Democrat Xavier Becerra advances to general election in race for California governor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrat Xavier Becerra has advanced to the general election for California governor after pitching himself as an experienced choice to lead the nation’s most populous state.

Becerra leaned on his more than 35 years in public office — including as state attorney general and U.S. health secretary — to argue that he was the most qualified candidate in a crowded field.

“I am ready to lead the fight to uphold California’s promise to make sure we have the governance worthy of our gifts,” he said on election night.

Once an afterthought in the race, he surged in the final months and vowed he would maintain the state’s mantle as a chief antagonist to President Donald Trump.

As attorney general Becerra filed more than 120 legal actions against the first Trump administration on everything from immigration to climate policy.

During the campaign his rivals scrutinized his leadership as health secretary during the COVID-19 pandemic and unaccompanied migrant children crisis in 2021, when Becerra’s Department of Health and Human Services was responsible for shelters where they were housed. Some of them were criticized as having inadequate living conditions, and there were also concerns about authorities failing to thoroughly vet sponsors with whom some children were placed.

If elected, Becerra said, he would declare states of emergency to address high energy costs and housing shortages and to freeze home insurance rates.

Though California is one of the nation’s most diverse states, almost all its governors have been white men. Becerra would be the first Latino to hold the office since the late 1800s.