Steve Hilton Edges Out Tom Steyer for Second Spot in California Governor Election

“What an incredible honor to be chosen by Californians to lead the movement for change in the greatest state in the greatest nation on earth,” Hilton said in a statement. “I can’t wait to get started on the most high-energy campaign this state has ever seen.”

California Republicans voted early at higher rates than in the state’s last primary for governor in 2022. Many reliable Democratic voters cast their ballots later than usual, perhaps due to the tight contest for governor.

As a result, the vote-by-mail ballots cast on Election Day trended more Democratic than early votes, increasing Becerra and Steyer’s vote share and decreasing Hilton’s share in recent counts.

But even with millions of ballots left to count, Steyer’s path remained narrow — he needed to lead Hilton by overwhelming margins in the updates coming from deep blue Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

The Associated Press made its call on Tuesday when Steyer no longer had a path to victory.

The Democratic investor spent a record $216 million of his own fortune on the campaign. He racked up endorsements from progressive leaders and unions, including the powerful California Teachers Association, and laid out a platform that relied heavily on expanding state programs through new taxes on corporations.

But his career as a hedge fund manager, which included investments in fossil fuel companies and private prisons, may have turned off Democrats wary of billionaire power. These vulnerabilities were amplified by over $36 million in outside spending by business groups against Steyer, led by utility PG&E. Steyer had proposed to appoint regulators who would lower utility profits.

“This campaign proved that business-as-usual depends on politics-as-usual, and there is no going back,” Steyer said in a statement. “We must continue to fight for a system where democracy serves Californians, not corporations — and where you do not have to be a billionaire to run on single-payer, or on breaking up monopolies, or on calling out a corrupt system when you see it.”

Hilton began to separate from the other leading Republican in the race, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, after Trump’s endorsement.

A pre-election survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found 37% of likely Republican voters said the endorsement made them more likely to back Hilton, compared to just 6% who said it made them less likely to support him.

But the Trump endorsement that was a propellant in the primary could prove to be an anchor for Hilton in the general election. That same Berkeley IGS survey found 57% of likely voters believe “fighting Trump administration policies” is a very important issue in considering who to support for governor.