California Governor – December 2025

With six months until California’s open primary, no candidate for Governor reaches 20% and nearly a third of likely primary voters are undecided.

Released December 18, 2025 · Conducted by CivicLens Research

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Key findings

• The field is wide open. Steve Hilton leads at 17.8%, followed by Chad Bianco at 13.9% and Eric Swalwell at 12.2%. No one else clears 10%, and 31.1% are undecided.
• Two Republicans sit atop a mostly Democratic field. Hilton and Bianco together take 31.7% in a state where the top two finishers advance regardless of party.
• Newsom is underwater. The outgoing Governor draws 46.4% favorable against 53.0% unfavorable, a net of -6.6.
• Katie Porter has a definition problem. At 24.9% favorable and 47.3% unfavorable, her net of -22.4 is the worst measured, and she is the best-known Democrat in the field.

Primary ballot

Candidate	Support
Steve Hilton (R)	17.8%
Chad Bianco (R)	13.9%
Eric Swalwell (D)	12.2%
Katie Porter (D)	9.2%
Tom Steyer (D)	6.8%
Tony Thurmond (D)	2.6%
Antonio Villaraigosa (D)	1.7%
Xavier Becerra (D)	1.1%
Betty Yee (D)	0.8%
Ian Calderon (D)	0.0%
Someone else	2.7%
Not sure / undecided	31.1%

California’s top-two system sends the leading two finishers to the general election regardless of party. With the Democratic vote split across seven candidates and the Republican vote concentrated between two, both Hilton and Bianco are within reach of advancing.

Q2: “In the June 2026 Primary Election for Governor of California, which of the following candidates would you support at this time?”

Favorability

Figure	Favorable	Unfavorable	Net
Gavin Newsom	46.4%	53.0%	-6.6
Katie Porter	24.9%	47.3%	-22.4
Steve Hilton	30.1%	5.8%	+24.3

Hilton’s positive net comes with a caveat: 35.9% have never heard of him and another 28.1% have no opinion. His rating reflects a small pool of voters who know him rather than broad approval. Newsom and Porter are both well known and both underwater.

The electorate

Respondents recall the 2024 presidential race 56.5% Kamala Harris to 36.3% Donald Trump. The sample is 53.8% white, 27.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Black and 5.0% Asian, and skews middle-aged: 59.2% are between 30 and 69.

The full file

Every question in the order asked, with full wording and demographics: Toplines (PDF)