(AFP) – Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for California governor backed by US President Donald Trump, will face off with Democrat Xavier Becerra in a November runoff vote, US media said Tuesday. Both CNN and NBC News projected Hilton, a former British political strategist and Fox News commentator, had enough votes to maintain his lead from third-place candidate Tom Steyer, a billionaire hedge manager.
Among dozens of primary candidates, Becerra led Tuesday with 27.9 percent of the vote, followed by Hilton with 25.0 percent and Steyer with 22.5 percent, although the vote count remains ongoing, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office. The state’s so-called “jungle primary” pits all comers in one mega-poll. The top two vote-getters—regardless of party—advance to the November general election to replace term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom.
A stronghold of the left-wing Democratic Party, California has not had a Republican in the governor’s mansion since former actor Arnold Schwarzenegger left 15 years ago. Trump has accused Democrats of rigging the California vote, but Hilton said his team has not detected any electoral fraud.
“We’re very, very focused on making sure that everything’s okay,” Hilton told reporters on Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We’ve got teams standing by, we’ve got lawyers standing by, very focused on that. We don’t want to let anyone down, we don’t want to let anything slip away, and we’ve seen nothing.”
Becerra served as California’s attorney general before being selected as Health and Human Services secretary by former US president Joe Biden. If he wins the November midterm election, Becerra will be the first Latino ever elected to California’s governor’s office.
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