Becerra pulls ahead in California gubernatorial primary polls

Democrat Xavier Becerra has taken front-runner status in the California gubernatorial primary election on Tuesday, but the race is neck-and-neck for who his opponent might be in the general election.

Two polls released days before the June 2 vote show former President Joe Biden's Health and Human Services secretary in the top spot in the state's jungle primary, where the top two vote recipients - regardless of party - move on to the general elections in November.

Becerra has a 6-point lead over the next candidate in an Emerson College poll released on Saturday. The poll of 1,000 likely primary voters, conducted from May 27 to May 28, shows Becerra with 28% support, followed by billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer at 22% and Donald Trump-backed Republican Steven Hilton with 21%. The poll's margin of error was 3 percentage points.

Another poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California showed a much tighter race with Becerra at 23%, Hilton at 20% and Steyer trailing at 15%. That survey of 986 likely primary voters had a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points and was conducted from May 14 to May 18.

The race for governor of California was upended in April, when early front-runner Democrat Eric Swalwell suspended his campaign and resigned from Congress after being accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Swalwell's sudden exit initially raised concerns for the Democratic Party that more of their supporters' votes will be split across a field of lesser-known candidates seeking to succeed the term-limited Gavin Newsom, opening the door for a Republican victory.

In the months since Swalwell's exit, however, Becerra - who also is a former state attorney general - and Steyer gained traction with voters over candidates such as former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat who is polling in the single digits.

The vote tabulation generally takes days to complete in California elections, because a mail-in ballot is valid as long as it was postmarked on Election Day and received no later than seven days after the election. This could be compounded by some Democrats who were suggesting voters wait until the last minute and cast a ballot for who was ahead in the polls.

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This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 8:45 PM.