The Los Angeles real estate industry’s top choice for California governor didn’t make it past election night — Matt Mahan conceded after earning just 4 percent of the vote — but another industry favorite made it to the November runoff: Steve Hilton.
The ex-Fox News host, a Republican, will face former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democrat who secured a spot in the general election, according to the Associated Press.
Hilton’s real estate dollars came from Dollinger Properties’ Dave Dollinger, Lyon Living’s Frank Suryan Jr., Craig Realty’s Steven Craig and billionaire Geoff Palmer — one of Los Angeles’ most prolific apartment developers. Palmer supported Spencer Pratt, who lost his mayoral bid in the primary.
Hilton’s backers are all notable California players — it just happens to be a smaller band than those that backed Mahan, the San Jose mayor. Mahan’s donors included mall magnate Rick Caruso, star broker Jason Oppenheim, Related’s Bill Witte, Kilroy’s Angela Aman, Hudson Pacific’s Victor Coleman, Douglas Emmett’s Jordan Kaplan, Eastdil’s D. Michael Van Konynenburg and Marcus & Millichap’s George Marcus.
Becerra pulled in about $2.8 million from the California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee – California Association of Realtors, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
The question now is whether Mahan’s L.A. real estate exec backers will choose Hilton or Becerra, or simply choose not to dole out any more cash.
The very-crowded race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom has lacked a clear frontrunner from the start, even after former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced. It wasn’t until recently that Becerra led the polls, and Hilton and hedgefunder Tom Steyer trailed behind. Mahan never really took off, and he mostly polled in the single digits despite his real estate and technology money. However, some L.A. real estate heavyweights may be betting on Mahan in the future.
Housing production was a critical issue among candidates. In a May debate, Becerra said if elected governor, he would declare a state of emergency over the state’s housing shortage on his first day, and that would give him sweeping powers to suspend regulation and spend state money to combat the crisis. Hilton wasn’t at that debate, but made his case anyways and told voters he wanted to see the state expand its development area, which would make room for millions of more homes.
