{
  "id": 3068923,
  "title": "Steve Hilton Within Single Digits of Xavier Becerra in California—New Poll",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/steve-hilton-within-single-digits-of-xavier-becerra-in-california-new",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-24T16:50:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Newsweek",
    "slug": "newsweek",
    "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/steve-hilton-within-single-digits-of-xavier-becerra-in-california-new-poll-12360243"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Republican Steve Hilton has narrowed his lead against Democrat Xavier Becerra in California's governor race to a mere eight points, according to a recent poll commissioned by Hilton's campaign. The survey, conducted by David Wolfson, a Columbia University pollster, found that Becerra leads Hilton with 49.2 percent support, while Hilton is at 41 percent. The poll, which included responses from 912 registered voters, indicated that 9.8 percent of respondents were still undecided. Hilton criticized Becerra's Department of Health and Human Services record, alleging that it led to the exploitation of Latino children. Despite this, Hilton has received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, which he claims is a significant motivating factor for voter turnout in the midterm election. Becerra, a former California attorney general and member of Congress, has a strong advantage in the polls, with his lead consistently surpassing the 40 percent mark. The last Republican to win California's governorship was Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003 and 2006. The pollster's methodology, which involved text-to-web surveys, carries a 3.3-point margin of error, and independent prediction markets have shown a strong likelihood of Becerra winning the election with odds around 93-96 percent in favor of his victory.",
  "summary": "Hilton has narrowed his deficit to Democrat Xavier Becerra to eight points, according to a new poll conducted by David Wolfson.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}