# Governor

URL: https://www.californiapeople.org/candidates/governor

- office: Governor
- what_the_job_is: Runs the executive branch, proposes the ~$250B General Fund budget, signs or vetoes bills, appoints judges and agency heads, commands emergency response.
- candidates: [Xavier Becerra (D), Steve Hilton (R)]

# Governor: what to look for
The job is executive: managing a huge bureaucracy and budget, and getting bills through a Legislature. The best evidence is prior experience running large organizations and delivering results through government.

## Xavier Becerra (D) — ballot designation "Voting Rights Attorney"

### Key findings
- **Ran HHS**, the federal department over Medicare, Medicaid, FDA, CDC and NIH, from 2021 to 2025. Rolled out Medicare's first drug-price negotiations: **38–79% discounts on 10 drugs**. [^1]
- As AG, California **sued the first Trump administration 123 times**. Wins included DACA and the ACA at the Supreme Court; losses included the travel ban. [^2]
- **Management red flag:** HHS's own inspector general found sponsor safety checks **undocumented in 16%** of migrant-child cases reviewed (Feb 2024). [^3]
- **Transparency red flag:** as AG, fought release of police misconduct records under a 2018 law; a press group then successfully sued him. [^2]
- His longtime chief of staff **pleaded guilty** (Oct 2025) in a scheme that siphoned **$225K** from Becerra's dormant campaign account. Becerra was not implicated. [^4]

### Résumé
- State Assembly 1990–1992; U.S. House 1993–2017, rising to Chair of the House Democratic Caucus (2013–2017). [^5][^6]
- California Attorney General, Jan 2017 – Mar 2021 (appointed by Gov. Brown; elected 2018 with 63.6%). [^5][^6]
- U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mar 2021 – Jan 2025: ran the federal department that oversees Medicare, Medicaid, the ACA marketplaces, FDA, CDC and NIH. [^5][^6]

### Track record that supports his pitch (sourced)
- **Fighting the federal government:** California sued the first Trump administration 123 times (2017–2021, nearly all of it during Becerra's tenure as AG), at about $10M/year. Wins included preserving DACA (Supreme Court, June 2020) and the ACA (California v. Texas, June 2021, where California led 17 states), plus sanctuary-funding and multiple environmental cases. Losses included the travel ban (2018) and the Title X rule. [^7]
- **Health care costs:** Sued Sutter Health; the settlement required $575M in payments and ended anticompetitive contracting, described as the largest healthcare antitrust case to date. Won a $69M pay-for-delay generic-drug settlement from Teva and, with Assemblymember Jim Wood, produced AB 824 (2019), the first state pay-for-delay law. [^8]
- **HHS:** Implemented Medicare's first drug-price negotiations: 10 drugs with 38–79% discounts effective 2026, 15 more announced for 2027; expanded 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage to more than half the states. [^1][^9]

### Track record that cuts against him (sourced)
- **Migrant children:** As HHS secretary, his agency pushed fast releases of unaccompanied minors in 2021 and missed signs of child labor (NYT investigation, Pulitzer 2023). A Feb 2024 HHS Inspector General report found sponsor safety checks undocumented in 16% of reviewed cases and missed check-in calls in more than one in five. The "hundreds of thousands missing" figure Hilton uses is overstated; it mostly reflects children lost track of on paper. [^3]
- **Police transparency:** As AG he fought release of police misconduct records under the 2018 transparency law, kept withholding them after an appeals court ruled against him, and threatened the reporters with criminal prosecution over records his own office had provided, claiming they were released by mistake. The First Amendment Coalition then successfully sued him. [^2]
- **Oil/environment:** Accepted the maximum allowable donation from Chevron; environmental advocates point to his apparent reluctance to pursue some litigation against oil companies as AG. [^2]
- **Campaign account scandal:** His longtime chief of staff Sean McCluskie pleaded guilty (Oct 30, 2025) to conspiracy after $225,000 was siphoned from Becerra's dormant campaign account via sham consulting bills by Newsom's ex-chief of staff Dana Williamson. Becerra was not implicated and cooperated with the Justice Department. The episode raises questions about oversight of his own operation. [^4]
- **COVID-era unemployment fraud (~$11B+)** happened during his AG tenure; district attorneys faulted the state's response. [^6]
- **Housing:** Advocates say he focused on pushing cities and counties to move forward with affordable housing, and he has appeared unsteady when pressed on housing policy. [^2]

### Positions
- Cost of living: emergency declaration to freeze insurance and utility rates; anti-price-gouging. Housing: fund 40,000 approved affordable units, push cities to zone for apartments, expand down-payment help, limit corporate home buying. Homelessness: ongoing rental assistance funding, public dashboard; no voluntary staying on the street when shelter is offered, but no arrests. Taxes: supports extending high-earner rates (Prop 3); opposes Prop 40. Energy: supports clean-energy goals but open to revising the 2035 gas-car ban if unaffordable. [^10]
- Endorsements: California Faculty Association, Equality California, Planned Parenthood. Opposes Prop 39. [^10][^11]

### Job-applicant read
Deep government résumé, including running a federal cabinet department (HHS). Strongest proof points are legal wins and health-cost enforcement. Biggest management red flags: the unaccompanied-children oversight failures and the police-records fight, both of which are about how he runs an agency and handles transparency.

## Steve Hilton (R) — ballot designation "Small Business Owner"

### Key findings
- **No elected office or agency-head experience.** His listed past roles are adviser to UK Prime Minister Cameron (strategy director 2010–12), crowdfunding co-founder, author and Fox News host. [^12][^13]
- His signature government project, the "Big Society," is widely judged to have under-delivered. **Hilton himself said the government lacked the "political will"** to carry it out. [^12]
- Fox News host 2017–2023. Pushed claims about Fauci that PolitiFact found rested on "unsubstantiated allegations." [^14]
- Debate claim that more in-state oil could bring gas to ~$3: **not supported by energy experts.** [^3]

### Résumé
- UK: Conservative Party strategist; co-founded consulting firm Good Business (clients incl. Nike, McDonald's, Coca-Cola); Director of Strategy to PM David Cameron, May 2010 – May 2012. [^13][^12]
- Moved to California 2012; Stanford visiting scholar; co-founder/CEO of political tech startup Crowdpac until May 2018. [^13]
- Fox News host of "The Next Revolution," 2017–2023. [^13]
- 2023: launched policy group Golden Together with Lanhee Chen and Gloria Romero (now the GOP Lt. Gov. nominee). [^13][^15]
- U.S. citizen since May 2021. Has never held elected office or run a government agency. [^13]

### Track record that supports his pitch (sourced)
- Principal architect of Cameron's "Big Society" decentralization agenda (moving school, police and social-service decisions toward local groups and private providers) and the party's modernization strategy. [^12]
- Built and ran a startup (Crowdpac) and a policy group; has written detailed policy proposals (housing, taxes, energy). [^13][^12]

### Track record that cuts against him (sourced)
- Big Society: critics called it a backdoor spending cut; former colleagues said it was hard to implement; Hilton himself said the government lacked the "political will" to deliver it. Cameron's memoir called him a "disruptive force." [^12]
- Position shifts: his 2015 book "More Human" backed a higher living wage, generous family leave and stricter factory-farm rules, positions at odds with his current deregulation agenda. [^12]
- On Fox, called for a 2020 election audit and pushed claims about Anthony Fauci that PolitiFact said rested on "unsubstantiated allegations." [^13]
- Debate claims: his attack on Becerra over migrant children is partly accurate but the "missing" number is overstated; his claim that more in-state oil could get gas to ~$3 is not supported by energy experts. [^3]
- Golden Together's 2023 housing initiative was called a "developer giveaway" by the SF Chronicle's Joe Garofoli. [^13]

### Positions
- Cost of living: suspend environmental rules to lower gas prices, halve the gas tax, eliminate the $800 minimum franchise fee, curb labor/environmental lawsuits. Taxes: no state income tax on the first $150k, flat rate above. Housing: cut fees/rules for small single-family "starter homes," state loans for first-time buyers, limit CEQA lawsuits. Homelessness: enforce camping bans, clear encampments, fund sober housing. Energy: roll back clean-energy mandates, more natural gas. Immigration: repeal sanctuary law. Crime: reopen closed prisons, fewer early releases. Opposes Prop 40. [^12]
- Endorsements: President Trump (Apr 6, 2026), Nisei Farmers League, Israeli-American Civic Action Network. [^12][^13]

### Job-applicant read
Strong ideas and communications résumé, startup experience, and two years inside a national government as a senior adviser. No experience running a government agency or budget, and his signature government initiative is widely judged to have under-delivered.

## Context
- Poll: UC Berkeley IGS / LA Times (Aug 2026): Becerra 55%, Hilton 37%, undecided 7%. [^16]
- Both oppose Prop 40.

## Sources
[^1]: CMS/HHS, negotiated prices and 15 more drugs (Jan 17, 2025). https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/hhs-announces-15-additional-drugs-selected-medicare-drug-price-negotiations-continued-effort-lower
[^2]: KQED on Becerra as AG (May 21, 2026). https://www.kqed.org/news/12084594/what-ag-xavier-becerra-reveals-about-a-possible-gov-becerra
[^3]: CapRadio debate fact-check (Oct 1, 2026). https://www.capradio.org/articles/2026/10/01/fact-checking-becerra-and-hilton-in-the-california-governors-debate-on-cnn/
[^4]: AP on Williamson indictment (Nov 12, 2025). https://www.kait8.com/2025/11/12/california-gov-gavin-newsoms-former-chief-staff-indicted-federal-charges
[^5]: Congress bioguide, Xavier Becerra. https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=B000287
[^6]: Wikipedia, Xavier Becerra (secondary). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Becerra
[^7]: KQED Voter's Edge, California's 123 Trump lawsuits (Jan 2025). https://votersedge.kqed.org/news/12023094/california-has-sued-trump-123-times-heres-where-it-won-and-lost
[^8]: UC Berkeley SPH on Becerra's health record (Jan 2021). https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/news-media/what-does-california-attorney-general-xavier-becerras-record-tell-us-about-what-he-might-do-as-secretary-of-hhs
[^9]: CMS/HHS, postpartum coverage in more than half of states (Oct 27, 2022). https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-more-half-all-states-have-expanded-access-12-months-medicaid
[^10]: CalMatters governor guide. https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/governor/
[^11]: KQED Voter Guide, Prop 39 supporters and opponents. https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/proposition-39
[^12]: CalMatters Hilton profile (July 2026). https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/07/california-governor-hilton-profile/
[^13]: Wikipedia, Steve Hilton (secondary). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Hilton
[^14]: PolitiFact fact-check on Fauci claims (Feb 8, 2021). https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/08/worldnetdaily/no-dr-anthony-fauci-did-not-fund-research-tied-cov/
[^15]: SoS certified candidate list (Nov 3, 2026). https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2026-general/cert-list-candidates.pdf
[^16]: ABC7 poll (Aug 14, 2026). https://abc7.com/post/xavier-becerra-maintains-commanding-lead-over-steve-hilton-california-governor-race-poll-shows/19674942/
[^17]: Senate Budget Committee, 2026-27 enacted budget summary ($251B General Fund). https://src.senate.ca.gov/content/2026-27-enacted-budget-initial-summary