Becerra Leads California Governor Primary; Haaland Wins New Mexico Nomination

California and New Mexico voters selected their Democratic nominees for governor on June 2, setting up November contests in two states where the outcomes will shape state-level resistance to federal policy and test the durability of Democratic advantages. In California, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra emerged as the leading vote-getter in the open primary. In New Mexico, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland secured the Democratic nomination outright.

California uses a top-two primary system in which all candidates appear on a single ballot and the two highest finishers advance regardless of party. Becerra, who previously served as state attorney general and in Congress for more than two decades, pulled ahead after former Rep. Eric Swalwell exited the race amid misconduct allegations in April. Polls had shown a tightening three-way contest among Becerra, billionaire Tom Steyer, and Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host endorsed by President Donald Trump. Steyer spent more than $200 million of his own funds on a progressive platform focused on immigration and health care. Hilton consolidated Republican support to avoid a Democratic-only general election. The state has not elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.

New Mexico’s Democratic primary produced a clearer result. Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe and the first Native American to serve in a presidential Cabinet, defeated Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman. She enters the general election as the favorite in a state that has trended Democratic in recent cycles while still electing governors from both parties. New Mexico’s next governor will oversee the allocation of oil and natural gas revenues that currently fund universal child care, school lunches, health care assistance, and free college tuition.

Both races occur against the backdrop of term-limited Democratic incumbents leaving office. The California winner will inherit management of homelessness, housing costs, drought, and wildfire response in the nation’s most populous state. The New Mexico winner will administer an ambitious safety-net system financed by fossil-fuel production in one of the country’s poorest states. Vote counting in California is expected to continue for days or weeks.