Pleas and political attacks fill California governor sprint

With the June 2 California governor’s primary fast approaching, Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra, and Tom Steyer crisscrossed the state on Friday—wooing voters and attacking rivals. A fresh UC Berkeley poll put Becerra first at 25% of likely voters, followed by Hi

When the candidates talk about California’s governor’s race in the final days, they don’t speak like people waiting out a campaign. They speak like people trying to win a moment.

On Friday. Steve Hilton. Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer crisscrossed the state ahead of the June 2 primary. choosing friendly ground and turning their closing arguments into direct tests of loyalty—union support for Democrats. culture-war pressure for Republicans. and a blistering pitch for a billionaire outsider trying to break through.

Hilton. the top Republican in the race and a former Fox News host. spent the day railing against transgender athletes before a high school track event in California’s Central Valley—an audience move aimed at drawing in supporters likely to respond to President Trump. Afterward. he joined other politicians and leaders in Clovis in opposing trans athletes from competing at the 2026 CIF State Track & Field Championships. The group met near where the championship events were scheduled to take place this weekend.

At the heart of Hilton’s closing push is a 13-year-old state law that allows students to participate in school activities and use facilities such as bathrooms based on their gender identity. Asked why he was focusing on sports and gender in the final days of the race. Hilton said it’s “one of the main issues” that comes up at town halls. If elected. he said he would seek to overturn the law. arguing it violates the state Constitution. and he would “suspend” it while he initiates legal proceedings to overturn it.

Hilton also used the home stretch to elevate a different political lane: he praised Spencer Pratt, a Republican and former reality TV star running for Los Angeles mayor, saying Pratt’s candidacy has brought “excitement and energy” to the state’s primary.

“For a long time in California, there’s been this sense that it’s all inevitable — there’s nothing you can do, Democrats run this place, just the way it is,” Hilton said. “I think that that’s changing. I think there’s this sense that something’s happening.”

The Democrats’ final stretch looked different on the ground, but the pressure was just as personal. In one of their most influential constituencies. former Biden administration Cabinet member Xavier Becerra and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer both sought union energy—then tried to pull that support away from each other.

Steyer. after appearing at a Northern California campaign event where he held a private meeting with leaders of a union representing long-term caregivers. went on to address home-care workers. teachers. construction workers and nurses at the offices of SEIU Local 2015 in West Sacramento. His message framed the race as a choice between people who work for California and the money that shapes politics.

“Does California work for Californians or does California work for corporations? The corporations think it works for them. They want it to continue to work for them and they’re putting up tens of millions of dollars to make sure they continue to make record profits,” Steyer told the crowd.

After that rally, Steyer accused Becerra of being “a corporate Democrat who’s taking money from all these big corporations” who “doesn’t want to change things.”

Becerra’s response was to insist he belonged at the union table—without blinking about turnout. In the Inland Empire, he pledged to be on the side of unions if elected governor and urged voters to turn in their ballots in an election where participation has been unusually low.

“I am with you. When I become governor and I sit behind that desk, you’ll have a union man sitting at that desk,” Becerra told about 500 people at the United Food and Commercial Workers hall in Bloomington.

He asked the crowd if they had cast their ballots and noted that not everyone raised their hand.

“Less than one in five Californians have actually cast their vote so far. We got to get that number way. way up. ” he said. arguing that the election is about “sending a message all across the country that California will be counted. that California cannot be neglected. and that California will not take a knee to anyone in Washington. D.C.”.

The urgency wasn’t just rhetoric. A poll released from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. showed Becerra leading the race with 25% support from likely voters. followed by Hilton at 21% and Steyer at 19%. with the outcome still tight enough to make every appearance matter.

The stakes are even clearer than in many races because only the top two finishers in first and second place in the primary will advance to the November general election, leaving the third-place finisher on the sideline.

Turnout is now part of how the campaign story gets told. As of Thursday evening. only 12% of the state’s registered voters had cast ballots. according to the election tracking firm Political Data Inc. That reality showed up in the lines of voters who said they were paying attention and deciding late.

Community college counselor Diego Rodriguez. 32. described researching Becerra’s record and momentum before deciding to vote for him in recent weeks. He said he was drawn by Becerra’s background as a first-generation figure who benefited from higher education. and by Becerra’s advocacy for higher education.

“Also just his story. As someone who works in higher education. and seeing how Xavier. being first-generation. has benefited from higher education. and how he advocates for higher education. ” Rodriguez said. “Additionally. today. him being here at a labor union and advocating for the working class and labor. I think. is very important.”.

Rodriguez also said he began looking into Becerra after he was among the candidates excluded from a USC debate that was ultimately canceled.

“I think that people became aware of him more because of that,” Rodriguez said. “There was a lot of conversation online regarding that, but I think it allowed the spotlight to be brought onto him and it made people aware of his record.”

Steyer’s campaign has aimed to break through skepticism from left-wing and working-class voters who question whether he brings enough government experience despite the wealth. Steyer has pledged to lower energy bills by breaking up large electric utility monopolies. and his efforts have been met with heavy resistance.

Groups including PG&E, the California Assn. of Realtors and the California Chamber of Commerce have spent more than $34 million opposing Steyer’s candidacy. Steyer has also poured $216 million of his own money into his gubernatorial campaign.

Even with that scrutiny, Steyer has drawn endorsements from progressives, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-San Jose), and unions including the California Nurses Assn. and both major teachers unions.

In West Sacramento, union support came with its own mix of admiration and questions. Alvenia Scott, a union board member who works as an in-home caregiver to her disabled sister, said she voted for Tom Steyer after looking for change.

“He really has some good ideas,” Scott said, adding that she had more qualms about Steyer’s lack of government experience than his wealth. “He made his way in life, more power to him.”

Across the state, Hilton’s closing argument leaned on that same sense of choice and warning. In Clovis, he marveled that his campaign had spent only about $2 million in campaign advertising but still polled above Steyer, according to the latest Berkeley IGS survey.

“We’re feeling confident,” Hilton said while standing in a suburban stretch of the city. Still, he warned voters to get out and support him, insisting that without action it could lead to “a complete disaster for California” with two Democrats advancing to the November election.

By the end of Friday. the shared theme among the three campaigns wasn’t just who they want to win—it was who they want to keep from winning. The primary’s top-two rule. the tight polling numbers. and the low ballot-return pace are all pressuring these candidates to treat every stop like it could move someone from undecided to counted.

That’s why Steyer kept firing at Becerra over corporate money. Why Becerra made turnout the centerpiece of his union appeal. And why Hilton turned to transgender athletes. school facilities and legal fights over a state law—casting those issues as the kind of question that doesn’t wait until election day.

California governor race June 2 primary Steve Hilton Xavier Becerra Tom Steyer SEIU Local 2015 union turnout transgender athletes CIF State Track & Field Championships Political Data Inc UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies