Union members gathered in Oceanside on Sunday for a final push to get outstanding ballots submitted, just two days before California's gubernatorial election. Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra used the stop to hammer an affordability message, telling the crowd that costs were the reason the moment felt crucial with the state closing in on Election Day.
Becerra addressed the union members directly, according to 10News, which reported the event was framed as “one last push to get people who haven't turned in their ballots yet to get them in.” He was joined by Mara Elliott, Catherine Blakespear, Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón and Doug Moore of the UDW, all of whom told the crowd there was still time for voters to make their voices heard.
Becerra told the assembled union workers their service was needed, saying that without them, there was no collective “we.” He then pivoted to the economic message that has defined his closing argument, blaming federal policies for driving up the cost of gas and groceries and telling the crowd that everything is costing too much money.
Becerra Ties Prices to Washington
Becerra argued that ending the conflict in Iran could ease pain at the pump almost overnight. “If Donald Trump would stop his darn war in Iran, we could reduce the price of gasoline almost immediately,” he said, per the same 10News account. He also said stopping tariffs on consumers could bring down grocery prices, tying both claims to his broader push to make California more affordable.
On healthcare, Becerra said he wants to use healthcare dollars more efficiently so that people's money pays for actual care, while leaving the door open to raising revenue if necessary. “If we need to put more revenue on the table, we will,” he said. He closed his remarks by urging Californians to show what it means to live, work and vote in the state by acting together.
Hilton's Competing Closing Pitch
Republican rival Steve Hilton also made Oceanside a stop on his closing tour, holding his own rally there as part of a statewide blitz that included Orange County, Van Nuys and Fresno before a planned Friday night rally in Sacramento, according to the Sacramento Bee. At his Oceanside event, Hilton proposed eliminating state income tax on the first $150,000 Californians earn, telling supporters the quickest way to put more money in people's pockets is for government to take less.
Hilton estimated the tax cut would cost about $25 billion and said it could be funded by cutting state spending, including on high-speed rail. He also pledged to end mass homelessness in California by the end of 2027 and vowed to address the Tijuana River sewage crisis, saying, “We will stop the sewage from Mexico one way or another.” On healthcare, CalMatters has reported Hilton's proposal to give some low-income Californians health spending accounts of $8,000 to $10,000 a year in place of part of their Medi-Cal coverage, a plan detailed by CalMatters.
Polling Shows a Wide Becerra Lead
Becerra enters the final stretch with a significant financial and polling advantage. As of Friday, October 16, he had raised $40.5 million compared with Hilton's $29 million, the Los Angeles Times reported. A UC Berkeley IGS/Los Angeles Times poll found Becerra backed by 61% of likely California voters compared with 34% for Hilton, a 27-point margin that was slightly wider than the 25-point lead the same survey found in September.
That same poll, drawn from a weighted sample of 1,477 respondents who had already voted or were considered likely to vote, carried a margin of error of three percentage points. It found 53% of likely voters viewed Becerra favorably against 41% unfavorably, while 56% viewed Hilton unfavorably and only 34% favorably. Separately, an Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely voters put Becerra's edge at 60% to 33%, and the Sacramento Bee noted that SurveyUSA, TrueDot and ActiVote surveys have also shown him leading by at least 20 points.
The same Los Angeles Times poll found that 40% of likely voters named pushing back against the Trump administration as their top priority, followed by 34% who cited reducing the cost of living. It also found that a majority of respondents, including 52% of Latino voters and 58% of likely voters overall, said electing the state's first Latino governor was either not too important or not at all important to them.
Different Closing Styles
The two candidates have approached the campaign's final days differently. The San Francisco Chronicle has described Becerra's general-election approach as one that emphasizes his values while mostly avoiding detailed policy commitments, a contrast with Hilton's specific dollar-figure proposals on taxes and healthcare. Both men, however, spent the final week before Election Day barnstorming the state, according to the Sacramento Bee's reporting.
Affordability has emerged as a defining theme of the race's closing days, with both campaigns pitching competing fixes for the cost of living even as polling suggests many voters are focused as much on national politics as on state policy. With Election Day set for Tuesday, both candidates had campaigned in Oceanside during the closing weeks; Becerra's stop came Sunday, two days before Election Day, while Hilton's came earlier in the final stretch.
