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Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, will advance to the general election for California governor, the Associated Press projected Tuesday, securing the second November spot after a complicated primary contest.
He will face Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former health secretary. Hilton is not favored to win in such a heavily Democratic state that has not elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.
Hilton, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, has argued he could win because of discontent with California's longtime Democratic leadership.
In California's primaries, all candidates appear on the same ballot regardless of party, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election.
Hilton is on track to defeat Democrat Tom Steyer, the billionaire climate activist in third place who spent more than $200 million to self-fund his campaign.
On Election Day, Hilton held the largest vote share based on early returns, but his lead eroded as California counted more late-mailed ballots, which tend to favor Democrats. As Californians awaited primary results, Trump and his GOP allies accused election officials of vote-rigging without any evidence. California's robust ballot-counting process has added days, sometimes weeks, to the tallying time for close races.
Hilton criticized the process after the primary, saying it was going at a "snail's pace" because Democrats had not reformed the state's counting system. But he did not call the results fraudulent.
Both Republicans and Democrats feared their party would be shut out of the general election because of split votes.
But Hilton consolidated GOP support over the other leading Republican candidate, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, with the help of Trump's early April endorsement.
Hilton, a 56-year-old emigrant from the United Kingdom, said he would "Make California golden again." Like many of his opponents, Hilton focused on affordability, pitching himself as a candidate who would bring lower taxes and housing costs to the country's most populous state.
"It does look as if change is coming to California," he said at a June 3 news conference in Sacramento. "And that is good news for everyone, every small business, every working family, everyone who wants to see our state set back on track."
Dozens of candidates ran to succeed term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), though none of them had the high profiles typical in a California gubernatorial contest.
This year's race was also shaken in mid-April, when then-Rep. Eric Swalwell, who had emerged as the Democratic front-runner, dropped out of the race following allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.
Becerra, who served as health secretary under president Joe Biden and was a longtime California congressman before that, bolted up in the polls, unexpectedly becoming the Democratic frontrunner after lagging for months.
Hilton was an adviser to former prime minister David Cameron before moving to California in 2012 and becoming a U.S. citizen in 2021. He hosted podcasts and a television show before appearing on Fox News.
The day after California's primary, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that Hilton, whom he called a "hard driving WINNER," would "turn California around, quickly."
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