The final outcome of Tuesday’s primary for California governor remains undecided, yet the battle for the general election appears to have already commenced.
On Saturday morning, Republican hopeful Steve Hilton launched a scathing advertisement targeting Xavier Becerra, a former secretary in the Biden administration and currently the sole candidate expected to proceed to the general election from the primary.
Hilton’s reaction to the developments was straightforward: “Is this a joke?”
The 55-second advertisement depicts a retro television set in a dimly lit room, playing silent clips of Becerra, a Democrat, with captions providing commentary.
One caption reads, “I’ve been a career politician for 36 years. Vote for me.”
Another caption highlights, “I gave Gavin Newsom an ‘A’ on homelessness,” referencing a notable moment from a past gubernatorial debate where the candidates were asked to grade the current governor. Becerra awarded the highest grade, whereas Hilton critiqued Gov. Newsom with a failing mark.
The following captions replayed some of the most common attacks on the Democrat that played out during the primary.
“I promise to spend more of your money on high-speed rail,” and “I was too incompetent for the Biden administration,” the captions read, referring to past criticism of his tenure when he was in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services. Fellow Democrats had pointed out reports of Biden administration alums who were not fans of Becerra’s work.
The final clip showed Becerra side by side with Newsom, probably back when Becerra was the state attorney general.
“I’ll change nothing about how California is governed,” the caption read, with the ad ending on “Don’t watch another rerun.”
Throughout the ad, sitcom laughter can be heard every time the words “vote for me” appeared.
Hilton as of Saturday morning is only some 30,000 votes behind Becerra in second place in the primary with 68% of the ballots reported. While progressive billionaire Tom Steyer has some chance of leapfrogging Hilton to take the final top-two spot to advance to November, many analysts are saying that’s unlikely.
“He’s not hitting the marks yet, and we’re running out of runway,” political data expert Paul Mitchell told CNN on Steyer’s ability to get enough of the yet-to-be-counted votes.
Hilton has expressed confidence he will be in the general election. If he does make it, Hilton will need to win over some Democrat voters to beat Becerra by running as the “change” agent, pollster John McLaughlin told The California Post.
“The vast majority of voters said California and LA are on the wrong track, and they want change,” McLaughlin said. “For the non-Democrats to win, it’s a challenge, but the opportunity is there, because a lot of people say the state and the city are on the wrong track.”
The latest ad and other messaging by Hilton in recent days shows the candidate has taken that strategy to heart.
Becerra has swatted such attacks, such as on his tenure in the Biden administration, by showcasing the number of free vaccines rolled out to Americans and emphasizing the vast experience he’s had in leading government agencies.
Becerra has dismissed Hilton as a so-called “MAGA candidate” in a state where President Donald Trump is broadly unpopular. In a past debate, he called Trump “Steve Hilton’s daddy.”
“We need someone to fight Donald Trump, not agree with him,” the Democrat said.
