Hilton’s magic number really is 40.82%

November 3, 2026 By James V. Lacy 1 Comment

Polls suggest he won’t finish as well as last GOP candidate for Governor.

Who will be our beloved California’s next Governor? Given the state’s persistent problems of inability to reduce homelessness, really high taxes including affordability of taxes on gas, wasteful spending on dubious transportation projects, fraud and mismanagement in the unemployment department and Medi-Cal, housing and more, after 20 years of the same party rule, we could really use a change and the facts support change. But polls tell us overwhelmingly that no change is in store for the Governor’s race. Our citizens complain about California, some flee the state, but the ones who stay fail to take action at the ballot box to change things for the better.

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I surely did not vote for Becerra, but he will be our next Governor. The opposition simply could not come together with what it needed to be unified and communicate a compelling message with a compelling candidate and I deeply regret offering this fact. In neighboring Oregon with similar problems to us, the GOP has a chance to win the Governorship despite antagonism to Trump.

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Poll: Voters tiring of Newsom, yet may not really want change

October 22, 2026 By Blake Jones 1 Comment

Xavier Becerra, another mainstream Democrat who has effusively praised Newsom, is running ahead of Republican Steve Hilton by a 20-point margin, according to a new Citrin-POLITICO survey.

SACRAMENTO, California — Most California voters rate Gavin Newsom’s tenure governing California as “poor” or “fair” and want his successor to take the state in a different direction, according to a new Citrin-POLITICO poll.

Yet Xavier Becerra, another mainstream Democrat who was among the gubernatorial candidates to most effusively praise Newsom during the primary, is on track to beat Republican Steve Hilton by a 20-point margin, according to the survey. The results suggest a disconnect between voters expressing desire for policy change, but picking a candidate more similar to the status quo.

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“Becerra basically wins everyone — the third of the electorate that wants to continue the policies — and picks up nearly a third of those who want change,” said Jon Cohen, founder and CEO of TrueDot, whose firm fielded the poll.

Just 36% of registered voters characterize Newsom’s performance over the last eight years as “good” or “excellent,” according to the survey, and only 28% would like to see the next governor continue his policies.

The tepid views of Newsom’s performance in his home state add to concerns from Democrats elsewhere about whether his record will, if he runs for president, be a liability on the campaign trail. They also come as California voters have soured on the idea of Newsom running for president, according to another recent Citrin-POLITICO survey.

But a strong majority of California Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters — 61% — said they would be excited for a Newsom presidential bid, according to that survey, while 39% would not be. Democrats were less keen on former Vice President Kamala Harris, with a 55% majority saying they would not be excited for her to run. Newsom’s approval rating was 51% in a recent survey from the Public Policy Institute of California, a few points higher than the California Legislature’s.

“Gavin Newsom overwhelmingly won five elections in eight years and is the most popular outgoing Governor in the history of PPIC polling the question,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement. “It’s a shame America’s Favorite Governor can’t run for another term — he’d crush it!”

Newsom received his strongest marks on climate change in the new survey, where more voters said he had done well than poorly. His weakest reviews were on housing and homelessness: Just 28% said he had done a good job on housing and 25% on homelessness. Nearly three in four voters said he had not handled homelessness well.

Click here to read the full article in Politico

 

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Xavier Becerra Backs Out of Another Debate with Steve Hilton

October 14, 2026 By Katy Grimes 7 Comments

Why would Becerra not want to be seen by Hispanic voters in a Univision debate?

Republican Steve Hilton has reported that Democrat Xavier Becerra backed out of yet another debate in the California gubernatorial race.

Hilton is everywhere, criss-crossing the state every day. Becerra is taking a page out of former President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, and mostly running his campaign from an underground bunker.

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During the weekend, we learned that Becerra backed out of the Univision debate, citing a “scheduling conflict.” Univision? Why would Becerra not want to be seen by Hispanic voters in a Univision debate?

Hilton noted that his team offered to accommodate Becerra’s schedule, and tied it to Becerra’s recent claims, proven false about how his parents came to the U.S. with $12 in their pocket.

 

Even a serious candidate safely ahead in the polls would show up to convey his policies, and commitment to the job. Anything less is insulting to voters.

Refusing to show up to debate demonstrates a lack of sincerity, as well as obvious insecurity about being called on the carpet on policy issues.

Hilton and Becerra held one televised general-election debate, hosted by CNN in Burbank on September 30, 2026. Hilton went on offense from the start, pressing Becerra on his record as attorney general and as Biden HHS secretary, the Globe reported.

So far, it is the only actual face-to-face matchup before the November 3 election.

Polls at the time showed Becerra with a roughly 25 point lead – the Berkeley IGS/LA Times figured around 58%–33%.

Hilton has repeatedly pressed for more debates, and has done internal polling showing the gap closing between the two candidates.

Xavier Becerra’s lead over Steve Hilton shrunk to just 5.6 points in a poll conducted immediately after the their’ first and only debate.

“The poll, commissioned by Hilton’s campaign and conducted by pollster David Wolfson on Oct. 1-2, surveyed 1,020 California voters and found Becerra with 45.7% support to Hilton’s 40.1%, while another 14.1% remain undecided,” the CA Post reported.

Perhaps that, and he didn’t want to be asked why he lied to millions about his family’s immigration history, explains why last week Becerra pulled out of the scheduled Los Angeles Times debate.

Hilton posted the announcement on X Monday afternoon, calling the withdrawal a break from a pledge Becerra made in August to participate in multiple debates. 

“Becerra PULLS OUT of tomorrow’s LA Times debate,” Hilton wrote. “The move comes after a new poll found CNN debate viewers favored Hilton 74% to 20%. In August, Becerra promised MULTIPLE debates. Now after losing the first, he’s back in hiding—taking voters for granted. Pathetic!”

Click here to read the full article in the California Globe

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Steve Hilton’s most disgusting campaign ad

October 5, 2026 By James V. Lacy Leave a Comment

“Bud Light” style ad blunder, sexualization and reasonless voting are the theme.

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A social media promotion between Bud Light and transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April 2023 triggered a major conservative boycott, a steep drop in sales, and widespread media debate.

And in the same vein as the Bud Light advertising wreck, now Steve Hilton has a far more explicit and frankly disgusting, sexualized advertisement of his own, ending with a tight camera shot of an attractive young woman holding an envelope to her mouth who is told by another attractive young woman to…. “Lick It!”

Click here to read the full article at James V. Lacy’s Substack

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Steve Hilton is going down to crushing defeat

September 26, 2026 By James V. Lacy 3 Comments

Moderates and Conservatives need to focus on Prop. 40 (Billionaire’s tax) to motivate voter turnout

Let’s get real California. Steve Hilton’s campaign for California Governor is over. He is being crushed by Xavier Becerra, and Becerra isn’t even trying to do so. And the TV ads tying Hilton to an unpopular Donald Trump in California (anomalous in this state at just 27% favorable) haven’t even started yet.

A new Berkeley/IGS poll released today gives Becerra a 25 point lead a week or so before voting starts. Despite Hilton’s soupy evergreen smile and cheery disposition talking about “Cal-i-fornia” on Fox News channel, Becerra is leading 58% to 33% for Hilton, and Hilton’s trajectory in all the recent polls is down, down, and worsening. In my view, nothing he does now will allow him to climb anywhere near the 41% finish State Senator Brian Dahle gained four years ago in his race against Gavin Newsom. Hilton is dead in the water. As a conservative Republican I don’t like saying that, but it is so evidently true it can’t be ignored, especially considering down ballot candidates who are conservatives and who will now be burdened by the double millstone of an unpopular President and a candidate for Governor who is not motivating the kind of voter turnout these down ballot candidates need and deserve.

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Similarly, the Proposition 39 “Voter ID” effort and campaign has been botched. I got a call from a Republican candidate for statewide office a month ago saying he was featuring “Voter ID” in Prop. 39 as a centerpiece of his campaign, like that was a secret weapon. It isn’t, not the way that measure was proposed and handled. Prop. 39 should be ahead, as it is a no-brainer that almost everyone agrees with showing ID to vote. But it is behind in the polls and also sinking. Why? Prop. 39’s backers got the wrong lawyer to draft the measure, whose wording left predictable loop-holes and vulnerabilities that allowed Democrat Attorney General Bonta to eviscerate his writing of the “Title and Summary” of the measure that goes on the ballot. For independent and less alert voters, who rely on ballot information, that tilted the vote against the measure in a legal but underhanded fashion. Added to this is the predictable early and effective campaign by partisan Democrats to turn the Proposition into a battle on Trump’s popularity which dooms it to utter defeat. The Yes on Prop. 39 campaign was absent while the Left defined the election as about whether or not you liked Trump in crazy TDS California. That campaign is a goner and is not going to motivate voters needed for down ballot conservatives to win any more than a Steve Hilton garden party.

Click here to read the full article at James Lacy’s Substack

 

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It’s beyond debate. California voters deserve a Becerra-Hilton face-off

August 24, 2026 By Mark Z. Barabak 1 Comment
  • The Democratic front-runner has pledged he’ll share a stage with his Republican foe, but hasn’t said where or when.
  • Hilton, in typical underdog fashion, is eager to meet anytime, anyplace.

Barring some extraordinary event — a health emergency, a career-ending scandal, a killer asteroid destroying all life on earth — Xavier Becerra will be the next governor of California.

That’s not partiality or wish casting on the part of your friendly political columnist. The fact is Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents overwhelmingly outnumber Republicans in California, in both registration and inclination.

The GOP brand has been political poison in this Tahoe-blue bastion for decades now. But under Donald Trump, it’s grown even more toxic. His endorsement, which the president bestowed upon Republican Steve Hilton mid-primary, is the political equivalent of sarin; like the deadly nerve agent, it can kill on contact.

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Still, give credit where due.

The gregarious and media-savvy Hilton has been waging an energetic and effervescent run for governor, with multiple appearances a day and frequent updates to his cheeky social media accounts.

“He’s going to San Francisco” — into the bowels of the liberal beast — “he’s going into schools, talking to labor groups,” said Hector Barajas, a campaign spokesman. “He’ll go everywhere.”

Becerra not so much.

The Democrat has appeared here and there since finishing first in the June 2 primary, securing one of two slots in November’s runoff. He’s offered a few modest proposals, including a plan to deliver two free hours of electricity a day to low-income households and a call for stiffer regulation of artificial intelligence.

A sprint vs. a stroll

That said, if Hilton is flat-out running for a job he stands virtually no chance of winning, Becerra is embarked on more of a leisurely stroll toward his all-but-certain perch in Sacramento.

That’s not a terrible thing at this midsummer stage of the race. Once, in the blessed era before the 24/7 news cycle and the omnipresence of social media, there was a lull in the months after the primary, with campaign activities picking back up around Labor Day.

On Tuesday, during a walking tour of Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood, Becerra pushed back on the notion he was taking his election — and California voters — for granted. “If I were trying to coast,” he told reporters, “I’d be out on the coast right now instead of here with you all.”

Becerra’s pace aside, the days between now and the Nov. 3 election offer him plenty of time to spell out what, exactly, he has to offer his home state and how, in a broad sense, he plans to tackle one of the highest profile, most vexing jobs in all of American politics.

At least one of those days should include a face-to-face debate between Hilton and Becerra. The two shared a stage multiple times during the primary season. They have not appeared together since.

Click here to read the full article in the LA Times

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Becerra pledges to debate Hilton — more than once — between now and Nov. 3

August 20, 2026 By Seema Mehta Leave a Comment
  • Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Xavier Becerra, facing criticism from GOP rival Steve Hilton for a lack of public visibility since the primary election, pledged to face the Republican in multiple debates before the Nov. 3 general election to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.
  • A new UC Berkeley/L.A. Times poll shows Becerra leading Hilton 55% to 37% in heavily Democratic California, where Republicans last won statewide office in 2006.
  • Becerra visited Little Tokyo during the Nisei Week festival, highlighting ties to a community he represented while in Congress.

Democrat Xavier Becerra pledged on Tuesday to participate in more than one debate against Steve Hilton, his GOP rival in the California governor’s race.

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“We will have debates, and between now and Nov. 3, we will continue to go out there and meet with folks to make sure they have an opportunity to see the candidates,” Becerra told reporters after greeting business owners, community leaders and voters in a walking tour of Little Tokyo. “Voters need to have good information. We’ll make sure they have it, and there will be debates.”

Hilton has been needling Becerra for not being as publicly visible on the campaign trail since the two men advanced in the June primary. The British-born conservative strategist and political commentator raises chickens at his Silicon Valley home and has said he named one of them “Xavier.”

“Xavier Becerra wants to be governor while dodging questions from the press and a debate with me,” Hilton posted on the social media platform X earlier this month.”What else do you expect from a lazy, arrogant, entitled ‘empty suit’ 36-year machine politician.”

Becerra held a 55% to 37% lead over Hilton in a UC Berkeley/L.A. Times poll released Thursday. The margin is unsurprising given the edge that Democrats have in voter registration over Republicans in a state that last elected GOP politicians to statewide office in 2006.

Becerra, asked Tuesday about Hilton’s criticism that he was “coasting” to election in the November general election to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, rejected the notion.

“Well, if I were trying to coast, I’d be out on the coast right now instead of here with you all and making a nice visit to Little Tokyo,” he said outside of an Asian-fusion gastropub on an oppressively hot, muggy afternoon. “Listen, this is all about making sure voters have a choice. We’ll get out there and make sure we’re front and center with them … even if it’s a little hot.”

Click here to read the full article in the LA Times

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Is Steve Hilton a serious candidate? Here’s what his fellow Brits think

August 3, 2026 By Garry South Leave a Comment

Here we are as Californians, facing a run-off election for governor that includes a Republican former Fox News host, endorsed by Donald Trump, whose only previous governmental experience was advising … the former prime minister of Great Britain?

Could you even make this up?

Yes, Steve Hilton, by dint of finishing second to Xavier Becerra in the June primary, will be on the November ballot. One of these men will be the next governor of the nation’s largest state and will be charged with stewarding the fourth largest economy in the world.

No write-ins are allowed in the run-off election. No one else is coming to save us.

You need only skim the facts about Hilton’s life to grasp how bizarre it is that this man could be a finalist in the race for governor of California. Born in London, he moved to California in 2012. As a Fox News personality, he endorsed Trump for president in 2016 — but couldn’t vote for him because he hadn’t yet become a U.S. citizen.

That didn’t happen until 2021, and he didn’t renounce his British citizenship until just last year.

And get this: The only previous office for which Hilton has run was … Congress? The state Senate or Assembly?

Nope.

He ran for the British House of Commons in 2005, as a Conservative Party candidate. He lost the election to another fellow Tory.

Click here to read the full article at SF Chronicle

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Election 2026 updates: Democrat Becerra, Republican Hilton advance to CA governor face-off

June 14, 2026 By Editorial Staff 2 Comments

Why the count will go on in California

California’s elections are never quite over on Election Day, and this year is no different.

The state’s big population and its universal vote-by-mail system add to the time it takes to count the large volume of ballots counties will receive.

In the 2024 general election, for instance, mail ballots accounted for a little more than 80% of the 16.1 million ballots cast that November. Typically, county election officials first process ballots received before Election Day as they roll in and post those results quickly.

But, under state law, mail ballots can be received at local election offices up to seven days after the election, as long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day. And officials must verify ballots before they can be counted.

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It’s typical for mail ballots counted in the days after the election to skew Democratic.

And in this election, Democratic voters appeared to be returning their ballots at a slower pace than in past elections, according to data from Political Data, Inc., a Democratic-aligned data firm, suggesting that the trend could be even more pronounced.

Where things stand

In the California governor’s race, Democratic former US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is in strong position to get one of the two slots in the November election given how votes counted after Election Day in California are typically more Democratic. The other slot is likely to go either Republican former Fox News host Steve Hilton or Democratic billionaire investor Tom Steyer.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass advanced to the November election. Republican former reality TV star Spencer Pratt landed in second place behind Bass in the first reports, but later updates found him losing ground to progressive city councilmember Nithya Raman. That trend, coupled with the expected Democratic shift from ballots counted after Election Day, means the second spot remains too early to call.

Click here to read the full article at ABC News

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Race for California governor: Becerra gets campaign boost, Hilton tries to gain Republican votes

May 22, 2026 By Josh Haskell 2 Comments

California’s June primary election is less than two weeks away, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is getting a boost in his campaign for governor.

Becerra was on the campaign trail at Dulan’s on Crewnshaw Tuesday, alongside Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson.

“If I have an opportunity to be between Jasmine Crockett and Rex Richardson between now on June 2, I’m going to win this race,” said Becerra.

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“I can tell you that Xavier didn’t become a progressive yesterday. California, you need Xavier in this moment. I am so ecstatic to stand here in support of someone that I know will do an amazing job and will scare the (expletive) out of Trump,” said Crockett.

“No matter how you pray, what hot sauce you eat, no matter who you love, this is a campaign where everybody belongs,” Richardson added.

Becerra has surged in the governor’s race since Eric Swalwell dropped out just over one month ago.

“California voters are not anxious to have someone who wants to buy the office and they’re also not anxious to have somebody who is towing the Trump line,” said Becerra.

Christina Bellantoni, a professor at USC’s Annenberg School, said Becerra has the right momentum at the right time.

“He could pull this thing off. And I’ve also really noticed that the Steyer campaign has gone increasingly negative on Becerra. And to me, that says they view him as the biggest threat,” Bellantoini added.

One of the other frontrunners, Republican Steve Hilton, clearly views the other Republican in the race, Chad Bianco, as his biggest threat.

Click here to read the full article at KABC News

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