Often it sounded as though the real opponents in this California election were Newsom and Trump – Becerra talked about Hilton’s links to the president, and Hilton talked about Becerra’s links to the governor.

Democrat Xavier Becerra says he wants everyone insured, but hasn’t said how he’d pay for it. Republican Steve Hilton wants to overhaul the system, but hasn't said how much it will cost. The two gubernatorial candidates debate Wednesday on CNN.

Tom Steyer wrote a concession letter to his supporters, which he posted on X, saying it was clear he lacked the votes needed to make the runoff in November.

The ballot count is barely two-thirds complete, but that didn’t stop President Trump from jumping in to stir controversy and challenge the outcome, prompting multiple U.S. Department of Justice investigations in Los Angeles.

The June 4 totals, with an estimated 60% of the ballot counted, offered no mathematical or statistical reason to believe that third-place candidate Tom Steyer will be on the November runoff ballot.

As the counting progressed, the Becerra-Hilton battle settled into a steady pattern, as the pair widened their gap over Tom Steyer to nearly 300,000 votes.

Wednesday morning it seemed very likely that Hilton would be Becerra’s November rival, and just as likely that the former congressman, attorney general and Biden administration cabinet member would succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The independent Emerson College poll of likely voters showed that Becerra, who was among the also-rans at 4% in early April, is now clearly leading the race for governor at 28%.

Billionaires, Big Oil and other interests spent big to influence the California governor’s race. Here are five key takeaways: Outside money shatters records. Mahan fizzles out. Steyer personal spending breaks records. Swalwell donors flock to Becerra. Republican Steve Hilton has the most donors.

Democrat Tom Steyer faded and candidates Chad Bianco, Katie Porter and Matt Mahan were left in the dust in what the California Democratic Party called its final tracking poll from the California VOTER Index.

Polls released earlier this week showed some separation of three candidates – Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton – from the others, and the trio were on the receiving end of most of the barbs at the May 14 debate. 

The debate comes at a pivotal moment in the top-two primary campaign – as mail ballots are returned and new polls show the number of undecided voters are dwindling with less than three weeks until the official June 2 Election Day.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who was still polling at single digits last week, was spared most of the vitriol, but didn’t hesitate to criticize each of the other candidates at every opportunity.
His favorite debate target was Democratic frontrunner Xavier Becerra.

Primary ballots are in the mail to nearly 23 million registered California voters and the most recent statewide poll shows that 27 percent of the electorate are still undecided.

The statewide debate was more rough-and-tumble than last Wednesday’s event in San Francisco, but again, no governor candidate broke away from the scrum, and the playing field just got muddier.

The first major poll since last Wednesday’s Inside California Politics governor’s debate released today showed the April 22 debate had little impact on the public’s assessment of the top candidates.