Show Caption
Californians are still waiting for the outcome of the closely watched June 2 gubernatorial primary, with state election officials continuing to count ballots.Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra are currently on top, while fellow Democrat Tom Steyer remains in third with nearly 60% of the votes counted. Only the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, in the Golden State's nonpartisan "jungle primary" advance to the general election in November.It's the third day that state election officials are processing ballots postmarked by Election Day, after in-person voting ended on June 2. President Donald Trump said in a pair of social media posts without citing any proof that Democrats are "stealing the vote" in the governor's race. Meanwhile, state officials warn that it might take weeks to know the actual outcome. "I would call on all Californians to be patient," Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a June 2 news release. At nearly $316 million, it's already the most expensive governor's race on record and the fifth-most expensive non-presidential race on record for ad spending, according to AdImpact, a media-tracking firm."We sacrifice a quick vote count and immediate satisfaction by allowing as much time as possible for people to count their vote," Caroline Heldman, a longtime politics and gender studies professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles, told USA TODAY, noting that 85% of California voters cast their ballots by mail."Many Democratic voters waited until the last minute to cast their ballots strategically," Heldman added, noting the crowded field of candidates with few endorsements and party guidance. "And Steyer may get enough of a boost, but we really don’t know yet because nothing has changed."Trump alleges Democrats are behind California's slow mail-in processAs California voters practice patience statewide, Trump stirred the pot in a June 4 social media post by suggesting, without evidence, that Democrats are "stealing the vote" in the governor's race."I hope the Republicans are watching so that they can finally pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT," the president said on Truth Social, referring to his controversial proposal that could overhaul U.S. elections.The president's comments came a day after he said in another Truth Social post on June 3, "Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS."Trump endorsed Hilton and has long been a critic of mail-in voting despite using the process to cast a ballot in this year’s Florida primaries. Meanwhile, with 57% of the vote counted, Hilton continues to hover at the top at roughly 27.2%. Becerra follows right behind at about 26% and Steyer third at 20%, according to the Associated Press.Those margins have moved slightly for Hilton and Becerra, however, while Steyer's tally has remained stagnant. Hilton and his allies have criticized the long voting process. But the former Fox News commentator hasn’t gone as far as the president by publicly claiming Democrats are trying to steal the election."So far, we’re not seeing any signs of that," Hilton told conservative podcast host Benny Johnson in a June 3 interview.Meanwhile, Becerra went on the offensive in response to Trump’s unproven assertions by calling out how the president has misled the public about previous elections."Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. He lost California by millions of votes in the 2024 election, and now he's trying to undermine confidence in our elections because he’s a repeat loser here," the former Biden administration Health and Human Services Secretary said in a June 4 post on X."Sorry Donald, the voters decide who leads California,” Becerra added, echoing his campaign event speech to supporters on June 2. "Not you."Steyer could be slowly fading from top twoWith Hilton and Becerra showing slight gains, Steyer's share hasn't moved. The billionaire's campaign spent more than $200 million, accounting for 64% of every dollar that was spent in the primary, AdImpact noted. Despite repeatedly refreshing the secretary of state's gubernatorial primary results page and similar online sites on June 4, Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College in the tech-savvy Silicon Valley, still doesn't see a Steyer surge."What I think is going to happen is it will continue to be Hilton and Becerra at the top," Michelson said. "If Steyer is going to have any chance, he would need overwhelming support in the remaining ballots."But right now, it’s not going in Steyer’s direction," Michelson added. "We're seeing very minimal changes, but the gap between the frontrunners and Steyer is about a six percentage point difference, and that’s a lot for Steyer to overcome."It could be insurmountable, said Brian Sobel, a veteran political analyst in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sobel estimates there are about 4 million ballots yet to be counted, similar to the figure that Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc., a Sacramento-based bipartisan voter data firm, told USA TODAY on June 3."As I’m looking at these numbers in the last update, Steyer is about 400,000 votes behind Hilton, and about 100,000 behind Becerra; it doesn't look good," Sobel said. "And when other votes come in, Becerra and Steyer will probably be splitting the Democratic votes, while Hilton will be gaining votes. The math doesn't seem to be in Steyer's favor."Throw in the overall 9 million voters projected to participate in the primary, which is roughly fewer than 40% of California's 23 million registered voters, Heldman, the Occidental College political scientist, agrees."We sort of know, we feel like we know that it seems likely it will be Hilton and Becerra in the end," Heldman said. "But that's the beauty of this process. We don't."
