On election night Xavier Becerra seemed to admit that his success in the primary to become California’s next governor was a surprise. “Here in Hollywood’s hometown, we love a good underdog(弱者；不被看好者) story,” he told supporters in Los Angeles on June 2nd. The location of his celebration was apt(恰当的；合适的): the Plaza de Cultura y Artes, near where Los Angeles was founded as a Spanish pueblo(① 文中提到洛杉矶于1781年作为西班牙...) in 1781. If current trends hold(当前趋势持续), Mr Becerra could become the first Latino elected governor of California.
选举之夜，泽维尔·贝塞拉似乎承认，他在加州州长初选中的成功是出人意料的。“在好莱坞的故乡，我们喜欢精彩的逆袭故事，”他于6月2日在洛杉矶对支持者说。庆祝活动的地点很恰当：文化广场艺术中心，靠近1781年洛杉矶作为西班牙小镇建立的地方。如果目前趋势持续，贝塞拉先生可能成为加州第一位当选州长的拉丁裔。
The top two finishers in the primary, regardless of party, will face off(对决；对抗) in November’s general election. As The Economist went to press(付印；截稿), votes were still being counted. California accepts mail-in ballots(邮寄选票) postmarked by election day, so the process can take days, sometimes weeks. This year many undecided Democrats held on to(紧紧抓住；保留) their ballots until the final days of voting, perhaps prolonging the count further. As of June 4th it appeared that Mr Becerra and Steve Hilton, a Republican and former adviser to David Cameron, a former British prime minister, would advance. (Tom Steyer, the progressive billionaire running in third place, had yet to concede.) Because Democrats outnumber Republicans in California nearly two to one, Mr Becerra is overwhelmingly likely to defeat Mr Hilton in the general election.(由于加州民主党人数几乎是共和党的两倍，贝塞拉在大选中击败希尔顿的可能性极大。)
初选中的前两名，无论党派，将在11月的大选中对决。截至本刊付印时，选票仍在清点中。加州接受选举日当日邮戳的邮寄选票，因此过程可能需要数天甚至数周。今年许多未决定的民主党选民将选票保留到投票最后几天，可能进一步延长计票时间。截至6月4日，贝塞拉和史蒂夫·希尔顿（共和党人，前英国首相戴维·卡梅伦的顾问）似乎将晋级。（进步派亿万富翁汤姆·斯泰尔目前排名第三，尚未承认败选。）由于加州民主党人数几乎是共和党的两倍，贝塞拉在大选中击败希尔顿的可能性极大。
Early in the campaign Mr Becerra—a former congressman, state attorney-general and cabinet secretary—was a non-factor(无关紧要的人/因素). A rather milquetoast(胆小的；温顺的) establishment Democrat, he got lost in a field that included presidential and Senate wannabes(渴望者；想成为……的人) (Eric Swalwell and Katie Porter), a billionaire activist (Mr Steyer), a has-been(过气人物；曾红极一时的人) (Antonio Villaraigosa) and an upstart(新贵；暴发户；自命不凡者) (Matt Mahan). Three factors explain his ascent.
竞选初期，贝塞拉——一位前国会议员、前州总检察长和前内阁部长——是个无足轻重的人。作为一个相当温顺的建制派民主党人，他在包括总统和参议院候选人（埃里克·斯沃韦尔、凯蒂·波特）、亿万富翁活动家（斯泰尔）、过气人物（安东尼奥·维拉莱戈萨）和新贵（马特·马汉）的领域中被淹没了。三个因素解释了他的崛起。