California’s next governor may bring a markedly different style to Sacramento if Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee, defeats Republican Steve Hilton in November.
Since World War II, 11 men have served as California governor, with Jerry Brown counted for his two separate periods in office. Six were Republicans, beginning with Earl Warren, and five were Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Their tenures can also be viewed another way: Some used the office as a platform for national ambitions, while others concentrated more directly on running the state. That divide is nearly even.
Newsom, whose term has roughly six months left, is widely expected to pursue the presidency after leaving office. In that respect, he follows a line of California governors who looked beyond Sacramento, including Warren, who was the Republican vice presidential nominee in 1948 before becoming chief justice of the United States, and Ronald Reagan, who went on to win the White House.
Other Republican governors — Goodwin Knight, George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger — largely remained focused on state-level governing. Among Democrats, Pat Brown and Gray Davis fit that mold as well. Jerry Brown’s record is more complicated: During his first two terms, he ran for president twice and once for the U.S. Senate. When he returned to the governor’s office nearly three decades later, he adopted a more disciplined, policy-focused approach.
Becerra appears more likely to belong to the governing-first category.
He will face Hilton in the general election after advancing from the primary, and he enters the fall campaign as the strong favorite. No Republican has won statewide office in California since Schwarzenegger’s reelection in 2006. Democrats also hold a major registration advantage over Republicans, 45% to 25%.
Becerra’s political style is a sharp contrast to Newsom’s more public-facing and often combative approach. He is soft-spoken, closely identifies with his background as the son of working-class immigrants in Sacramento, and has long been aligned with organized labor. Unlike Newsom, who climbed through a series of elected offices, Becerra’s rise included several key appointments.
After working as an attorney in the state Department of Justice and as a legislative aide, Becerra served one term in the Assembly. He then represented a Southern California district in Congress for 24 years before Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him attorney general in 2017, filling the vacancy created when Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate. In 2021, President Joe Biden selected Becerra to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Becerra left that post last year and soon after began his campaign for governor.
For much of the race, Becerra appeared to be trailing the top tier of candidates and was not considered a sure bet to make the November runoff. That changed after Rep. Eric Swalwell, who had been leading in polling, left the race in April and resigned from Congress amid allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. Billionaire Tom Steyer then appeared to be the leading contender.
But Becerra quickly gained support from major business interests, labor unions and other parts of California’s political establishment. Their money and organizational backing helped propel him to a first-place finish in the primary and a spot on the November ballot.
If Becerra becomes governor, Californians should not expect the kind of headline-grabbing gestures associated with Jerry Brown’s first stint in the 1970s or Newsom’s time in office since 2019. His background suggests a more methodical administration, one likely to focus on the state’s most persistent problems rather than national visibility.
Those problems are substantial. California continues to struggle with homelessness, a severe housing shortage, poverty and the loss of businesses and residents to other states — issues felt acutely across Southern California and the Inland Empire, where affordability and economic pressure remain central concerns.
Becerra’s likely model may be closer to Jerry Brown’s second governorship: less showmanship, more attention to the state’s fiscal and policy challenges. For a state facing a long list of unresolved crises, that kind of approach could prove valuable.
Original source: CalMatters
