California governor race sets Hilton against Becerra in November

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California governor race: Hilton vs Becerra

Highlights

Hilton and Becerra secure top-two spots in California's jungle primary, advancing to the November gubernatorial election as called by Associated Press.
Tom Steyer spends approximately $200 million in a losing effort during a primary that saw multiple high-profile candidates competing for the governorship.
Becerra enters the general election as the favored candidate in a state where no Republican has won statewide office since 2006 and Kamala Harris led by 20 points in 2024.

Primary result and campaign path

As reported by Financial Times, Hilton reaches the general election after finishing in the top two in California's jungle primary, where all candidates compete on the same ballot and the leading two advance regardless of party.

The Associated Press calls the race on Tuesday, a week after polls close, as California authorities take several days to process mail-in ballots. Hilton and Becerra emerge from a crowded field that includes Democrat Tom Steyer, the billionaire former investor who spends about $200 million of his own money on his campaign.

Hilton's advance marks an unusual political trajectory from former adviser to ex-UK prime minister David Cameron and former Fox News host to statewide candidate in the U.S. He becomes a U.S. citizen in 2021 and renounces his British citizenship in 2025, shortly before launching his run for governor.

California political backdrop and November stakes

Becerra is widely expected to enter the general election as the stronger candidate in heavily Democratic California. Republicans have not won a statewide race there since 2006, and Kamala Harris carries the state against Trump by roughly 20 points in 2024.

Hilton has compared his candidacy with that of former Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-born actor who leads the state from 2003 to 2011. Before moving to California in 2012 to join his wife Rachel Whetstone, Hilton is known in British politics as an unconventional Conservative strategist and later builds ties in the state's technology and media circles through a crowdfunding start-up, work at Stanford University and his Fox program, The Next Revolution.

Our earlier report on a California illegal gambling and tax evasion case detailed how Calabasas resident Jason Noah Feinman was sentenced to 27 months in prison over an offshore gambling operation linked to money laundering. Prosecutors said he failed to report about $4.2 million in income from 2018–2022, including roughly $1.8 million in 2020, while laundering proceeds through cash-for-check exchanges connected to the business.

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