Steve Hilton won enough votes to face Xavier Becerra in California's gubernatorial race. The Associated Press called it Tuesday. Two men will now campaign for months to convince voters they care about issues.
Hilton is a Republican. In California. The state where Republicans go to watch their political careers die slower than a retail trader's portfolio during earnings season. He'll spend the next several months explaining why he's different from every other Republican while voters nod politely and check their phones.
Becerra is a Democrat who presumably woke up Tuesday thinking he'd already won. He represents the party that controls California the way a cat controls a cardboard box - completely, and with zero awareness that anyone else might want a turn.
The general election will feature debates. Town halls. Policy proposals. Millions of dollars in advertising. All of it designed to move the needle maybe three points among the seven people in California who haven't already decided how they'll vote based on the letter next to a candidate's name.
Hilton's campaign strategy likely involves saying "I'm not like other Republicans" forty thousand times while Becerra's involves showing up. Both strategies are equally sophisticated. Both will convince donors to light money on fire for the next five months.
The race will come down to turnout. Enthusiasm. Ground game. All the words political consultants use to justify their invoices while they book flights to Sacramento and expense steaks they'll eat alone in hotel restaurants.
California voters will trudge to the polls or fill out mail-in ballots while pretending this matters. The outcome was decided the moment the primary ended. Everything else is just theater for people who think C-SPAN counts as entertainment.
Becerra will win by twelve points and everyone will call it closer than expected.
Photo by Drei Kubik on Unsplash
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