{"id":4688,"date":"2026-07-16T18:08:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4688"},"modified":"2026-07-16T18:08:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:08:27","slug":"xavier-becerra-steve-hilton-speak-at-naleo-conference-as-they-court-latino-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4688","title":{"rendered":"Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton speak at NALEO conference as they court Latino voters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In one corner, you\u2019ve got Xavier Becerra, the son of Mexican immigrants who grew up in California and speaks Spanish.<\/p>\n

Read more Ex-pastor accused of pushing wife off cliff died in an unusual way, sheriff says<\/a><\/p>\n

In the other corner, there\u2019s Steve Hilton, whose British accent reveals his country of birth, and who became a U.S. citizen as an adult.<\/p>\n

Now, Becerra, a Democrat, and Hilton, a Republican, are running against each other to become California\u2019s next governor.<\/p>\n

With that comes the work of courting Latino voters \u2014 , according to a 2024 National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund report.<\/p>\n

So both took the opportunity to stop by NALEO\u2019s annual conference, being held this week in Los Angeles, to offer remarks before a roomful of elected officials and policymakers.<\/p>\n

First up was Becerra, California\u2019s former attorney general and the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary during the Biden administration.<\/p>\n

During his remarks on Wednesday, July 15, Becerra thanked NALEO, which is celebrating 50 years as an organization that encourages Latinos to participate in civic and political life.<\/p>\n

\u201cNALEO nurtured us to be leaders. And look at California: You just saw the leader of the state Senate, Monique Lim\u00f3n, the leader of the state Assembly, Robert Rivas. You just saw yesterday the U.S. senator from California, Alex Padilla, and if you all work hard, you may see the next governor of the state of California, who will all be Latinos,\u201d Becerra said to cheers and applause.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

NALEO, as an organization, does not endorse candidates for office.<\/p>\n

But that did not stop one conference attendee from shouting out, \u201cI\u2019m voting for you!\u201d as Becerra took the stage at\u00a0the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown hotel.<\/p>\n

Hilton, who spoke later in the day, started off by telling the audience they may have heard that he\u2019s endorsed by President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

After that acknowledgement, he quickly pivoted to telling his own immigrant story \u2014 and that of his parents. Hilton\u2019s mother and father emigrated from Hungary to England, where he was born.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Hilton noted his first job was as a project manager in construction and spoke of being a small business owner in the restaurant industry before immigrating to the U.S. in 2012.<\/p>\n

Read more California rental ads would have to disclose if pictures used AI, under new bill<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, he said, he\u2019s running to lift up small business owners and working-class Californians.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not an ideologue. I don\u2019t want to tell anyone how to live their life or run their business. I just want everyone to have a shot at climbing that ladder of opportunity,\u201d said the former Fox News host, who has worked in politics in the U.K.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to work with anyone who shares that dream,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Hilton refrained from taking shots at his political opponent, who had received a much warmer reception from the audience earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

Becerra, on the other hand, was less restrained, tying Hilton to Trump, whom he called a \u201cfalse prophet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need those prophets. And \u2026 we will not accept their disciples,\u201d he said, a reference to Trump\u2019s endorsement of Hilton.<\/p>\n

Becerra also made\u00a0what may have been a veiled reference to a viral moment back in May after Hilton posted a video of himself outside a Del Taco restaurant in Barstow, with a sign claiming that location to be one of the original Del Tacos. Hilton held up a hard-shelled taco and said he was about to enjoy a \u201cBarstow street taco.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hilton was quickly mocked, with online commenters pointing out that authentic Mexican street tacos are served in soft tortillas, cooked up by street vendors, and that the hard-shell varieties found in a fast-food chain do not count as the real deal.<\/p>\n

While welcoming out-of-state conference attendees, Becerra encouraged them to spend their money in California and said if they plan to buy a street taco, to \u201cbuy a real street taco.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I know is that there\u2019s real food in California, and there are real street tacos. And you don\u2019t get them in some establishment that\u2019s been around for a long time. You get it on the street from the guy who\u2019s been making it for a long time in his little cart,\u201d Becerra said, drawing applause.<\/p>\n

Hilton, in response to Becerra\u2019s comments, said in an emailed statement: \u201cXavier Becerra\u2019s silly jokes and insults won\u2019t lower anyone\u2019s gas prices or housing costs. To do that, we need a governor who will bring positive, practical change, not a 36-year career politician who thinks everything in California is going well and that we need more of the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

NALEO\u2019s three-day conference, which ends Thursday, featured remarks by several prominent California leaders. In addition to Padilla, Lim\u00f3n and Rivas, the conference also saw Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, who chairs the California Latino Legislative Caucus, speak.<\/p>\n

Read more Back-to-back humpback whale strandings reported on Northern California beaches<\/a><\/p>\n

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass made an appearance on Tuesday, as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Becerra tied his opponent to President Trump while Hilton sought to amplify his own immigrant story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nXavier Becerra, Steve Hilton speak at NALEO conference as they court Latino voters - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4688\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton speak at NALEO conference as they court Latino voters - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Becerra tied his opponent to President Trump while Hilton sought to amplify his own immigrant story.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4688\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-16T18:08:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4688#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4688\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton speak at NALEO conference as they court Latino voters\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T18:08:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4688\"},\"wordCount\":872,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4688#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/32ce316c72ab9c5fb15a1dbf37c6843f.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4688#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4688\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4688\",\"name\":\"Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton speak at NALEO conference as they court Latino voters - 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