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California’s Governor Race Remains Too Close to Call as Vote Counting Continues
With less than 60% of the expected vote tallied as of Wednesday morning, California’s crowded and high-stakes gubernatorial primary remains far from settled, according to NBC News’ Decision Desk.
Three frontrunners have emerged from the pack: Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, and Democrats Xavier Becerra, the former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and billionaire activist Tom Steyer. They are competing for the two spots in November’s general election, while fourth-place candidate—Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco—lags significantly behind.
Current returns show Hilton with 28% support, Becerra at 25%, and Steyer with 20%. Bianco is the only other candidate in double digits, holding 11%.
Under California’s unique primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot regardless of party, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election. However, due to the state’s notoriously slow vote-counting process, it remains unclear when the final two candidates will be confirmed.
Millions of ballots are still being processed. In addition to the governor’s race, several other key contests remain uncalled, including the runoff spot to challenge Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, multiple U.S. House races that could determine control of Congress next year, and other local measures.
Candidates Strike Optimistic Tones
As election night unfolded, all three leading candidates rallied their supporters.
“We’re not there yet, but it’s looking good,” Hilton told allies. “It looks very much as if Californians really will have the chance to vote for change in November—a fresh start for our state, which is long overdue.”
Despite Hilton’s narrow lead, Democratic candidates collectively captured the majority of votes. Becerra leaned into his personal narrative, telling supporters, “Almost immediately, he’s counted out, an afterthought, overlooked, outspent by a ton. Well, guess what? The underdog stayed in the fight. Like my parents, I never gave up.”
Steyer, trailing in early results, remained hopeful: “It might take some time to figure out where this is going. We’re going to wait till every ballot is counted and give democracy time to work.”
Battleground House Races Still Undecided
In the 22nd District, GOP Rep. David Valadao comfortably leads, but two Democrats—school board member Randy Villegas (30%) and state legislator Jasmeet Bains (26%)—are locked in a tight race for the second general election spot.
In Northern California’s 6th District, Rep. Kevin Kiley, who switched from Republican to Independent, is in a tight three-way race with Democrat Richard Pan and Republican Michael Stansfield. Stansfield and Pan have been trading the lead, with significant implications for November.
Outside California, in Montana’s 1st District—left open by retiring Rep. Ryan Zinke—Democrats Sam Forstag and Ryan Busse are separated by just 4 percentage points with 95% of votes counted.
GOP vs. GOP in Southern California
One of the nastiest primary fights has been in Southern California’s newly redrawn district, where two Republican incumbents face off. Rep. Ken Calvert has already advanced, while Rep. Young Kim battles Democrat Esther Kim-Varet for the second spot. Kim leads 22% to 16% with roughly half the vote counted.
Who Will Face Karen Bass in L.A.?
While Mayor Karen Bass is projected to advance to a November runoff, her opponent remains undecided. With 63% of votes counted, Bass holds 35%, followed by Republican Spencer Pratt at 30% and Democrat Nithya Raman at 22%.
Raman told supporters, “Tonight may not give us a final answer. Many thousands of votes will be counted in the days ahead.”
Pratt, a former reality TV star, looked ahead optimistically: “Now I have five months to get deep into every community that hasn’t heard my message.”
Bass struck a confident tone, saying, “We got a lot more to go, but so far it’s looking good .
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