Trump-Backed Candidate Advances to California Governor Runoff; Faces Former Democratic Secretary in November

U.S. media reported on the 9th that the November runoff for California governor will be a contest between Republican Steve Hilton, who has the backing of President Donald Trump, and Democrat Xavier Becerra, the former Secretary of Health and Human Services. CNN, NBC News, and the Associated Press all reported that Steve Hilton, a former British political advisor and Fox News commentator, secured enough votes to maintain his lead over third-place candidate Tom Steyer, a billionaire hedge fund manager. While votes are still being counted, according to the California Secretary of State's office, among the dozens of candidates in the first round, Xavier Becerra placed first with 27.9% of the vote, Hilton was second with 25.0%, and Steyer received 22.5%. California uses a so-called "jungle primary" system where all candidates, regardless of party, compete together, and the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election to succeed term-limited incumbent Governor Gavin Newsom. California is a stronghold of the left-leaning Democratic Party, and no Republican has occupied the governor's mansion since actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger left office 15 years ago. Trump has accused Democrats of rigging California elections, but Hilton stated that his team has not found any evidence of election fraud. According to the Los Angeles Times, Hilton told reporters on the 9th: "We are very focused right now on making sure everything is fine. We have teams on standby, we have lawyers on standby, we are very focused on this. We don't want to let anyone down, we don't want to miss anything, and we haven't found anything." Becerra previously served as California Attorney General before being nominated by former President Joe Biden to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. If he wins the November election, he would become the first Latino ever elected governor of California.