Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra make last-minute pitches to California voters as gov contest enters home stretch

California gubernatorial candidates Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra crisscrossed the state Tuesday, making their last-minute pleas to voters in their bids to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Hilton, who trails in recent polls, joined supporters in Newport Beach Tuesday for a press conference calling out waste in California’s “Broadband-for-All” program, which was launched in 2021 with $3.25 billion in federal COVID relief, according to his campaign.

Hilton claims the costly program has connected just one community education center five years after it launched, dodging federal oversight — part of what he’s called a pattern of waste and fraud in the state.

The Republican former Fox News host highlighted his “Operation Zero Waste” proposal, which seeks to cancel California’s troubled high-speed rail project, reduce headcount in the executive branch by 10%, reform Medi-Cal and “defund the homeless industrial complex” by placing caps on per-unit costs for affordable housing.

Becerra, who’s been criticized for keeping a low profile on the campaign trail, had four events on his schedule Tuesday.

He made remarks at a morning reception with Asian American community leaders in San Francisco, which was closed to press.

The Dem then stopped by a “No on Prop. 39” event in the Bay Area city, urging voters to reject the voter ID proposal, which appears to be trailing in polls. Becerra previously launched a spending committee to block the Republican-backed measure.

In Oakland, he hosted a mid-day reception with black community leaders followed by a phone bank at SEIU Local 2015 in the afternoon.

The former Health and Human Services secretary held a 15.7-point lead over Hilton in the race, at 55% to 39.3% and 4.9% undecided, in a poll commissioned by the California Post.

Californians are notably sour on the state’s direction, with 56% of voters saying the Golden State is on the wrong track in the poll.

Affordability topped the list of voters’ concerns, with 79.6% of voters naming at least one economic issue as one of their top two priorities for the next governor.

Still, those frustrations may not be enough to motivate voters to choose a Republican.

“Voters are extremely partisan, and prefer one of their own to a Republican,” pollster John McLaughlin told the California Post. “They will vote for Becerra and hope for the best.”

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