2026 forecast

California Governor forecast

Xavier Becerra vs Steve Hilton, an open seat. The model has Becerra ahead by 15.5 points, winning 99 percent of 10,000 simulated elections.

Safe DModel D +15.5Polls D +10.7Updated October 9, 2026

County simulation

58 counties
D +40R +40Hover a county for the simulated vote

Every simulated outcome

10,000 sims
D +44.2: 1 simulationsD +42.7: 0 simulationsD +41.1: 0 simulationsD +39.6: 3 simulationsD +38.0: 0 simulationsD +36.5: 1 simulationsD +34.9: 4 simulationsD +33.4: 8 simulationsD +31.8: 18 simulationsD +30.3: 36 simulationsD +28.7: 62 simulationsD +27.2: 141 simulationsD +25.6: 214 simulationsD +24.1: 401 simulationsD +22.5: 549 simulationsD +21.0: 714 simulationsD +19.4: 914 simulationsD +17.9: 1048 simulationsD +16.3: 1084 simulationsD +14.8: 989 simulationsD +13.2: 930 simulationsD +11.7: 822 simulationsD +10.1: 586 simulationsD +8.6: 483 simulationsD +7.0: 339 simulationsD +5.5: 236 simulationsD +3.9: 144 simulationsD +2.4: 99 simulationsD +0.8: 64 simulationsR +0.7: 47 simulationsR +2.3: 25 simulationsR +3.8: 12 simulationsR +5.4: 8 simulationsR +6.9: 7 simulationsR +8.5: 5 simulationsR +10.0: 3 simulationsR +11.6: 0 simulationsR +13.1: 1 simulationsR +14.7: 0 simulationsR +16.2: 2 simulationsD +45.0R +17.0

80 percent of simulations fall between D +23.0 and D +7.8. Negative margins are Democratic wins.

Polls of the race

Full average
PollsterSampleAgeMargin
OnPoint averageLOWESS Election Day projectionD +10.7
David Wolfson for Hilton (R)1,020 RV7dD +9.4
Independent Voter Project2,906 LV7dD +11.9
Berkeley IGS4,512 LV19dD +22.5
PPIC1,103 LV29dD +21.0
Berkeley IGS2,310 LV61dD +15.4
PPIC1,003 LV95dD +24.1
Kreate Strategies900 LV114dD +24.5
CEPP735 LV136dD +22.6
Berkeley IGS8,578 RV138dD +19.0

Estimated vote by group

model crosstabs
GroupShareBecerraHilton
GenderMen49%54.444.9
Women51%60.339.1
Age18 to 2916%56.243.2
30 to 4424%54.345.1
45 to 6433%57.342.1
65+27%61.338.1
RaceWhite47%44.754.7
Black7%82.516.9
Latino27%60.838.5
Asian and other19%76.023.3
Race and genderWhite men22%37.661.8
White women26%50.748.7
Black men3%79.020.4
Black women4%85.613.8
Latino men14%58.241.2
Latino women13%63.635.8
All other races19%76.023.3