Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra will advance to the November general election in the California gubernatorial race, according to a projection from the Associated Press.
Becerra will finish as the top vote-getter among a crowded field of 61 candidates. It was not immediately clear Friday evening whom he would be facing in November.
Vote-counting in California is a slow process, in part because the state allows vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive over the course of several days after the election.
Former Fox News host Steve Hilton and progressive billionaire Tom Steyer are in a competition for second place, with the race still too early to call.
California holds a nonpartisan “jungle” primary, in which the top two candidates advance to the general election, regardless of party.
If Hilton advances, Becerra will hold a significant edge heading into Election Day in his bid to become the governor of the overwhelmingly blue state of California. The last Republican to win a gubernatorial race in the Golden State was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who served from 2003 to 2011.
Outgoing term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom took office in 2019.
The race to replace Newsom was shaken up in April when front-runner Eric Swalwell suspended his own gubernatorial bid following several sexual misconduct allegations. Swalwell’s exit boosted Becerra, the other leading establishment Democrat in the race.