California’s long, drawn-out governor primary is finally over

Republican Steve Hilton has clinched his spot in this November’s election for California governor after earning enough votes to get second place behind Democrat Xavier Becerra. 

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The Associated Press called the race around 5 p.m. Tuesday, nearly a week after polls had closed. California’s slow vote-counting process has become the target of bipartisan scorn, with Hilton decrying the glacial process alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. 

Billionaire venture capitalist and Democrat Tom Steyer came within a few percentage points of Hilton but was ultimately unable to secure enough votes to move forward in the top-two primary. Steyer spent over $216 million of his own money in this year’s race after spending over $317 million in his failed 2020 presidential run. That means Steyer has spent over half a billion dollars without winning a single election. 

Voters will now get to pick between Becerra and Hilton, two candidates with very different visions for the state. Hilton, a British former Fox News host, has railed against California’s policies and called it “a failed state.” Hilton has promised tax breaks for families and wants to make California “the crypto capital of the world,” according to his website. Becerra, a former attorney general and the health secretary under President Joe Biden, has promised to lower healthcare costs and fight the Trump administration if elected.

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Steyer’s failure means voters will have an option to vote Republican, although California’s lopsided electorate gives Democrats a massive advantage in statewide races. Newsom won his last reelection campaign with over 59% of the vote and ended up over 2 million votes ahead of his Republican opponent Brian Dahle.