The 2026 California gubernatorial race delivered a landmark result as Democratic veteran public servant Xavier Becerra defeated Republican challenger Steve Hilton, former top senior adviser to ex-UK Prime Minister David Cameron, in a projected landslide called mere minutes after state polling stations closed on election night.
Hilton, who earned a formal endorsement from former US President Donald Trump, faced a steep structural disadvantage running as a conservative candidate in deep-blue California, where registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by a wide margin. Though pre-election polling had suggested a narrow, long-shot path to victory for the Conservative Party strategist best known as the architect of the UK Tories’ flagship “Big Society” policy agenda, his campaign was ultimately swept aside by a historic nationwide Democratic wave that secured the party full control of both chambers of the US Congress on election night.
Throughout the heated contest, both frontrunners centered their policy platforms on the most pressing pain points facing California’s 39 million residents: skyrocketing cost of living, crippling housing affordability gaps, overhauling state energy policy, and renegotiating collaborative working relationships with federal leadership. Hilton, who framed himself as a grassroots political outsider despite his decades of experience in Westminster government, campaigned on a pledge to “rescue” California from what he framed as suffocating bureaucratic overreach and stagnant economic mobility, arguing that the Golden State’s status as one of the world’s most innovative and prosperous regions was at risk of being eroded by one-party Democratic rule. He repeatedly told supporters during campaign stops across the state that his priority would be to restore widespread affordability and equal economic opportunity for working and middle-class families.
In his victory address to cheering supporters gathered in Sacramento, California’s state capital, Becerra celebrated his place in history as the first Latino governor of the state in more than 150 years. A public servant with a 24-year tenure representing Los Angeles in the US House of Representatives, he previously served as California’s attorney general before taking on the role of US Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration. He acknowledged the unprecedented challenges the state had navigated in recent years, noting that many observers had dismissed his path to victory as a “mission impossible” but that the work to move California forward was a “mission necessary.” “We fought and we won,” he told the crowd, before declaring to rapturous applause: “You have now entered the Becerra era.”
In his own concession speech before a room of loyal backers, Hilton graciously acknowledged the sweeping Democratic tide reshaping election outcomes across the country, noting that 2026 was an exceptionally difficult cycle for Republican candidates nationwide. Even so, he emphasized that California remained “the greatest place in the greatest nation on earth,” and expressed profound gratitude for the chance to travel every corner of the state to connect with voters during his run. “The change we hoped for may be delayed but the change is coming,” he told supporters, vowing to continue advocating for the policy priorities he had championed on the campaign trail.
The high-stakes gubernatorial contest began with a sprawling field of high-profile contenders, before narrowing to its final two frontrunners after the June primary. Early polling frontrunner and sitting US Congressman Eric Swalwell dropped out of the race abruptly following public sexual assault allegations, which Swalwell has consistently and categorically denied. Both Becerra and Hilton ultimately outpaced well-known progressive billionaire Tom Steyer to claim the top two spots on the general election ballot. Becerra will succeed outgoing Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who was barred from seeking re-election due to California’s term limit rules.
Ex-UK political aide Steve Hilton loses bid for California governor to Democrat
