With 62% of estimated votes counted in California’s primary, former Fox News host Steve Hilton (R) and former state Attorney General and congressman Xavier Becerra (D) are holding the top two spots to advance the November election for governor.
Former hedge fund manager and billionaire Tom Steyer (D) is in a close third place, but there a lot of votes to count and election officials say the remaining votes will probably lean Democrat.
DDHQ Race Update (est. 62% in): California Governor Primary
Steve Hilton (R): 1,386,966 (27.8%)
Xavier Becerra (D): 1,267,070 (25.4%)
Tom Steyer (D): 979,007 (19.6%)
Chad Bianco (R): 566,679 (11.3%)Follow more results here:https://t.co/TTzNxNQwoW pic.twitter.com/lgJ8WFKZdC
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) June 3, 2026
From the New York Times:
In California’s primary, candidates of all parties run on the same ballot and the top two finishers, regardless of party, advance to the November election.
It’s the first time since California began using the top-two primary system in 2012 that a governor’s race has been this close, making it possible that two Democrats could advance to compete for the state’s top office.
Many Californians were uncertain about whom to back for governor and waited until the last minute to cast their ballots, which was expected to slow the tally of final results.
The initial election results reflect ballots that were cast early in the voting period. Republicans returned ballots at a faster pace than Democrats did, so the early results were expected to favor Republican candidates, including Mr. Hilton.
In the Los Angeles mayoral race, with 63% of expected votes counted, current Mayor Karen Bass (D) will advance to the November election having garnered 34% of the vote so far.
Reality TV personality Spencer Pratt (R) has 30% of the vote and City Councilwoman Nithya Raman (D) has 22%.
Bass heads to runoff in Los Angeles mayoral racehttps://t.co/gUZptzOOuQ
— The Hill (@thehill) June 3, 2026
Political experts say Democrats waited longer than usual to cast their mail-in ballots, so the remaining votes are expected to lean Dem.
Conservatives will whine that there’s something wrong that it’s taking so much time to count votes, but this is standard in California. In the Golden State, mail-in ballots are valid so long as they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive to county election offices by June 9.
California primary vote count could take days or even weeks — Here’s whyhttps://t.co/AD8udksTJn
— The Hill (@thehill) June 3, 2026
It’s 8:24 AM California time. On Wednesday, the day after Election Day.
58% of results are in.
This is consistent with the state’s past reporting time period.
And it will be the same in November.
So don’t freak. Don’t claim fraud.
(Note: I don’t think this is good for… pic.twitter.com/qKqVizy296
— Stephen Richer (@stephen_richer) June 3, 2026
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