The Republican is leading the California governor’s fundraising race

from Jeanne KuangCalMatters

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Republican Steve Hilton is raising more campaign money than almost any other candidate in a chilly fundraising cycle for California governor in wide open competition with no clear frontrunners, campaign finance reports filed Monday show.

Hilton, a commentator and former Fox News contributor who previously worked for conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron, brought in about $4.1 million in donations in the second half of 2025, according to campaign finance records. He took a social media victory lap over the figure, calling it “what momentum looks like.” But he’s also already spent more than half of that and started 2026 with about $2 million on hand, just slightly more than fellow Republican candidate Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

Still, his influence was higher than that of several prominent Democrats. Bay Area Rep. Eric Swwell, backed by donations from Hollywood stars such as Jon Hamm, Robert De Niro and Sean Penn, has raised about $3.1 million since jumping into the race in November. That’s more than the $3 million raised by former Rep. Katie Porter from nearly 12,000 mostly small donors from July to December. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra earned $2.6 million, in part by transferring money from previous campaign accounts to other offices.

Hilton was the second-highest campaign earner behind Democratic billionaire and self-funded candidate Tom Steyer, who has poured $28 million of his own money into the race since announcing his candidacy in November.

Steyer has already spent most of that money — $26 million — covering the state in TV and digital ads to become more recognizable. He far outspent his rivals, most of whom are not expected to spend much until the final weeks of the June primary race, but survey released last week by an environmental group showed him garnering only about 8 percent of likely voter support.

As of 2026, Becerra had the most cash on hand, about $3.8 million. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Porter had $3.4 million and $3.2 million, respectively.

Political strategists say most of the candidates aren’t raising money fast enough to be competitive with just four months to go.

“No one but Steyer is going to be close,” said Democratic strategist Gary South.

It takes tens of millions of dollars to run a statewide campaign in California, in large part because the state is home to some of the most expensive media and advertising markets in the country. In the 2018 gubernatorial election, which he won handily, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign spent $30.7 million between January and Election Day, which equates to more than $40 million in 2026. That doesn’t include money from outside interest groups that spent to help him get elected.

Reports indicate that Villaraigosa raised about $2 million in the second half of last year; former Comptroller Betty Yee raised about $342,000 and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond raised $181,000 — less than some state Assembly campaigns. Both Yee and Thurmond also spent more than they took in.

Having so many candidates still in the race is likely to divide the attention of Democratic donors, and weak fundraising could further exacerbate Democratic fears that a Republican has a chance to win the race because of the state’s top-two primary system, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the November election regardless of party. Hilton and Bianco, who raised $2 million from July to December, lead some recent polls with about 15 percent support each.

Porter leaned particularly hard on the possibility of a Republican victory, following a flurry of fundraising appeals over the weekend with another message to supporters Monday: “If we don’t consolidate support behind Katy, the Republican has a serious chance of winning this race.”

The tepid fundraising numbers reported by candidates on Monday reflected voter uncertainty in the unusually quiet governor’s race. Some donors, said Democratic strategist Andrew Acosta, have not yet narrowed down their choices and may withhold support until it is clear who will remain in the race.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a governor’s race like this,” Acosta said. “The race is on and there are a lot of people fighting to see how this will all play out.”

Acosta pointed out that the uncertainty made the race particularly susceptible to being shaped by wealthy people, such as Steyer’s entry into the race or recent entry of San Jose Mayor Matt Mahana moderate who could get significant support from deep-pocketed Silicon Valley donors. Mahan has yet to report any donations since announcing his candidacy last week.

“There’s going to be a lot of hand-wringing on the part of the Democrats pretty soon that somebody has to get out,” Acosta said. “It’s February. People need to move.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.