Race Too Close to Call for California Governor

Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, June 3, 2026

• The California’s governor’s race remains too close to call. Republican Steve Hilton currently leads the pack, but is closely followed by Democrat Xavier Becerra. Fellow Democrat Tom Steyer is sitting in third but still has a chance to overtake one of the two other candidates, with millions of ballots left to be counted. 
• We already know the two candidates advancing to several congressional races here in California. But others are still very much up for grabs.

Hilton, Becerra tout early leads in California governor race, as Steyer urges patience

The primary election for California governor is too close to call in early returns, with Republican businessman Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra neck-and-neck atop the field and Democrat Tom Steyer in third place.

Shortly after midnight, Hilton, a former Fox News commentator and businessman, led with 27% of the vote, followed closely by Becerra, former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, at 25%. Both were enjoying a comfortable early advantage over billionaire Democratic activist Steyer, who sat at about 20%, with just over half of the expected votes counted, according to an Associated Press estimate. The race will decide which two candidates move on to a November runoff.

In his remarks at his watch party in Los Angeles, Becerra noted his underdog status: Polls showed him stuck in single digits until the final six weeks of the campaign, when he surprised nearly everyone by surging into the top spot among a crowded field of Democrats. “Here in Hollywood’s hometown, we love a good underdog success story,” he said, drawing parallels between his campaign and the life his immigrant parents built in California. “Guess what? The underdog stayed in the fight. Like my parents, I never gave up. Never stopped putting one foot in front of the other. Never stopped believing in the beacon-like goodness of California. And, thankfully, neither did you.”

At his watch party in Huntington Beach, the British-born Hilton — who became a U.S. citizen just five years ago — said it was the “honor of his lifetime” to receive over 1 million votes so far. “Change is coming to California and it’s long overdue,” Hilton said. “We’re not there yet, but it’s looking good. It looks very much as if Californians really will have the chance to vote for change in November and take our state in a new direction.”

But nothing is guaranteed for Becerra or Hilton yet.  The early results could shift in part because of unusual voting patterns in this primary election: Ballot tracking data heading into Tuesday evening showed that Republicans were more likely to vote early by mail, while Democratic voters in this deep blue state hung onto their mail-in ballots or chose to vote in person. That’s the reverse of recent elections, which saw more Democrats voting by mail and Republicans tending to vote in person on Election Day.

Steyer urged his supporters to be patient Tuesday evening. Speaking at his watch party at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, he railed against the big companies, including PG&E and Chevron, that opposed his candidacy. “Together, we’ve scared the hell out of the corporate interests used to getting their way,” Steyer said. “It might take some time to figure out where this is going. We’re going to wait until every ballot is counted. We’re going to give democracy time to work. And we know we finished really strong.”

California House races could decide the majority in Congress. Who survived the primary?

All eyes are on California’s competitive House races as voters choose which candidates will face off later this fall.

The outcome of the state’s open primary, which narrows each race to the top two vote-getters regardless of party, sets the stage for a fierce contest in November as Democrats across the country push to retake control of Congress. Victories in California are even more important after a series of court rulings gave Republicans the edge in the national redistricting arms race.

Still, Democrats have been bullish about their chances in California after voters last year approved new congressional maps that significantly decreased the number of competitive races in the state. With the House majority, Democrats could block President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, grill his cabinet officials and launch investigations into his administration.

The state’s marquee race is in the Bakersfield-based 22nd District. Two Democrats are fighting for the chance to take on Rep. David Valadao, the vulnerable Republican incumbent whose only election loss came in 2018 during Trump’s first term. The Associated Press said Tuesday that Valadao will advance to November.

Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, a physician who has spent most of her career in hospitals and clinics that rely on Medi-Cal, has positioned herself as a moderate Democrat willing to buck her party. She has faced stiff competition from Randy Villegas, a college professor and school board trustee running as a progressive Democrat with support from the Working Families Party, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Sen. Bernie Sanders. With about half the vote tallied Tuesday night, Villegas was leading Bains by about 1,300 votes.

In San Diego County, Republican Jim Desmond, a County supervisor backed by the retiring incumbent, Rep. Darrell Issa, will face current San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, a Democrat in November. The Associated Press called the race late Tuesday with about 55% of the vote tallied.

Von Wilpert decisively quelled a fierce intraparty challenge from fellow Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, a former labor department aide to President Barack Obama who had lost to Issa twice before.  She called him anti-LGBTQ for questioning whether she could win votes outside gay-friendly Palm Springs; Campa-Najjar accused von Wilpert of racism for questioning his name changes and residence.

These will be just two of the races that will be closely watched come November.