California governor's primary pitted experience against promises of change

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Two Democrats and a Republican were leading in early returns Tuesday in California's crowded primary for governor, a campaign that tested voters' appetites for an experienced politician or candidates promising change.

Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former state attorney general and U.S. health secretary, pitched himself as a steady leader able to work the levers of government. Meanwhile fellow Democrat and billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer promised progressive change. And Republican Steve Hilton, a conservative commentator and former British political adviser, said he would give the famously liberal state a badly needed reset after years of one-party rule.

“Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue," Hilton said in Southern California on election night.

California puts all candidates on a single primary ballot regardless of party, and the top two finishers advance to the November general election. About 60 candidates were on the ballot, most of them largely unknown to the state’s roughly 23 million voters.

The end of the voting period, which began in early May, concludes a chaotic contest without a clear front-runner. Candidates tried to elbow each other out in the final stretch as each sought to convince voters that they were best prepared to lead the most populous state and one of the world's largest economies.

Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Democrats Katie Porter, a former member of Congress; and Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose were among other contenders in the race. Mahan conceded in a speech to supporters shortly after polls closed.

The through line of the race was how to tackle the state's notoriously high cost of living.

Drivers were paying $6.08 per gallon at the pump as of the end of May, $1.65 higher than the national average, according to AAA. Meanwhile the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that the typical home is about $775,000, more than double the national average. And Californians pay the second-highest residential electricity rates behind Hawaii, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Steyer campaigned as a progressive, promising to eliminate private health insurance in favor of a government-run system with no premiums and to raise taxes on corporations and the ultrawealthy like himself.

"We should have a system based on fairness, not asking for fairness, where the most privileged pay their fair share, not by charity but by law,” he said.

Meanwhile Hilton said he would make Californians' first $100,000 free of income tax, increase oil production and freeze in-state tuition at public colleges and to try to make the state more affordable.

Democratic leaders have not done enough to bring costs down, said Republican Rosamaria Cerezo, a 57-year-old substitute teacher who planned to vote for Hilton.

“Both my husband and I have two jobs each just to make ends meet,” she said.

Earlier in the race, Democrats worried about possibly being locked out of the general election even though they count 45% of the state's registered voters compared to Republicans' 25%.

The concern was that their relatively crowded field of candidates could split the Democratic vote enough for the two Republicans to advance under the single primary system, which was first used at the statewide level in 2014. But in the race's final days, it was Republicans who feared a potential lockout.

Brett Christensen, a 55-year-old school safety monitor from Orange who is not registered in a political party but tends to vote Republican, chose Hilton.

“He’s the only viable Republican candidate that can make it to the runoff,” Christensen said.

Becerra, who had struggled to gain traction early on in the race, started raising more money and picking up powerful endorsements in recent months. He says his years of political experience have prepared him to lead the state.

“I ran for the job because I know how important California is as a shining light to the world,” he said in a speech Tuesday night.

But that momentum also made him a target, and his rivals criticized his leadership as health secretary including his handling of an influx of unaccompanied migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021, when Becerra's Department of Health and Human Services was responsible for shelters where they were housed.

Democrat Tamara Alton, a 65-year-old marriage and family therapist, was voting for Becerra because of his experience.

“I'm going to go with him because I want somebody that knows what they're doing,” Alton said.

Steyer's campaign spent or booked more than $203 million in ads for broadcast TV, cable and radio, according to tracker AdImpact. On the campaign trail, he was attacked over past investments in fossil fuels and private prisons at a hedge-fund he founded in the 1980s and left more than a decade ago to focus on political giving and climate activism. And some accused him of trying to buy the election.

“Some folks are out to prove that they can actually buy elections," Becerra said in an interview with a popular YouTube channel that he promoted on social media Tuesday. “We're going to prove just the opposite — money does not buy you leadership in California.”

But some Democratic voters said they chose Steyer despite uneasiness with his wealth because of his focus on tackling climate change.

Jude Mayer, 24, said she was not thrilled about voting for a billionaire but Steyer “is talking about the environment in the way that I want to hear about it.”

All California voters receive a mail ballot, and election officials count those that are received up to a week after Election Day so long as they are postmarked by then. That often results in a drawn-out count, with no winners declared until days or even weeks later.

It is the first time in over two decades that there has not been a political superstar in the governor’s race. In 2003, A-list actor and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger rocketed into office in a recall election that ousted then-Gov. Gray Davis; in 2010, former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown cemented a political comeback by winning nearly three decades after his first two terms; and in 2018, Newsom had already established a national profile after stints as lieutenant governor and San Francisco mayor and won easily.

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Associated Press writer Amy Taxin in Orange, California, contributed.