![\"California](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784161285_44_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nIn separate speeches delivered a few hours apart, California\u2019s two gubernatorial hopefuls stuck to familiar themes \u2014 offering a preview of the issues that could define the November election to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n
Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, sought to tie Republican rival Steve Hilton to President Trump during his remarks Wednesday at the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in downtown L.A.<\/p>\n
Hilton focused on his immigrant roots and how to help small businesses in California, and ignored Becerra\u2019s attacks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks at the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
(Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Their appearances at the conference marked one of the first times both candidates have appeared at the same event since the June 2 primary.<\/p>\n
Becerra, the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary and former California attorney general, placed first in the<\/a> primary, winning 28% of the vote. Hilton, a former Fox News commentator, followed with 24.6%.<\/p>\n Republicans make up only a quarter of registered voters in the state, so Hilton may face an uphill battle to victory in November.<\/p>\n Democrats, including Newsom, have sought attention by attacking Trump<\/a> and defending California policies, and Becerra appeared to lean into that approach on Wednesday. <\/p>\n Without mentioning Hilton or Trump by name, Becerra labeled the president a \u201cfalse\u201d prophet during his 10-minute address.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need people who make a promise to end a war in one day, and today, we still fight it and others,\u201d said Becerra, referring to the ongoing U.S. attacks on Iran<\/a>. \u201cWe don\u2019t need someone who said they will lower the price of gasoline<\/a> and then raise it by starting a reckless, illegal war.\u201d<\/p>\n California doesn\u2019t \u201cneed those prophets and worse. And I tell you this \u2014 in California we will not accept their disciples,\u201d said Becerra, seemingly referring to Hilton.<\/p>\n Hilton, who spoke for about five minutes, acknowledged he was endorsed by<\/a> Trump. He then pivoted to the topic of immigration and alluded to the red tape and regulations in the state that he blames for hurting small businesses.<\/p>\n He recounted how his parents moved from Hungary to Britain, and then how he moved to California in 2012.<\/p>\n \u201cThat story of the immigrant aspiration, climbing the ladder of opportunity in a new country, that is my story,\u201d Hilton said.<\/p>\n Hilton attended the University of Oxford and worked a senior advisor to former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron before moving to the state. He also talked about his time running restaurants. <\/p>\n \u201cThat is a really tough business, and it is especially tough today in California for small business owners, for working-class Californians, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m fighting for in this campaign,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hilton said he is \u201cnot an ideologue,\u201d and doesn\u2019t \u201cwant to tell anyone how to live their life or run their business.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI just want everyone to have a shot at climbing that ladder of opportunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Becerra also chastised Hilton over an incident in May, when Hilton filmed himself eating a Del Taco taco<\/a>, which he called a \u201cstreet taco.\u201d<\/p>\n Becerra, looking amused, told the NALEO audience that you don\u2019t get street tacos \u201cin some establishment that\u2019s been around for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou get it on the street from the guy who\u2019s been making it for a long time in his little cart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n