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California election officials are continuing to tally votes in the Golden State's top two primary elections, as voters wait to see who will face off in November to become their next governor and the next leader of their most populated city.Californians visited the polls on Tuesday June 2 and cast their ballots in the primaries. But there's a catch: The state's non-partisan races, known as a "jungle primaries" pit all candidates against each other regardless of their party. Then, the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election.Gubernatorial candidates are vying to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.Los Angeles residents also voted for their new mayor. Democratic incumbent Karen Bass is running for a second term, facing challengers from the left and right.Here's what to know about the state's top races and where the front runners stand.Who is winning California governor race?As of June 8, the primary race for California's governorship was still too close to call. But that's not an abnormality – Californian election officials are working through a deluge of mail-in ballots, a major slice of the vote in the state.Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, has already received the votes necessary to move forward to the general election. Republican Steve Hilton remains in second place to reach the November race.Democrat Tom Steyer remained in third place as votes continued to be tallied.As of Monday morning, the California Secretary of State's office reports Hilton has received over 1.79 million votes, Becerra over 1.88 million, and Steyer over 1.4 million.Who's winning the Los Angeles mayoral race?In Los Angeles, Bass remained in first place as of June 8, and she's received enough votes to move forward to the November general election.Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman pulled ahead of former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, who has lost significant ground in his bid to become mayor of Los Angeles. The movement came after a new ballot drop on June 7.As of Monday morning, Los Angeles County online election results showed Bass garnered more than 250,000 votes, Raman had received over 196,000. Pratt remained in third place with just over 193,000 votes.Trump alleges without evidence that California elections are 'rigged'Trump abruptly ended an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired on June 7 after he was challenged for saying without evidence that California's elections are "rigged."The president cut the interview short after the topic turned to the state's slow counting of ballots.Trump said the "elections are rigged" by Democrats and accused California election officials of being "crooked," echoing the same baseless allegations he's made about his 2020 presidential election loss.California election officials have acknowledged that the vote-counting process regularly takes longer in the Golden State due to the prevalence of mail-in ballots.Contributing: Joey GarrisonNatalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
