Hilton, Steyer lead the pack in crowded California governor’s race: Poll 

Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Tom Steyer are the leading candidates in the packed race to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), according to new polling released Monday. 

The CBS News poll surveyed likely California primary voters on their support for eight of the politicians running to lead California. Hilton received 16 percent of the vote, while Steyer garnered 15 percent. 

Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Chad Bianco were the only other candidates to reach double digits in the network’s poll. Twenty-six percent of likely voters said they had still not decided who they would support ahead of the state’s primary election on June 2. 

CBS will host a debate for the top candidates in the gubernatorial race on Tuesday. The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. PDT, or 8:30 p.m. EDT. 

This will be the second debate since former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), considered by many to be an early front-runner, exited the race and resigned from Congress earlier this month amid allegations of sexual misconduct. 

Thirty percent of the likely voters surveyed in the network’s poll said they viewed these debates as “very important” for learning more information about the candidates in the race. Forty-six percent said the debates were only “somewhat important,” while 24 percent said the debates will have little effect on how they view the candidates. 

Additionally, the survey found that a candidate’s “values” are an important attribute for 77 percent of voters, while 56 percent also indicated that “experience” played a vital role in their consideration process. 

Among Democratic voters, 71 percent said they would like the state’s next governor to have similar policies to those of Newsom, while 90 percent of GOP voters said they would like the state’s next leader to have a different agenda. 

Similarly, only 1 percent of likely Democratic primary voters surveyed in the poll said they would prefer that the next governor support President Trump, compared with 70 percent of likely Republican primary voters.

Newsom, who is widely regarded to emerge as a possible Democratic front-runner in the 2028 presidential race, has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration during his time in office. 

The CBS News poll surveyed a total of 1,479 registered voters in California from April 23-27 with a margin of error of approximately 4.2 percentage points.