Xavier Becerra: What to know about CA gubernatorial candidate

Xavier Becerra has been in public service for decades.

After serving in the California State Assembly in the 1980s and early 1990s, his political ascension has continued. He was elected to represent congressional districts in the Los Angeles area, starting in 1992.

He left Congress to become California’s attorney general. After serving one term, he answered the call from Pres. Joe Biden to serve as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Becerra is also an example of the American Dream: born to working-class immigrants from Mexico, Becerra became the first person in his family to graduate from college — not just any college but Stanford where he earned a bachelor’s degree and law degree.

Since Rep. Eric Swalwell exited the race amid sexual assault and misconduct allegations, Becerra appears to have benefited most as his poll numbers surged in the recent weeks.

Who is Xavier Becerra?

Becerra is used to making history: he was the first Latino to become the nation’s first health secretary and the state’s first attorney general.

The Sacramento native made his move to Southern California in the 1980s when he worked for California State Senator Art Torres.

His political career started and grew in Southern California as the state and local municipalities began to have more Latino representation. Fernando Guerra, the founding director of Loyola Marymount University’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles, noted Becerra “has been and is part of the incorporation of Latinos into California history and California politics, according to a report.

What are Becerra’s proposals for California?

Health care is on top of Becerra’s campaign platform with his experience in Congress and the Biden administration. Before years before Becerra became the health secretary, then-Congressman Becerra helped write and pass the Affordable Care act during the Obama administration.

Becerra is pushing for a universal single-payer system to put a state agency in charge to provide medical services to Californians at low costs.

The former state attorney also has been touting his record of suing Trump’s first administration 122 times on various issues, including immigration and health care. He has pledged to stand up against the federal government as well.

What does Becerra say about immigration?

The son of immigrants also said he would provide health care coverage to undocumented immigrants. Becerra has criticized Gov. Newsom’s decision to roll back the program that used to provide health insurance to undocumented immigrants.

While his Democratic rival Katie Porter criticized him for having “lovely plans” without details, Becerra has said based on his successful track record, he will fight against the federal government to protected immigrants in California and grant work permits and protection from deportation to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

Gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, whose experience includes the state legislature, congress, attorney general and Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Biden administration, shares why he believes his credentials would serve California well as governor.

What are controversies surrounding Becerra?

Some of his biggest controversies occurred when he was the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary.

When U.S.-Mexico border towns became inundated with migrants, and shelters became crowded, Becerra’s department lost track of children who were released from migrant facilities. A 2024 report by the HHS Office of Inspector General said nearly a quarter of migrant children did not get timely follow-up calls from the department. The same report also said there were missing documentations in migrants’ cases.

Becerra also found himself in hot water as some blamed HHS for slow response during the COVID pandemic and Mpox.