Goodbye, Fox News. Hello, news about FOXes. 

After lagging for months in the race for California governor, Xavier Becerra — a graying, 68-year-old former Biden Cabinet official with “Costco dad vibes (opens in new tab)” — is surging with the help of an army of young, social media-savvy voters, many female, who are calling themselves “FOXes” (not lovers of conservative media, but “Friends of Xavier”).

There are dozens of TikTok videos singing Becerra’s praises, many posted by young liberal creators who have fallen for the establishment Democrat after kicking the tires on a gaggle of candidates.  

One poll of 3,400 voters, administered April 14 to 20 by Independent Voter Project, puts Becerra in the lead of the eight-candidate contest. A demographic breakdown of the poll results shows that the most dramatic support is coming from Gen Z (opens in new tab) and young millennial (opens in new tab) voters. 

“I might be a FOX,” content creator Kellie Chudzinski, 29, posted on TikTok (opens in new tab), garnering 4,500 likes. Becerra, she said, “does seem really focused on making sure that the younger generation is set up for success.”

The term “FOX” may not be entirely organic — it was likely coined by members of the Becerra family and friend circle and introduced to voters at a raucous town hall Saturday in downtown Los Angeles, according to Chudzinski and another TikTok creator (opens in new tab). 

The vibe shift marks a sharp turn for Becerra’s months-long campaign, which had featured few if any viral moments and little in the way of grassroots youth energy of the kind enjoyed by Zohran Mamdani or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“I liken it to a season of ‘The Real Housewives,’ where people aren’t really paying attention until the fourth episode, when somebody flips a table or throws wine in someone else’s face,” said Paul Mitchell, a political data expert, of Becerra’s sudden rise in the wake of the sex abuse scandal that brought down Eric Swalwell. “And all of a sudden, everybody’s talking about Real Housewives. And the next episode is super popular.”

Becerra arguably has one of the strongest résumés in the gubernatorial field. The Sacramento-born career politician is a former Los Angeles congressman, California attorney general, and Health and Human Services secretary. His campaign (opens in new tab) lists his achievements, including fighting for affordable healthcare and against President Donald Trump in court. But since he declared his candidacy a year ago (opens in new tab), he has consistently polled near the bottom among other Democratic candidates.

So what changed? Swalwell combusted, for starters. Analysts theorize that former Swalwell backers, suddenly without a candidate after sexual assault allegations emerged against the former congressman this month, prioritize government experience and strong institutional backing, both of which Becerra possesses. But Becerra’s campaign credits its own strategy first.

“We knew we needed to bulk up. We started that process to bulk up,” said Michael Bustamante, a senior adviser to the campaign. “Then the Swalwell implosion happened.”

Bustamante said the campaign carefully timed its ramp-up: TV ads launched in late March, while the social media operation expanded and grew more aggressive in late March and early April. The team recently hired LaMont Digital, whose staff includes alumni from Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, to boost their online presence.

Bustamante emphasized that the campaign had been conducting field outreach and media interviews and soliciting digital engagement but needed more staffers to scale those efforts. It has received 20,000 donations over the past 10 days, most of them from first-time donors.

He added that the campaign has received numerous collaboration requests from influencers and content creators who are suddenly feeling FOX-curious.

“I thought that was very cute branding, quite ironic,” Chudzinski said, adding that it “felt pretty electric” to attend Becerra’s town hall in L.A.

While still undecided on whom to vote for, Chudzinski said she has long aligned with Becerra’s politics but will wait to see which Democratic candidate has the strongest momentum closer to Election Day.

The Becerra campaign and Chudzinski both confirmed that they have no paid collaboration.  

Mitchell has created an algorithm (opens in new tab) that predicts the top two candidates to emerge from the June 2 primary. As of Wednesday, the model gave Becerra a 63% chance of advancing to the general election, based on the new polling numbers. Given that the competition still features six prominent Democratic candidates (Betty Yee dropped out this week), Mitchell believes a Republican will finish first in June.

“Steve Hilton is going to be the winner of the primary,” he said. “That’s my prediction.”

But it’s November that matters, and Becerra has begun lining up high-profile endorsements for the long haul, including Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. San Francisco officials, including Assemblywoman Catherine Stefani and Supervisor Myrna Melgar, are endorsing Becerra. The California Young Democrats have also endorsed him (opens in new tab), another sign of his appeal to the younger population.

“We need [Becerra] to be the coolest-dog grandpa in California,” a TikTok creator said (opens in new tab). “In fact, my dog wants Xavier Becerra merch.”

Becerra’s momentum may also be tied, in part, to his Latino identity.

Josh Arce, a San Francisco Latino community activist and member of the local Democratic Party, voted for Becerra at the February state convention and sees growing excitement.

“We’re sensing this could be the moment to make history and elect California’s first Latino governor,” Arce said. “That feeling of achievement is right there in front of us.”

Meanwhile, attacks are ramping up. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the other Latino candidate, has launched a website (opens in new tab) criticizing Becerra’s handling of migrant children during his time as Health and Human Services secretary. 

Though Republicans will likely attack Becerra as a radical leftist, given his aggressive litigation against the first Trump administration when he was attorney general, his allies want voters to perceive him as a down-the-center liberal. Bustamante defended Becerra’s relatively unprovocative style in an often cutthroat political environment, pointing to past soft-spoken California governors like Jerry Brown, Pete Wilson, and Gray Davis.

“Those folks may not be the flashiest or the glitziest,” he said. “But they have a steady hand at the wheel. And that’s something voters want.”

Mitchell, the poll data expert, said it’s too early to determine which Democrat will emerge in the primary to take on Hilton, as political attacks, campaign spending, and televised debates could shift voters’ opinions.

“You could still see some things shake up here,” he said. “You could see negatives pushing Becerra back down.”