Businessman and Republican leader Steve Hilton emerged as the most voted candidate in the California gubernatorial primary elections, securing one of the two spots in the general elections in November. With more than half of the votes counted this Wednesday, Hilton has 27.8% of the votes, ahead of former Joe Biden administration official Xavier Becerra, who has 25.4%.
On his part, left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer was relegated to third place with 19.6%, leaving Hilton in a strong position at a time when Republicans are seeking to regain influence in a state long dominated by Democratic leadership.
It is worth noting that California operates under a "jungle primary" system, where all candidates compete on the same ballot regardless of their party, and the two who receive the most votes advance to the general elections. Due to the large number of mail-in ballots in these municipal elections that need to be counted, no winner has been officially declared for any of the candidates yet.
"Change is coming to California, and it's about time", Hilton told his supporters after the polls closed, whose strong performance in the election represents a breath of fresh air after more than 15 years of Democratic rule in the state. Steyer also campaigned promising change, although from a climate change and corporate tax increase perspective.
While Becerra presented himself as the member of the Democratic establishment, highlighting his decades of public service in Congress, as the state attorney general, and as Secretary of Health in the Biden administration. Nearly 60 candidates were on the ballot, most of them virtually unknown to the approximately 23 million voters in the state.
Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer, the leading Democratic candidates for this primary election.
A California that is no longer what it used to be
The central issue of the contest was how to address the excessively high cost of living in a California dominated by the Democratic Party. In this context, Californians are paying the highest gas prices in the country, with a gallon of gas above $6.
A typical home in the state is estimated to cost around $775,000, more than double the national average. Additionally, Californians pay the second-highest residential electricity rates in the country, behind Hawaii, according to specialized reports.
Hilton stated that he will exempt low-income Californians from income taxes, increase oil production, freeze tuition at public institutions, and seek to make the state more accessible. He also pledged to cut regulations and to "revive" the state's economic power by reversing Democratic policies that drive up the cost of living, an initiative that resonated with most voters.
