Two days after California polls closed, Democrat Xavier Becerra climbed in the gubernatorial primary race as election officials continued counting a massive influx of mail-in ballots, with only 57 percent of votes tallied by Thursday evening.
Republican Maintains Lead Despite Mail Ballot Surge
Republican candidate Steve Hilton maintained his position at the top of the field with 1,532,530 votes representing 27.17 percent, according to the latest count released Thursday. Becerra, who served as Health and Human Services Secretary under President Biden, secured second place with 1,468,875 votes at 26.04 percent. Democrat Tom Steyer trailed in third with 1,139,578 votes at 20.18 percent. The shifting margins between Tuesday night and Thursday afternoon showed Becerra and Steyer gaining ground as election workers processed mail-in ballots that arrived after election day.
Trump Raises Rigging Allegations
President Trump addressed reporters at the White House late Wednesday and into Thursday, claiming Democrats were attempting to manipulate the California primary results. The President specifically pointed to the continuing ballot count and changing vote totals. Trump stated that officials discovered numerous mail-in ballots overnight, expressing concerns about the integrity of the counting process. His comments focused on what he characterized as suspicious patterns in the vote tabulation, particularly the rapid changes in reported numbers favoring Democratic candidates after election night concluded.
Newsom’s Secret Plan Resurfaces
The close primary race renewed attention to recent comments by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who publicly acknowledged having a confidential strategy to prevent a Republican from winning the governorship. Newsom described this approach as a break-the-glass emergency plan, though he provided no details about specific measures or tactics. His statement came before the June 3 primary election, when polls showed competitive races between Republican and Democratic candidates. The governor’s remarks took on new significance as mail-in ballots continued arriving and shifting the vote counts in favor of Democratic contenders Becerra and Steyer.
Extended Count Continues
California election officials indicated that ballot counting would continue for several more days as they processed remaining mail-in and provisional ballots. State election law allows mail ballots postmarked by election day to arrive up to seven days later and still be counted. With 43 percent of ballots still uncounted Thursday evening, the final outcome remained uncertain. The extended counting period, while standard procedure under California law, generated controversy given the significant vote margin changes between election night and subsequent days of tabulation.