As more undecided voters appear to be finding a candidate they like, and following some televised debates, a new poll finds billionaire Tom Steyer continuing to hold a lead among the Democrats, and only one point behind Republican Steve Hilton.
Steve Hilton is no longer a sure bet for garnering the most votes in the June primary for California governor, and it's looking increasingly likely that Tom Steyer or Xavier Becerra will be in the top two vote-getters once votes are cast. That's according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll, conducted between April 23 and 27.
This poll follows a debate between six of the leading candidates last week, but it was conducted before Tuesday night's debate at Pomona College. It is also the first poll to come out since Betty Yee exited the race and endorsed Becerra.
The new poll finds Hilton still in the lead at 16% with Steyer only one point behind at 15%. Becerra has been on a steady rise in recent weeks, and came in at 13%, well ahead of the next Democratic challenger, Katie Porter, who slipped to 9% after coming in at 10% in the last poll.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, the other main Republican candidate, garnered 10% in the poll. And 26% of voters polled remain undecided.
Based on this information and recent trends, Sacramento data cruncher Paul Mitchell's prediction model now favors Becerra to be the Democrat who wins out in the primary, likely running against Hilton in November.
The model also now puts the odds of the two top vote-getters being both Republican at 3.7%, while the odds of this being a Dem vs. Rep race in November are 96.2%.
The odds of two Democrats making it through the primary, according to Mitchell's model, are now less than half a percent.
That could leave Steyer and Becerra duking it out for prominence in the next several weeks, unless anything shifts.
Steyer just gave an extended interview to the Chronicle, discussing his past efforts at battling climate change in the state, how he'll work with the legislature if elected, and how he hopes to solve the state's housing crisis.
As many have noted, Steyer has been seeking the progressive vote, running to the left of fellow candidates and giving his support to the so-called "Billionaire Tax" which just qualified for the November ballot this week. Fellow candidate Matt Mahan, the current mayor of San Jose, has been the most vocally opposed to the tax measure, and while he has the strong support of Silicon Valley billionaires like Sergey Brin, he continues to trail in polling — and came in at 4% in the newest poll.
The Chronicle also shares the fact that Steyer has now officially spent more of his own money on his candidacy for governor than anyone else in state history. He's reportedly spent $146 million so far on his own campaign, beating out Meg Whitman, who ran unsuccessfully in 2010 with $144 million of her own money.
Top image: Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer attend "Our Climate Future: A Forum with California's Next Governor" on January 28, 2026 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Matei Horvath/Getty Images for California Environmental Voters)
