California's Open Governor's Race: Becerra, Hilton and a Rare Open Seat

California elects a governor this fall without an incumbent on the ballot, a relatively rare opening in Sacramento that has drawn attention to the two candidates who emerged to lead the state: Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton. The winner will run the executive branch of the nation's most populous state, overseeing its budget, its agencies and its response to everything from wildfires to the cost of housing.

Becerra brings a long record in California and federal office, including service as California's attorney general and as the United States secretary of health and human services, after years representing Los Angeles in Congress. His campaign has emphasized that governing experience and his background as the son of working-class parents, including a mother who immigrated from Mexico. For voters, his candidacy asks to be judged as continuity with a familiar style of Democratic state leadership.

Hilton, a businessman and former adviser in British government who later became a media commentator in the United States, runs as an outsider promising to shake up Sacramento. His campaign has centered on affordability, public safety and criticism of the state's long Democratic dominance. For voters drawn to disruption, his candidacy offers the sharpest available contrast in style and political background on the statewide ballot.

The governor's race matters in Anaheim in concrete ways. State decisions shape housing mandates that reach Anaheim's planning department, homelessness funding that supports local programs, water policy that affects Orange County supplies and business regulation felt from the Resort District to industrial parks. A governor's appointments to state boards and commissions extend that influence into transportation, energy and environmental decisions across the region.

California voters will render their verdict under the state's vote-by-mail system, with ballots counted if postmarked by Tuesday, November 3, and received within seven days, or delivered in person by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Vote centers across Orange County are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for in-person voting and same-day registration. However the race resolves, California will begin the next term with a new hand on its considerable tiller.