California Governor Primary Still Too Early To Call As Steve Hilton Leads Xavier Becerra

California’s June 2 gubernatorial primary remained too early to call as votes continued to be counted, with Republican Steve Hilton leading Democrat Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer in third.

USA TODAY said California election officials have asked for patience, prioritizing accuracy and security over a rushed vote count, quoting Secretary of State Shirley Weber: "We have a process that by law ensures both voting rights and the integrity of elections."

ABC30 Fresno

USA TODAY also put the vote totals at 27.5% for Hilton and 25.7% for Becerra, while noting Steyer at 19.8% and that "There’s about 3.5 million to 4 million votes still out there yet to be counted."

NBC News described the top-two system for the all-party primary, saying "The top two candidates from the all-party primary advance to the general election regardless of party," with the general election set to determine who replaces term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom.

CBS News added that as of Thursday, outcomes for the governor and Los Angeles mayor races were still unsettled as votes were still being counted, with Hilton and Becerra leading and Steyer in third.

The slow count in California is driven by mail-in ballots and verification, with CNN describing a bottleneck from Election Day mail, calling it a "pig in a python" effect that can take days or weeks to clear.

CNN said counties were largely reporting mail ballots that arrive near to or after Election Day and provisional ballots that were cast on Election Day but require additional verification, with counties needing to finalize results by July 2.

ABC7 Bay Area

The New York Times reported that vote counting across California yielded little change Wednesday in the races for governor and mayor of Los Angeles, with a significant portion of the state’s mail-in ballots and Election Day vote still to be counted over the coming days, if not weeks.

In Los Angeles County, The New York Times said the county had processed nearly 1.4 million ballots and still had about 713,000 left to count, while describing machines that scan ballots and verify voter signatures.

The Los Angeles Times said the gap between Spencer Pratt and Nithya Raman slightly narrowed on Wednesday, while also stating that in the governor’s race "Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra held leads" with votes still being tallied.

The stakes of the California primary are tied to the top-two structure and the timing of results, with NBC News noting that the expected vote is "an estimate" that can change as NBC News gathers new information.

“Why the count will go on in California California's elections are never quite over on Election Day, and this year is no different”

ABC7 Bay Area

CalMatters framed the broader political stakes by saying the top-two primary was designed to encourage moderation, but that "in most races, it ends in a conventional Democrat vs. Republican," while quoting political scientist Andrew Sinclair that the system is in a "dead zone" around 60% to 65% Democratic vote share.

The New York Times reported that President Trump congratulated Steve Hilton, his pick for the job, declaring him the “WINNER” in a social media post, as the governor’s race remained close with many votes still to count.

USA TODAY reported that Steyer’s campaign urged supporters to "give democracy time to work," with Steyer campaign manager Heather Hargreaves writing in a June 3 letter that "The most important thing you can do while we wait is to visit the state’s ballot tracker."

In the Los Angeles mayor race, CBS News said it remained unclear whether reality TV star Spencer Pratt or LA City Council member Nithya Raman would advance to face Mayor Karen Bass, with Pratt continuing to hold a lead over Raman for second place with votes still being counted.