Hilton, Becerra Tout Early Leads in California Governor Race, as Steyer Urges Patience

“Here in Hollywood’s hometown, we love a good underdog success story,” he said, drawing parallels between his campaign and the life his immigrant parents built in California. “Guess what? The underdog stayed in the fight. Like my parents, I never gave up. Never stopped putting one foot in front of the other. Never stopped believing in the beacon-like goodness of California. And, thankfully, neither did you.”

Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco was trailing the three frontrunners late Tuesday, with 11% of the vote. And the other better known Democratic candidates — former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, San José Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — were all hovering in single digits. Villaraigosa and Mahan conceded the race within the hour after polls closed, followed by Porter shortly after 10 p.m.

At his watch party in Huntington Beach, the British-born Hilton — who became a U.S. citizen just five years ago — said it was the “honor of his lifetime” to receive over 1 million votes so far.

“Change is coming to California and it’s long overdue,” Hilton said. “We’re not there yet, but it’s looking good. It looks very much as if Californians really will have the chance to vote for change in November and take our state in a new direction.”

But nothing is guaranteed for Becerra or Hilton yet.  The early results could shift in part because of unusual voting patterns in this primary election: Ballot tracking data heading into Tuesday evening showed that Republicans were more likely to vote early by mail, while Democratic voters in this deep blue state hung onto their mail-in ballots or chose to vote in person.

That’s the reverse of recent elections, which saw more Democrats voting by mail and Republicans tending to vote in person on Election Day.

Steyer urged his supporters to be patient Tuesday evening. Speaking at his watch party at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, he railed against the big companies, including PG&E and Chevron, that opposed his candidacy. “Together, we’ve scared the hell out of the corporate interests used to getting their way,” Steyer said.

“It might take some time to figure out where this is going. We’re going to wait until every ballot is counted. We’re going to give democracy time to work. And we know we finished really strong.”

The race remained crowded and unsettled to the end, and it was defined to some extent by who wasn’t running.

Some of the state’s most high-profile Democrats — former Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and California Attorney General Rob Bonta — all passed on a potential bid. Then, in April, the campaign of East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell imploded following allegations of sexual assault and harassment.

Swalwell had been gaining in polls and racking up high-profile endorsements, and his exit seemed to primarily benefit Becerra, who had been stuck in single digits in many polls. And it quieted fears among Democrats who worried that the messy Democratic field could result in Bianco and Hilton winning the top spots in the June primary.

That would have resulted in a nightmare scenario for Democrats — a guaranteed Republican governor — in a state where they outnumber GOP voters 2-to-1. But it was possible because of California’s “jungle primary” system, which allows the top two vote-getters to advance, regardless of party affiliation.

Instead, though, Becerra surged, and Hilton pulled ahead of Bianco after earning the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

Steyer spent more than $213 million of his own money to push a progressive, populist message, but also seemed to hit a ceiling, remaining in the mid-teens in most public polls up until the election, despite his aggressive ad campaign.

But Anthony York, an adviser to Steyer, said he believes that Steyer will do well among those people who voted late.

“The longer this goes on beyond tonight as ballots get counted, we expect Tom to gain vote share,” he said Tuesday night at Steyer’s watch party.

KQED’s Adhiti Bandlamudi contributed to this report.