SACRAMENTO, September 10 — Democrat Xavier Becerra, the front-runner in California’s 2026 gubernatorial race, has drawn $48.8 million in contributions to his campaign committee and outside efforts supporting his bid, according to a Times analysis of contributions through Sept. 3. The money tells its own story about what is at stake in the nation’s most populous state.
Companies and special interest groups with some of the diciest issues expected to land on California’s next governor’s desk are among his top financial backers, including Big Tech, the healthcare industry, labor unions and tribes.
The money race
Becerra’s bid languished at the outset, then took off just months before the June primary, which he won one of the top two spots in. Republican Steve Hilton, a conservative media commentator and strategist endorsed by President Trump, won the other slot to advance to the Nov. 3 election. Becerra is considered a heavy favorite to win, given that Democratic voters in California outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1.
He has the financial edge in the race, raising at least $30 million while also receiving significant support from the independent committees. His GOP rival raked in $18.8 million, including a $90,100 contribution from the candidate himself.
Hilton’s top donors are billionaires and business executives including manufacturer Donald Friese and his wife Andrea, Silicon Valley billionaire Tim Draper, former Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Los Angeles real estate magnate Geoffrey Palmer and the founder of defense contractor Anduril Industries, Palmer Luckey. Executives and employees at Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions Inc., a company that makes contamination monitoring systems, contributed more than $474,000 to Hilton’s campaign.
Big Tech’s bet
Meta, which has contributed nearly $1.2 million to groups backing Becerra’s campaign, has faced mounting scrutiny by lawmakers and the courts. The Menlo Park-based company, which operates social media and communication platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, just agreed to a landmark $17.1 billion settlement to resolve multi-state claims that its apps endanger children.
The state Legislature in August also passed a measure to bar social media platforms from providing an “addictive feature” to lure children, as well as bills to shield Californians from threats posed by the boom in artificial intelligence and data centers. The fate of these measures is now in the hands of Gov. Gavin Newsom, and the next governor likely will have to decide whether to approve even stricter controls on Big Tech.
Meta is among eight donors that wrote seven-figure checks supporting Becerra’s gubernatorial campaign, with most of the money funneled to independent committees backing the Democrat that are not allowed to legally coordinate with the candidate. Campaigns often find back doors to do so. Former state Sen. Steve Glazer, a Democrat who ran Jerry Brown’s successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign, said such spending is not surprising.
“Look, millions and billions of dollars are at stake, and the governor is the central point for all of that in California,” Glazer said. “It’s not a gamble anymore.
You’re not picking a winner or a loser, right? So the floodgates open up for a runaway winner like Xavier Becerra.” A Becerra spokesman said that although the campaign welcomed support from any donor, he would not weigh their contributions as he makes policy decisions if elected. “Xavier Becerra is laser-focused on making California work for working people — lowering costs, building housing, and making this state affordable again,” said Jonathan Underland, a spokesman for the Democrat.
“Anyone willing to stand with us in that fight is welcome to join it, and we won’t hesitate to challenge anyone who gets in the way of that goal.” Strategically, the calculus here is straightforward. California’s next governor inherits a regulatory docket aimed squarely at the industries now financing Becerra’s campaign, and the donors are placing their bets accordingly.
What this signals is a November contest in which the money has already picked its favorite — and the policy fights waiting on the other side of Election Day are the ones those dollars are meant to influence.
