LOS ANGELES – Election officials across California continue tallying ballots in two of the most volatile, high-stakes primary contests in the state’s modern history.
In the sprawling race to succeed term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom, a crowded field of 61 candidates has left voters highly fragmented, while in Los Angeles, an equally tense nonpartisan mayoral primary is seeing incumbent Karen Bass fight to defend her seat against reality TV star Spencer Pratt and progressive council member Nithya Raman.
Because of California’s top-two system, these results will lock in the November matchups and show exactly how voters feel about the state’s leadership.
By the numbers:
Here are the latest results in the key races:
Local perspective:
California Governor Race
Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra appeared headed to November’s general election Wednesday as they held the top two spots in California’s gubernatorial primary.
With returns still being counted statewide, Hilton had 1,244,222 votes, or 27.3%, while Becerra received 1,168,247 votes, or 25.6%, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office. Democrat and billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer was third with 900,442 votes, or 19.7%, followed by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco with 509,302 votes, or 11.2%.
LA Mayor’s Race
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass advanced to November’s general election in her bid for a second term as she was running ahead Wednesday in the mayoral primary, with Spencer Pratt holding second place and Nithya Raman trailing in third.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
With returns still being counted, Bass received 141,199 votes, or 36.5%, of the ballots counted by the Los Angeles County Registrar- Recorder/County Clerk. Pratt had 113,811 votes, or 29.5%, followed by Raman with 81,230 votes, or 21%.
Bass, Pratt unofficially lead LA mayor race
Incumbent Karen Bass and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt are unofficially leading the California primary in the race for Los Angeles mayor. Former U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra and conservative commentator Steve Hilton are both unofficially in the top-2 so far as ballots are being counted in the race for California governor.
Tech entrepreneur Adam Miller was fourth with 16,776 votes, or 4.3%, while housing advocate Rae Chen Huang was fifth with 10,916 votes, or 2.82%.
LA County Sheriff’s Race
In the race for Los Angeles County Sheriff, Robert Luna was leading with 44% of the vote over Alex Villanueva, who had 24%, according to the latest data.
Eric Strong was a distant third with 11%.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: LIVE: LA County sheriff election results
If no candidate wins a majority in the primary, Luna and Villanueva will likely face off in the November general election. However, if either candidate secures more than 50% of the vote now, they win the sheriff’s race outright.
Big picture view:
California uses a “top-two” primary system—often called a jungle primary—for all statewide and congressional races. Instead of separate ballots for each political party, every candidate is pooled together onto one single ballot that all registered voters can use, regardless of their own party affiliation.
SUGGESTED: Efforts underway to get rid of California’s top-2 primary system
The two candidates who receive the most votes move on to the November general election.
This means party lines do not guarantee a spot in the fall; a candidate must survive the initial, crowded vote-split, which can occasionally result in two candidates from the identical party facing off against each other in November.
What’s next:
Election workers continue to scan the first wave of results, which primarily consist of mail-in ballots received before election day.
However, because California law allows mail-in ballots to be counted as long as they are postmarked by election day and arrive up to seven days later, a definitive winner may not be known on election night if the margins are tight.
County officials have a maximum of 30 days to conduct a mandatory post-election audit, verify provisional ballots, and finalize the official tallies before the election results are formally certified.
The Source: This report is based on data provided by the California Secretary of State and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
2026 ElectionsLos Angeles CountyLos Angeles County Sheriff’s DepartmentLos AngelesKaren BassAlex VillanuevaRobert LunaInstastoriesGavin NewsomElectionCalifornia Politics