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California Governor Race

2026 Election • Open Seat (Term Limited)
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Primary

Primary held June 2, 2026.

Democratic Primary

CandidateVotes%
Xavier Becerra 2,591,857 28.0%
Tom Steyer 2,110,707 22.8%
Katie Porter 403,908 4.4%
Matt Mahan 327,537 3.5%
Antonio Villaraigosa 104,107 1.1%
Tony Thurmond 63,762 0.7%
Betty Yee 40,873 0.4%
Eric Swalwell 28,164 0.3%
Barack D. Obama Shaw 16,716 0.2%
Carolina Buhler 15,013 0.2%
Matthew Chase Levy 11,059 0.1%
Erin "Zez" Zezulak 9,251 0.1%
Louis A. De Barraicua 8,851 0.1%
Mohammad Arif 8,458 0.1%
Satish Rao 5,668 0.1%
Scott P. Shields 5,043 0.1%
Derek Grasty 4,994 0.1%
Larry Azevedo 4,675 0.1%
Raji Rab 3,606 0.0%
Sophia Edum-a-Sam 3,550 0.0%
Akinyemi Agbede 3,037 0.0%
Gary Howard Kidgell 2,415 0.0%
Joel E. Jacob 2,350 0.0%
Thunder Parley 2,320 0.0%
Jibri J. Peavy 10 0.0%
Kalid Meky 5 0.0%

Green Primary

CandidateVotes%
Butch Ware 22,493 0.2%

Libertarian Primary

CandidateVotes%
Tom Woodard 9,328 0.1%

No party preference Primary

CandidateVotes%
Nancy D. Young 7,012 0.1%
Joseph Cabrera 6,196 0.1%
Christine R. Sarmiento 5,643 0.1%
Jon Henderson 5,589 0.1%
Amanda Martin 5,234 0.1%
Frederic C. Schultz 5,230 0.1%
Elaine Culotti 4,483 0.1%
Mauro Alberto Orozco 4,052 0.0%
Brent Maupin 3,132 0.0%
Lewis Herms 2,995 0.0%
Naomi Bar-Lev 2,744 0.0%
Daniel Mercuri 2,667 0.0%
Margaret Trowe 2,286 0.0%
LivingForGod AndCountry DeMott 2,206 0.0%
Reza Safarnejad 1,990 0.0%
Duane Terrence Loynes Jr. 1,905 0.0%
Don J. Grundmann 1,903 0.0%
Anne Komarovsk 1,535 0.0%
Dawit Kellel 1,360 0.0%
Sam Sandak 1,222 0.0%
Max Fomin 842 0.0%
Lukasz Adam Filinski 527 0.0%
Serge Fiankan 488 0.0%
Sean Forbes 22 0.0%
Dirk Langer 8 0.0%
Michael J. Dilger 1 0.0%

Peace and Freedom Primary

CandidateVotes%
Ramsey Robinson 51,803 0.6%

Republican Primary

CandidateVotes%
Steve Hilton 2,277,318 24.6%
Chad Bianco 941,708 10.2%
Tim Nelson 23,712 0.3%
Randeep S. Dhillon 21,937 0.2%
Leo Samuel Zacky 14,708 0.2%
Gretha Solórzano 12,563 0.1%
Leo Naranjo IV 8,099 0.1%
James Athans Jr. 6,633 0.1%
David Zickefoose 5,882 0.1%
Alicia Olivia Lapp 5,370 0.1%
Rafael M. Hernandez 5,223 0.1%
Patricia De Luca Basualdo 4,064 0.0%
Ché Ahn 2,419 0.0%

Full calendar and every race: California primary guide

Race Overview

Incumbent
OPEN (Gavin Newsom)
Party
Democrat
Open Seat
Yes
Current Rating
Safe D our polls
Term Limited
Yes
Polls
4 polls

PollingSource Rating

Safe D
Our polling average D+23.0 · 4 polls

General Election Polling Trend

PollingSource average — trailing average of all polls from the last 90 days.

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Expert Ratings

Consensus Rating

Safe D

Individual forecaster ratings will be updated as they become available.

Candidates

Xavier Becerra Nominee

Democrat

Steve Hilton Nominee

Republican

General Election Polling Average

Democrat
55.8%
Republican
32.8%
Margin
D+23.0
Last Poll
Jul 6, 2026

Average reflects all polls from the last 90 days; table shows the most recent 30 days or the newest 3 polls, whichever is more — subscribe for the full history. How accurate is each pollster? →

PollsterDateSampleMoEDemRep
PPIC 2026-07-06 1003 LV ±3.80 Xavier Becerra 61.00% Steve Hilton 36.00%
Kreate Strategies partisan·R 2026-06-17 900 LV ±3.30 Xavier Becerra 58.00% Steve Hilton 33.00%
CEPP 2026-05-26 735 LV ±3.60 Xavier Becerra 37.00% Rep %

Questions About This Race

Who is winning the 2026 California governor's race?

Xavier Becerra leads Steve Hilton 55.8% to 32.8% in the PollingSource polling average — a D+23.0 margin based on 4 polls from the last 90 days.

Is the 2026 California governor's race competitive?

No — the PollingSource polling average rates it Safe D for Democrats.

What does the latest poll of the 2026 California governor's race say?

The most recent public poll, from PPIC (completed July 6, 2026), found Xavier Becerra (D) at 61% and Steve Hilton (R) at 36%.

When is the 2026 California governor's race decided?

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

How is the PollingSource average calculated?

The PollingSource average is the unweighted mean of every scientific public poll of the race from the last 90 days — we do not exclude pollsters. Each race page lists the individual polls behind the average with pollster, field dates, sample size, and margin of error. Full details: pollingsource.com/methodology.

Race Notes

Term-limited, open seat

Race News