Becerra takes lead in California governor’s race, PPIC poll finds
Xavier Becerra led California’s governor’s race at 23%, but the PPIC poll also showed a crowded, unsettled field and only modest enthusiasm for the contest.
Xavier Becerra opened the strongest position in California’s governor’s race, but the new numbers also suggested a field still searching for a clear front-runner and voters still deciding whether they have settled on the safest option or the strongest one.
A Public Policy Institute of California survey conducted May 14-18 found Becerra at 23% in the state’s top-two primary, followed by Republican Steve Hilton at 20%, Tom Steyer at 15%, Chad Bianco at 13% and Katie Porter at 12%. The June 2 primary will send only the top two vote-getters to November, regardless of party, under California’s top-two system. With 10 candidates in the race, including 8 Democrats and 2 Republicans, the contest to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom remained unusually crowded for a state that often rewards organization, name recognition and a reliable base.
The poll also showed that seven in 10 likely voters were following the governor’s race very or fairly closely, yet about six in 10 said they were satisfied with the field and thought the top-two system had been mostly a good thing for California since Proposition 14 passed in 2010. That combination helps explain why Becerra’s lead matters. It is not just a race for first place; it is a test of whether a high-profile Democrat can consolidate a fragmented electorate in a state still defining its post-Newsom direction.
Becerra’s resume is long and familiar to California voters. He served as state attorney general before becoming U.S. health secretary, previously spent one term in the California Legislature, and began his legal career in 1984 representing the mentally ill, according to the Office of the California Attorney General. That record gives him institutional credibility in a race where voters may be gravitating toward the best-known figure rather than a sharper ideological statement. But his rise has also drawn criticism from progressives and rival Democrats, and some former Biden administration colleagues reacted with surprise as his standing improved.
The speed of the shift is part of the story. In February, PPIC found five candidates locked in a virtual tie, with none above 15%, a far more fractured field than the one now showing Becerra at the top. Whether that lead reflects durable coalition strength or a low-information default in a race crowded with familiar names will become clearer only as California voters finish choosing between a dozen competing versions of the state’s next direction.
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