OAN Staff Jenna Lee and Brooke Mallory
2:31 PM – Thursday, May 7, 2026
Xavier Becerra, the former secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Biden administration, has emerged as the frontrunner among Democrat candidates in the increasingly competitive California gubernatorial race.
While the Democrat establishment had hoped for a clear leader to solidify the field, Becerra’s rise to the top was largely unexpected by party insiders, analysts say.
Within the Biden administration, former colleagues have also noted Becerra’s remarkable political fortune, particularly as his standing surged following the sudden collapse of former Representative Eric Swalwell’s campaign. This shift in momentum has effectively catapulted Becerra to the head of a crowded pack just weeks before the June primary.
However, following the recent gubernatorial debate, several former Biden administration officials responded with a mix of mockery and resignation regarding Becerra’s performance and track record.
“It’s like, we need to figure out a candidate who can win!’ But then…him? Really?’ It’s amazing,” said one anonymous former Biden administration official.
Becerra “is very good at being a politician. When he was attorney general, the formula was — you file a lawsuit. When you’re a member of Congress, you help your constituents and you introduce legislation. When people noticed he wasn’t cut out for [the Cabinet] was when there was a crisis — it was clear he didn’t know how to handle that,” said the fourth official, one of six former Biden officials who stayed anonymous to speak about Becerra.
Nonetheless, the political climate has grown increasingly volatile following a critique from gubernatorial rival Matt Mahan, another Democrat, who asserted that Biden was compelled to marginalize Becerra during the pandemic due to his inability to produce results. Mahan specifically highlighted the mismanagement of the federal COVID-19 response as a primary reason for this internal sidelining.
These accusations gained further traction during post-debate analysis when Xochitl Hinojosa, the former communications director for the Biden Justice Department, offered a blunt assessment of Becerra’s cabinet tenure, stating unequivocally that he was an ineffective leader during his time at the helm of the HHS.
“A lot of people in the Biden administration are talking about this because they realize that he was not an effective HHS secretary. And if you ask any Cabinet secretary, they would tell you the same thing,” said Hinjosa.
Neera Tanden, who served as the White House staff secretary and chair of the Domestic Policy Council under Biden, took to X to share her reaction to Hinojosa’s remarks. Her public response added a significant layer of internal White House scrutiny to the unfolding narrative regarding Becerra’s leadership.
Further compounding the criticism, another former Biden administration official corroborated these negative assessments by pointing to a lackluster work ethic during Becerra’s tenure as HHS secretary.
This individual, one of the six former colleagues to speak out, suggested that his past performance was hindered not just by policy outcomes, but by a fundamental lack of engagement in the role.
“It gets the biggest laugh every time we send around a poll. He ran one of the most consequential agencies in government at the height of the pandemic. But he took a backseat to Dr. Fauci and his team, didn’t visibly lead on implementation and had to go through layers to get to POTUS even as a Cabinet member,” said the staffer, who referred to the numbers Becerra managed to secure just under 30 days until the June primaries.
Meanwhile, the latest polling exemplifies the rapidly shifting dynamics of the race. Becerra is now tied with Republican contender and former Fox News host Steve Hilton. A survey released this week by the California Democrat Party shows both candidates leading the field with 18% support among likely voters.
For Becerra, the recent polling marks a notable surge as the June primary nears — a major turnaround that places him at the forefront of a crowded contest.
Who is Steve Hilton (R) ?
Hilton, a Republican, is a British-American political strategist and former media personality. Having previously served as the Director of Strategy for British Prime Minister David Cameron, Hilton moved to California and became a U.S. citizen in 2021 before gaining national recognition as the host of “The Next Revolution” on Fox News.
His campaign, which has received the endorsement of President Donald Trump, is centered on a platform he refers to as “positive populism” and a promise to make the state “Califordable” (California-affordable) by exempting the first $100,000 of income from state taxes and implementing “CalDOGE” to audit and eliminate government waste and abuse.
Beyond his policy focus on lowering gas prices and increasing housing development, Hilton’s background as the son of Hungarian refugees heavily informs his advocacy for decentralizing power and challenging the established political order in Sacramento.
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