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California governor candidates Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra made the rounds in the Los Angeles area Monday as voters prepare to render their final verdicts in the Tuesday midterm election.
Data shows high early turnout as voters statewide weigh in on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s replacement, the next mayor of Los Angeles and a number of key congressional races that could shape the balance of power in Washington.
Becerra, the Dem frontrunner, joined embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass at LA’s Homegirl Café Monday — greeting dozens of customers and staff at the restaurant, which offers on-the-job training to ex-gang members and formerly incarcerated people.
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Asked by The California Post how he was feeling on the eve of the election, Becerra was upbeat.
“Very good. Especially if I get some of those chilaquiles,” Becerra said, referring to the cafe’s menu.
Bass, who’s fighting for her job against challenger Nithya Raman, gushed over Becerra as “the next governor of California” and noted their work together at the House of Representatives.
“We were colleagues together, worked together on the Hill, and I know he’s going to do a wonderful job,” Bass said.
Hilton, meanwhile, hammered on his affordability message at an event in Compton.
The Republican former Fox News host renewed his vow to bring gas prices down to $3 per gallon, chatting with one Spanish-speaking local woman about the prospect of voting for cheaper gas in a clip posted to social media.
“Sí, claro!” the woman responded, which translates to: “Yes, of course.”
Hilton, who’s trailing by double digits in recent governor polls, has planned a final campaign rally Monday evening at Pier Plaza and Amphitheater in Huntington Beach.
“Californians have had enough of being gouged, and Steve is going to bring costs down. $3 gas and lower taxes will put money back in people’s pockets. We saw great crowds at last week’s rallies,” Hilton’s campaign manager, Matt Ciepielowski, told The Post Monday.
“Today Steve brought $3 gas to Compton, and tonight he’s back in Huntington Beach, where he launched a year and a half ago. Becerra offers four more years of failure. We’re going all out to get Californians to vote for change tomorrow,” he added.
Election watchers are anticipating high turnout nationwide for the midterm elections as Democrats try to retake control of Congress.
In California, more than 6.4 million ballots had been cast as of Sunday, according to the California Secretary of State. That was a 17% increase compared to the 5.47 million that had been returned the day before the November 2022 midterm election.
California’s early voting is running “well over” 2022 levels, according to pollster Paul Mitchell of Political Data Inc, whose firm uses slightly different methodology to track ballots.
Registered Democrats had returned roughly 3 million ballots as of early Monday afternoon, representing 51% of the nearly 5.9 million returns, according to Political Data Inc’s tracker.
Republicans accounted for about 1.62 million returned ballots, or 28%, while voters registered with no party preference or other parties returned roughly 1.25 million, or 21%.
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