Xavier Becerra Elected as California Governor
What’s Next?
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With California voters electing Xavier Becerra as the 41st governor of California, what happens next?
Governor-elect Becerra is assembling a transition team to begin making decisions to fill senior level staff positions, including chief of staff and finance director. He will also be working on his cabinet level appointments, such as the secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Natural Resources Agency secretary, California Environmental Protection Agency secretary and many more.
Ag Council’s staff has connected with members of the incoming governor’s team and will continue to stay engaged with them as the process moves forward.
Recent comments by Governor-Elect Becerra about potential policies
- “We should be focused on issues one, two and three and that is cost of living, cost of living, cost of living”
- The wealthy should pay their “fair share” in taxes, though he has not articulated any specific income tax ideas
- Seeks to “continue the path toward clean energy, but while we’re on that path we have to make sure we stabilize the prices,” which will include whether to maintain the 2030 deadline to ban the sale of new gas cars in the state and whether to increase oil production in California
- Proposes a “power hour” plan to provide low-income households with two hours of electricity at no cost when usage is low and solar is more prevalent during the day
- Wants California to be a “backstop” for those needing healthcare
State Legislature
Votes are still being tallied at the county level in legislative races. Counties must report final results to the Secretary of State by December 4, 2026, and the Secretary of State will certify the results on December 11, 2026.
At this time, the State Legislature is on track to have well-beyond a Democrat supermajority.