Xavier Becerra surges in California governor’s race as rivals attack him
Xavier Becerra moved from mid-single digits to the front of California’s governor’s race after Eric Swalwell quit, and now faces a barrage over his record and donors.
Xavier Becerra’s rise in California’s wide-open governor’s race has become a test of whether Democratic voters in the nation’s largest blue state are rewarding experience over ideological heat. After Rep. Eric Swalwell exited the contest, Becerra moved from mid-single digits earlier in the spring into the lead, while progressives and rival Democrats sharpened their attacks and looked to Tom Steyer’s populist pitch or Katie Porter’s combative style as alternatives.
The latest public polling underscored how fractured the field remained. A PPIC survey released May 28 showed Becerra at 23 percent, with Republican Steve Hilton close behind at 20 percent. Steyer followed at 15 percent, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 13 percent and Porter at 12 percent. With California’s top-two primary scheduled for June 2 and ballots mailed beginning May 4, the race also carried an unusual danger for Democrats: if the party stayed split, two Republicans could advance.
Becerra’s strength was built on a résumé that stretches across three levels of government. He served in Congress, as California attorney general and later as U.S. health and human services secretary. That record has helped him win support from Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and about two dozen California legislators, who argued that the state could not afford “on-the-job training” in the governor’s office.
But that same history has also given critics a wide opening. Becerra’s tenure at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has drawn renewed scrutiny from the left over the COVID-19 response, the surge of unaccompanied migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border, the baby formula shortage and the 2022 mpox outbreak. Opponents have also resurrected long-running disputes over immigration, donations tied to Chevron and other corporate donors, and his opposition to a union-backed billionaire tax.
The pushback has turned Becerra into a proxy fight over what kind of Democrat should lead California next. His allies present him as a disciplined, institution-minded candidate with the government experience to manage a state of nearly 40 million people. His critics see a more cautious politician whose appeal comes from not sounding like the movement wing of the party. In a race that began with plenty of ideological noise, Becerra’s climb suggested that many Democratic voters were still looking first for governing credentials and a familiar hand.
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