How Xavier Becerra became the cardigan of the California governor's race
This time, many voters are done with the "razzle-dazzle"
LOS ANGELES — No idea was too audacious for billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer as he closed out his gubernatorial campaign with a banger list of promises at a downtown trade school campus this afternoon.
He would deliver a single-payer healthcare system. He would take on the utility company monopolies “and break their chokehold on our markets.” He would make data centers “pay their own way” and ensure that artificial intelligence “is a tool for workers, not a replacement.” He would battle Donald Trump “and prosecute ICE all the way up to Stephen Miller.” And of course, Steyer said — wearing his beige “class traitor” baseball cap — “we can tax the hell out of corporations and billionaires who got rich here and then pulled up the ladder behind them.”
“These dreams are not too big,” Steyer said. “Anyone who says otherwise is investing in a system rigged against you.”
But those dreams do, in fact, seem too big for the many voters I’ve met who are backing Steyer’s leading Democratic rival, Xavier Becerra. After the former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary rocketed to the top of the polls following the collapse of former Congressman Eric Swalwell, I heard the same themes from voters about him over and over again.
Resume. Experience. Authenticity. Relatability.
They were looking for realism, rather than sweeping promises. They often highlighted facets of his resume, rather than his ideas. Stephanie Lucio, a 42-year-old Democrat from L.A. who works in tech, told me at a recent meeting of the Avance Democratic Club that the draw to Becerra for her was the same as when he ran for mayor of Los Angeles more than two decades ago.
“There wasn’t a lot of pomp and circumstance around him, he was just who he was,” Lucio said. “I don’t need all the razzle-dazzle from my candidate this time. The experience is enough.”
Becerra gets dragged by his rivals for not providing enough detail about his policy plans or his agenda. And there have been many headlines this cycle questioning whether Californians are returning to bland and boring — choosing a governor who reads more like their accountant in the mold of former governors George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis.
Maybe. But there’s also something deeper going on.
Many Californians are panicking about paying the rent and covering their basic monthly costs. The film industry in L.A. has cratered. Major tech companies have begun waves of AI-related layoffs. Billions have been spent on affordable housing and homelessness without much in the way of visible results. Trump sent military troops into L.A. to test the limits of his power as immigration officers used Los Angeles as their testing ground for sweeps. Even the deadly wildfires of January of 2025 are still a vivid memory to everyone who lived through them.
It’s life on the edge. And with that undercurrent of angst and unease, Becerra voters often told me they were going for safe. Steady. Reliable. The cozy cardigan rather than the sequin jacket.
Becerra has seemed perfectly happy to embrace those labels on the trail. He laughs when people introduce him as “tío Xavier.” His wife tells voters that he still tells her that he loves her every day; that they sometimes spontaneously dance in the kitchen while they’re cooking; and that a fun night for them is playing Rummikub, sometimes with his mom.
At a recent rally at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, Becerra’s emcee bounded across the room in front of several hundred people in head-to-toe pink denim asking them if they were ready for the “the Becerra Era.”
The candidate himself was much more subdued. He focused on his biography, traversing the course of his career as a Congressman, California’s attorney general and HHS Secretary, ticking off the many instances where he’d gone up against the Trump administration.
“Google me. Search my record,” he challenged the audience at one point.
In one of the rows near the front, hydrogeologist David Molina, a 37-year-old Marine Corps veteran from San Diego, described Becerra as “one of the only individuals I can see who is qualified to run the 4th largest economy.” Molina added that he’s been deeply disturbed by watching “unqualified” people in the top jobs in Washington.
“We can see in the current federal offices, we have a kakistocracy,” Molina said. “It’s a concern for the future and what is going to be California. I’d rather have someone that’s actually qualified and experienced.”
Daniella Sarabia, a 20-year-old UCLA student who attended one of Becerra’s rallies, said she believes many voters also see pieces of their story in his, creating another layer of trust and connection to his candidacy.
“People just want someone that has a relatable story,” she said. “He’s the son of immigrants. That’s something that a lot of people in California relate to — we’ve known the struggle of having to deal with people that don’t really believe in you because you’re Latino or because you’re just different. That’s something that resonates with a lot of people.”
The race is still tremendously close and polling is challenging in such a low turnout election. Republican Steve Hilton is clumped with Becerra and Steyer at the top of the pack. But with California’s top two system — where two candidates advance regardless of party — there’s a chance that Steyer and Becerra could face one another in November.
That kind of contest could pit the dreamers against the pragmatists. The voters who want to smash the system against those who just want steady hands on the wheel. And who comes out ahead is anyone’s guess.