California Primary 2026: Becerra and Hilton Lead Governor's Race as Votes Are Counted
California Election Results 2026 | Updated: June 3, 2026
The California primary election results are still being tallied the morning after Election Day, and the race for governor of California remains too close to call — but the contours of November's battle are beginning to take shape. Democrat Xavier Becerra and Trump-endorsed Republican Steve Hilton are leading the pack, with Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer fighting to keep his campaign alive as late ballots continue coming in from across the state.
Here is everything you need to know about the California governor primary, who is winning, and what these results mean for the Golden State heading into November.
California Primary 2026: What We Know So Far
The California primary election took place on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, with polls closing across the state at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time. As with past elections, the California primary election results will not be finalized quickly. Ballots postmarked by Election Day can legally arrive as late as June 9 and still be counted. County elections officials have until July 3, 2026, to report final results to the Secretary of State, who will certify them on July 10.
So if you are searching "who won the California governor race" today, the honest answer is: we don't know yet — and anyone who tells you otherwise is getting ahead of the data.
That said, the early returns from the ca election results are pointing strongly in one direction. Xavier Becerra leads the Democratic field, while Steve Hilton holds his position as the top Republican. The critical — and still unanswered — question is whether Steyer or Hilton will claim the second spot in November's general election.
Who Is Leading the California Governor Race?
Based on early California election results 2026, Xavier Becerra has emerged as the frontrunner, a stunning development for a candidate who was polling in the single digits just weeks ago. Becerra, a former U.S. congressman, California attorney general, and most recently Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden, was barely a blip on the political radar as recently as April. His dramatic surge is one of the most remarkable comeback stories in recent California political history.
Steve Hilton holds the top Republican position. The British-born conservative commentator and former Fox News host has maintained a consistent presence near the top of the polls throughout the spring, propelled by his Trump endorsement and his populist message of change after 16 years of Democratic control of the state.
Tom Steyer, the Democratic billionaire activist, spent more than $213 million of his own money on the race — the most expensive gubernatorial campaign in California history — and finished in third place in early returns. His campaign has insisted votes are still being counted and that he can close the gap.
How California's Primary System Works
For voters unfamiliar with why Democrats and Republicans appear on the same ballot, California uses a nonpartisan blanket primary — also called the "jungle primary" or "top-two primary" — established by Proposition 14 in 2010. All candidates for governor, regardless of party, appear on a single ballot open to every registered voter. The top two vote-getters, no matter their party affiliation, advance to the November 3, 2026, general election.
This means it is entirely possible — and has happened before in California — that two candidates from the same party face each other in the general election. This year, it also means that a Republican winning a spot in the top two is genuinely achievable, since the fragmented Democratic field could theoretically allow the top two Republicans, Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, to lock Democrats out of November altogether. That fear animated much of the Democratic primary strategy for months.
In total, 60 candidates appeared on the California governor's ballot this year, making it one of the most crowded gubernatorial primaries in state history.
Who Is Steve Hilton? The British Candidate Hoping to Lead California
One of the most-searched questions heading into Election Day was simply: who is Steve Hilton? For many Californians, this was their first close look at the Republican frontrunner.
Hilton is a British-born political operative and media figure who grew up in London after his family emigrated from Hungary. He attended New College, Oxford, and rose to prominence in British politics as Director of Strategy for Prime Minister David Cameron — a senior advisory role at the heart of 10 Downing Street. After leaving British politics, Hilton moved to California's Silicon Valley, co-founded a tech startup, and eventually became a prominent conservative voice as host of "The Next Revolution" on Fox News for six years.
Hilton became a United States citizen in 2021. Unlike the U.S. presidency, which requires candidates to be natural-born citizens, California law requires only that a gubernatorial candidate be a U.S. citizen — meaning Hilton is fully eligible to serve as governor of California.
His campaign slogan, "Make California Golden Again," is a deliberate echo of Trump's political brand, and that alignment paid dividends: President Trump issued a full endorsement of Hilton in April, declaring on Truth Social that he had "COMPLETE & TOTAL" confidence in Hilton to turn the state around. That endorsement helped Hilton consolidate Republican support and pull ahead of the other major Republican in the race, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
Hilton has campaigned on a platform he calls making California "Califordable" — cutting regulations, reducing taxes, cracking down on crime, and ending what he calls the Democrats' "one-party rule" that has governed the state for 16 years. At his watch party in Huntington Beach on election night, he told supporters it was "the honor of his lifetime" to receive over one million votes, and declared that "change is coming to California and it's long overdue."
Xavier Becerra: The Ultimate Comeback Candidate
The other major story of the ca governor race is the extraordinary rise of Xavier Becerra. For most of the campaign, Becerra was an afterthought — a familiar name in California Democratic politics who could not seem to generate excitement or poll numbers.
His background is as credentialed as they come. Becerra served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 24 years, representing Los Angeles. He became California's first Latino attorney general in 2017, a role in which he became known nationally for aggressively suing the Trump administration on issues from immigration to healthcare. He then served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Biden, overseeing the nation's public health response during a critical period.
And yet, through most of the 2026 campaign, polls showed Becerra stuck in single digits, buried under a crowded Democratic field that at one point included Rep. Eric Swalwell, who was gaining momentum before his campaign collapsed in April amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Swalwell's exit proved to be a turning point that primarily benefited Becerra, whose numbers began climbing rapidly.
By late May, polls from the Public Policy Institute of California showed Becerra at 23%, with a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey putting him at 25%. He had gone from irrelevant to frontrunner in a matter of weeks.
At his election-night watch party in Los Angeles, Becerra leaned into his underdog narrative. Drawing on his upbringing as the son of immigrant parents who came to California seeking opportunity, he told the crowd: "Here in Hollywood's hometown, we love a good underdog success story." He credited both his personal resilience and the faith of his supporters: "The underdog stayed in the fight. Like my parents, I never gave up."
Tom Steyer: $213 Million and Still Fighting
The Becerra vs. Steyer subplot may ultimately be what defines these California election results. Steyer, the 68-year-old Democratic megadonor and former presidential candidate, poured more than $213 million of his own fortune into the governor's race — a record-breaking sum for a California gubernatorial primary.
Steyer built his campaign on a progressive, populist message focused on economic affordability, corporate accountability, and climate action. He pointed to his background as a successful hedge fund founder who walked away from Wall Street to pursue progressive causes — founding NextGen America and running for president in 2020 — as evidence that he could be both a pragmatic executive and a genuine change agent.
At his election-night watch party in San Francisco, Steyer showed no signs of conceding ground. With mail ballots still being counted, he told supporters: "Together, we've scared the hell out of the corporate interests used to getting their way." He vowed to wait until every ballot is counted, noting that his campaign had "finished really strong" in the final days.
That claim is more than spin. Ballot-tracking data heading into Tuesday showed an unusual and potentially important pattern: Republicans were more likely to have voted early by mail, while many Democratic voters held onto their mail ballots or chose to vote in person on Election Day. This reversal of recent election patterns means that the later-counted ballots — which arrive over the coming days — are expected to skew more Democratic, which could shift the standings significantly.
California Governor Race Polls: What the Numbers Said Before Election Day
The final pre-election California governor polls showed a tight three-way race at the top. The Public Policy Institute of California's late-May survey showed Becerra at 23%, Hilton at 20%, Steyer at 15%, and Chad Bianco at 13%, with Katie Porter at 12%. A UC Berkeley IGS poll conducted around the same time showed Becerra at 25%, Hilton at 21%, and Steyer at 19%.
An Emerson College poll released the week before the election found Becerra at 19%, with Steyer and Hilton essentially tied at 17% each for the second spot. The polling consensus pointed to Becerra finishing first but left the second slot genuinely contested between Hilton and Steyer.
One notable pre-election data point: Hilton's voters were the most locked in, with 73% saying they would definitely not change their vote. By contrast, roughly half of both Becerra's and Steyer's supporters said they could still change their minds — a reflection of the volatility in the Democratic race that defined the final weeks of the campaign.
Why So Many Big-Name Democrats Sat This One Out
An undercurrent in the California primary 2026 was the prominent absence of several high-profile Democrats who chose not to run. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who represented California in the U.S. Senate for four years and served as state attorney general before that, declined to enter the race despite considerable speculation. U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and California Attorney General Rob Bonta also passed on what would have been a high-profile opportunity.
The exits reshaped the field in ways that are still playing out. Democratic voters were left choosing among a large number of credentialed but lower-profile candidates, contributing to the prolonged confusion that kept no single Democrat dominant until very late in the race. Becerra's surge came in part because Democratic voters, increasingly anxious that the split field might hand November's ballot to two Republicans, coalesced around the most experienced and nationally recognized name remaining.
The Swalwell Factor: How One Scandal Changed the Race
No single event shaped the California governor race more than the implosion of Rep. Eric Swalwell's campaign in April. Swalwell, a Democratic congressman from the Bay Area, had been rising in polls and accumulating endorsements — running as a sharp-elbowed progressive willing to fight Trump and take risks. Many analysts believed he had a genuine shot at the top spot.
Then sexual assault and harassment allegations surfaced against him. Swalwell resigned from Congress and denied the assault allegations, but his campaign was finished. His exit sent Democratic voters scrambling, and the evidence suggests Becerra was the primary beneficiary — the former HHS secretary's numbers began climbing almost immediately after Swalwell stepped aside.
The episode also quieted the deep anxiety among California Democrats that a chaotic, crowded primary could result in both Hilton and Bianco advancing to November, locking the Democratic Party out of the governor's race entirely. Becerra's subsequent surge made that scenario unlikely, though not impossible until the final votes are counted.
What Happens Next: The Road to November
The November 3, 2026, general election is still months away, but the California primary 2026 results are already shaping what that contest will look like. If — as current results suggest — Becerra and Hilton are the top-two finishers, California voters will face a stark choice in November: an experienced Democratic establishment figure running on competence and resistance to Trump, versus a conservative media personality and Trump ally running on disruption and change.
A Becerra vs. Hilton matchup would be one of the most nationally watched governor's races of the cycle. California has not had a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011. Hilton would need to dramatically outperform historical Republican numbers in a state where Democrats hold a significant registration advantage. But 2026 is an unpredictable year, and voter frustration with California's high costs, housing crisis, and quality-of-life concerns has given Republican arguments more traction than they have had in years.
If Steyer manages to close the gap and claim second place, the general election becomes a Democratic primary run-off of sorts — a November contest between two very different visions of the Democratic Party, with Steyer's self-funded progressive populism squared off against Becerra's more traditional establishment liberalism.
Regardless of who advances, one thing is clear: outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom — term-limited and increasingly focused on the national stage — is leaving behind a state where the political landscape is more volatile than at any point in recent memory. His successor, whoever it turns out to be, will inherit a California grappling with affordability, homelessness, climate change, and its complicated relationship with Washington.
How to Check the Latest California Election Results
If you want to track the latest California election results 2026 as votes are counted, the most reliable sources are:
California Secretary of State (sos.ca.gov) — the official source for certified vote totals
CalMatters (calmatters.org) — California-focused journalism with real-time results
The Associated Press — the authoritative wire service used by most major outlets
NBC News, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times — all tracking live results
Remember: because California mails ballots to every registered active voter, and because those ballots can arrive up to seven days after Election Day, the final ca election results 2026 may not be known for weeks. The Secretary of State will certify the results on July 10, 2026.
Key Dates for the California Governor Election
June 2, 2026 — California Primary Election Day (polls were open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.)
June 9, 2026 — Last day for mail ballots postmarked June 2 to arrive and be counted
July 3, 2026 — Deadline for county officials to report final results to the Secretary of State
July 10, 2026 — Secretary of State certifies the official California primary results
November 3, 2026 — California General Election; top two primary finishers compete for governor
This article will be updated as additional California voting results become available. All polling data cited reflects surveys conducted prior to the June 2 primary.
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