California’s quest to find Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s successor has truly been a race of fits and starts: Some of the state’s biggest political names opted against running, a front-runner dropped out amid allegations of sexual assault, and the batch of remaining candidates struggled to find traction with voters.
But the voters have spoken following almost a week of vote counting after last Tuesday’s nonpartisan primary: Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton will advance to November’s general election, according to Associated Press projections.
Becerra finished with almost 28% of the total vote, and the Associated Press called his advancement to the November general election on Friday night. The race then turned to who would finish in the number two slot, with Hilton slowly edging out billionaire Tom Steyer with roughly 25% of the vote.