that used to provide health insurance to undocumented immigrants. The billionaire Democrat, who was consistently accused of trying to buy the governor's office by his competitors, has now spent half a billion dollars, trying to get into politics. After pouring some $250 million into the 2020 presidential campaign, Steyer ended up dropping out after the South Carolina primary without picking up a single delegate.
For the gubernatorial campaign, Steyer spent more than $200 million, surpassing the amount Meg Whitman spent for her unsuccessful bid for governor. Steyer's campaign efforts may have paid off in some counties: in San Francisco, Marin, Mendocino, Humboldt, San Luis Obispo and Alpine counties, the environmental activist has maintained a solid lead against Hilton and Becerra.
Despite Hilton's plea to voters that Republicans need to consolidate their support behind him, Bianco stayed steadfast in his commitment to continuing on with his gubernatorial campaign. Even when Pres. Trump endorsed Hilton for California's governor, Bianco stayed firm. But his polling numbers stayed steady, not going beyond Riverside County and unable to take away support from his Republican rival.
Two of the conservative leading counties appeared to favor Bianco over others, though: Riverside and Lassen counties. In Riverside County where Bianco is the top law enforcement official, he was in first place at 27%, closely followed by Becerra at 26%. More than 44% of Lassen County voters cast their ballots for the sheriff, leading Hilton by more than 11 points.
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