By Daniel Trotta
June 3 (Reuters) - Republican television commentator Steve Hilton and Democratic former cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra maintained their leads in the open primary race for California governor on Wednesday, making them favorites to advance to the November 3 general election.
With all of California's precincts partially reporting from Tuesday's Election Day, Hilton led the pack with 27.8% of the vote and Becerra had 25.4%, according to official results. Each had more than 1.2 million votes.
But most ballots in California are cast by mail, and those postmarked on or before election day have one week to arrive, leaving a mathematically plausible path for Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer, who held the third spot with 19.6% of the vote.
If the results hold, it would set up a classic race of Democrat versus Republican, after each party had hopes of taking the two spots in the "jungle primary," in which candidates of all parties appear on the same ballot. The two leading candidates advance, regardless of party.
California’s next governor will succeed term-limited Democrat Gavin Newsom and take charge of a $4 trillion economy - among the world’s largest - while confronting deep challenges on water, affordability and homelessness.
Becerra is a former state attorney general and U.S. congressman from Los Angeles who was secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden. If he were to prevail in November, he would become the first Latino elected governor in a state where 40% of the population is Hispanic or Latino.
He surged after the previous Democratic front-runner, Eric Swalwell, dropped out and resigned from Congress following accusations of sexual assault and misconduct. Swalwell denied the allegations but swiftly exited the scene.
Hilton is a British-born former Fox News host who was endorsed by President Donald Trump. Once an adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron, he became a U.S. citizen in 2021, and he told supporters he hoped to follow another Republican immigrant with a "funny accent" and become governor.
Republicans have not held a statewide office in California since former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's term ended in January 2011.
Hilton put emphasis on the issue of affordability during the campaign, proposing to exempt Californians from state income tax for their first $100,000 earned. On Wednesday he announced he would try to raise that threshold.
"We'll be working with economists to make sure that we've got a plan that is solid and deliverable to lift even more people out of state income tax than the 100,000 level that I've already announced in this campaign," Hilton told reporters.
He also received a congratulatory message from Trump, who said on social media that Hilton "will turn California around, quickly - and the Federal Government will be there, with him, to help!"
BASS PROJECTED TO ADVANCE
In another closely watched race, U.S. media projected that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, would advance to the general election, but had yet to project who she would face on the November ballot.
Television personality Spencer Pratt, a registered Republican who like Hilton was running for public office for the first time, was in second place with 30.4%.
Democratic City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who shocked Bass' supporters by jumping into the race, was in third place with 22.3%.
The primary marked the first major test of a new congressional map that could turn the midterm contest into a high-stakes battle with control of Congress at stake.
After Trump urged Texas last year to draw new district maps to pick up five more Republican seats, Newsom responded by leading a voter initiative aimed at swinging five California seats into the Democratic column. Democrats already held a 43-9 advantage within the state's congressional delegation.
The most competitive races yielded one Democratic and one Republican finalist.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Stephen Coates)
