LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton will face each other in November’s race for governor after both made campaign stops in the Southland.
Becerra visited Mercado La Paloma Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles, speaking with merchants, chatting with diners and posting for photos.
“We know we’re in [the runoff], so we’re going to get out there and continue to talk to people the way we did during the primary,” Becerra told reporters. “And we hope that folks stay engaged and that we have an even bigger turnout for the November general election.”
Becerra said he knew the possibility of low voter turnout was a concern going into last week’s primary election, but said, “I think at the end of the day, it’s going to be a decent result.”
“We still want to get more people coming out, but it’s good to see that the reason it is taking a while for the count to be completed is because a lot of folks ended up voting, and so we’re happy about that,” he said.
Hilton held a news conference Tuesday morning outside the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office in Norwalk, primarily to discuss his call for changes in the election and vote-counting process in California.
At the time, he held off on declaring victory in his effort to secure the second spot in the November runoff.
“In this campaign, as I pointed out last night, we always had a policy that we would wait for the official call of the race from the AP [Associated Press]. That is what we are waiting for. We do not know when that will happen … so we’re not popping the champagne yet.”
As it turned out, the AP called the race for Hilton late Tuesday afternoon when the Secretary of State’s Office issued its latest vote-counting update.
That count showed Becerra leading the field of gubernatorial candidates with 2,327,237 votes, or 27.9%. Hilton was in second place with 2,076,863 votes, or 24.9%
Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer was in third place with 1,883,592 votes, or 22.6%.
“What an incredible honor to be chosen by Californians to lead the movement for change in the greatest state in the greatest nation on Earth,” Hilton said in a statement late Tuesday after the updated returns were released. “There’s nowhere better than California. But a majority of Californians – 56% in a recent poll – believe our state is on the wrong track and needs change. That is the majority we will now have the honor of leading to victory in November, and I can’t wait to get started on the most high-energy campaign this state has ever seen.”
Steyer issued a statement Tuesday evening conceding defeat.
“I have always been an optimist, and today, I remain an optimist,” he said in part. “Nothing this campaign fought for is far off. These dreams we dreamt together are not too big. Californians deserve a life they can afford, and they deserve for it to be in California. My commitment to this fight didn’t start last November, and it doesn’t end today. Because the work of winning a better, fairer California is not the work of a campaign. It is the work of my life.”
During his news conference in Norwalk, Hilton again called for changes in how California conducts its elections, expressing dismay at the length of the ballot-counting process.
While insisting he has not seen any obvious evidence of massive voter fraud in the election, Hilton called for implementation of voter ID rules in California to ensure fair elections. He urged Becerra to join him in campaigning in support of voter ID, which would require voters to show legal identification to cast a ballot.
Proponents of such a system insist it will prevent fraud and ensure every ballot cast is legitimate. Opponents, however, say such a rule would disenfranchise many voters who do not have a valid government ID or passport – affecting primarily lower-income voters, minorities, the disabled and the elderly.