Early results show Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer emerging in front, with many ballots to be counted

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The high-stakes gubernatorial race inCaliforniaremained too close to call on Tuesday night, with early results showing a tight contest in the crowded race.

With many ballots still left to be counted, three candidates emerged at the top: the Republican Steve Hilton and the Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer. And results were clear enough that two Democratic candidates – the San Jose mayor, Matt Mahan, and the former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – conceded the race shortly after polls closed.

Still, much could change in the days and weeks ahead. In California, where mail-in voting is popular and great pains are taken to verify each ballot,it could take daysfor the top two candidates in both races to become clear. And many Democrats strategically held on to their ballots until the last minute, further delaying vote counts across the state.

Becerra and Hilton expressed confidence in advancing to the general election, while Steyer maintained he was still a contender.

“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,” Steyer told supporters in San Francisco on Tuesday night.

In the Los Angeles mayoral race, the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass,advancedto the general election, while the former reality TV star Spencer Pratt was leading the progressive LA city council member Nithya Raman to land the second spot on November’s ballot.

California’s primaries were the most chaotic in recent memory. A sprawling field of 61 gubernatorial hopefuls were all listed on the same primary ballot. Among them were two Democrats who had withdrawn from the race and a professor who had changed his name to Barack Obama after the 44th president of the United States was elected.

The volatile contest to succeed the term-limited Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, began with a striking absence: no clear heir apparent. After Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in 2024, many Democrats had hoped the former vice-president would return home to seek the governorship, but she had other plans.

Source: Drudge Report