Since Becerra's spot was called by the Associated Press on June 5, the California governor's race has moved into a grinding ballot-count waiting game — and the second runoff slot remains uncertain.

Where Things Stand

Xavier Becerra is in. The former Biden HHS Secretary and California attorney general advances to November as the top vote-getter in the jungle primary. According to NPR, he was polling in single digits as recently as April, yet he's now the front-runner for governor of the nation's most populous state.

The unresolved question is who faces him in November.

Republican Steve Hilton still holds the second spot, according to Fox News reporting on the latest ballot batch drops. But billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer has been closing the gap steadily. An estimated 3.5 million ballots remain uncounted as of June 5. California counts mail-in ballots that arrive up to seven days after Election Day, as long as they're postmarked by Election Day. That means this drags out potentially for weeks.

Who Are These Candidates

Becerra, 68, is a California native who served as state attorney general before Biden tapped him to run HHS. He's leaning hard into his resume — decades in Congress, statewide office, federal cabinet. His election night quote, per NPR: "We will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we are never backing down."

Hilton, the British-born former Fox News commentator who advised British PM David Cameron, was endorsed by President Trump in April, according to NPR. He ran on a change platform — 16 years of California under Democrats, skyrocketing cost of living, a ballooning deficit, and persistent homelessness. Trump's endorsement helped him consolidate the Republican lane after Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco faded.

Steyer is the wildcard. The billionaire climate activist has spent heavily and is gaining ground as late ballots are counted. Democratic voters casting late mail-in ballots may be breaking more heavily toward Steyer — that's the pattern being watched.

What Mainstream Coverage Is Getting Wrong

Left-leaning outlets like BBC and NPR are leading with the Becerra-advances angle, framing it as a feel-good comeback story. The narrative being pushed: Becerra surged from nothing to beat a crowded field, and now he's poised for history as potentially California's first Latino governor since 1875.

But the bigger story: California has a $68 billion structural deficit (per the Legislative Analyst's Office), the highest cost of living in the continental U.S., and a homelessness crisis visible from every freeway overpass in Los Angeles. Whoever wins in November inherits a genuine fiscal disaster. Neither outlet is spending much ink on that.

Fox News, meanwhile, is focused heavily on California's vote-counting process — framing the slow count as "third-world" (per Jesse Watters) and raising fraud concerns. California's rules DO allow ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive up to seven days later. That's a real policy choice with real tradeoffs. Raising fraud concerns without evidence, however, is a different matter.

The Matchup That Matters

If Hilton holds on and faces Becerra in November, you've got a clean ideological fight: Trump-backed Republican reformer vs. Biden-era Democrat establishment. Hilton's best argument is 16 years of Democratic governance producing a broken state. Becerra's best argument is competence and continuity in a state that doesn't elect Republicans statewide.

If Steyer closes the gap and takes second, California gets a Democrat-vs.-Democrat general election — not unusual for this state. Steyer has hundreds of millions of his own money and has spent heavily on climate policy for years. That race would be a Democratic primary fight in November — essentially a debate over which direction the party takes.

Either scenario, Becerra enters as the favorite. California hasn't elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.

What Regular People Should Care About

The winner takes over a state with 39 million residents, a budget deficit in the tens of billions, a housing market that has priced out the middle class, and a wildfire season that gets worse every year. Gavin Newsom is term-limited and widely expected to run for president in 2028.

California's tax base, its economic output, and its political decisions ripple nationally. A governor who can actually fix the deficit and bring down the cost of living matters to every American who doesn't want California's dysfunction exported to the rest of the country.

The ballots are still being counted. Check back in a few weeks.