By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-10-05 18:37:05 | Updated at 2026-10-05 19:14:59
3 hours ago
Democrat Xavier Becerra’s lead over Republican challenger Steve Hilton in California’s governor’s race is shrinking, an internal survey taken after their first debate revealed.
The internal survey, commissioned by Hilton’s campaign, showed Becerra leading with 45.7 percent support to Hilton’s 40.1 percent — a difference of 5.6 percentage points. Further, 14.1 percent of respondents remain undecided, which is more than enough to swing the race in either direction based on these polling numbers.
These results are drastically different than the findings in a Hilton campaign-commissioned poll released last month, which had Becerra leading with over 50 percent support — 52 percent to Hilton’s 37 percent support. That reflects a 6.3 percent drop for the Democrat and 3.1 percent gain for the Republican gubernatorial hopeful.
However, the survey also found that when undecided voters are forced to choose a candidate, nearly three-quarters of them — 72.5 percent — go with Becerra — while 27.5 percent choose Hilton.
This survey, conducted by pollster David Wolfson, was taken October 1-2, 2026, among 1,020 California voters.
Hilton has continued to hit Becerra over policies which he said “have destroyed the California Dream.” However, Becerra has continued to blame President Donald Trump for the affordability crisis in his state, telling CNN, “the cost of living was already big. Donald Trump just made it worse.”
During their debate, the two got into a heated exchange over immigration policy, as Becerra accused Hilton of only wanting to accept immigrants that look like him, referencing Hilton’s European background versus Becerra’s Mexican heritage.
“You seem to welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me,” the Democrat said.
“Unlike Xavier Becerra, I am an immigrant,” Hilton said over the weekend. “Unlike Xavier Becerra, my father was an immigrant. My stepfather too. My whole family. Unlike Becerra (because I’ve been out there listening to the people), I know Becerra’s policies have destroyed the California Dream. My plans will restore it.”
Hilton added that Becerra is “offers NOTHING” because “he is a smug, arrogant, machine politician mediocrity who is taking you for granted.”
The current RealClearPolling average does not seem to conclude the last internal poll, listing the L.A. Times/Berkeley IGS, KGTV-TV/SurveyUSA, Politico/Citrin, and PPIC as the latest, giving Becerra an average lead of 21.8 percentage points.
