Californiait’s crowded, it’s long gubernatorial primary It’s going to take a little longer to sort out.
The race remained too early to call Wednesday morning with 50% of the expected votes counted, according to NBC News’ Decision Desk. Three leading candidates — former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican, and two Democrats, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and billionaire activist Tom Steyer — are competing for two spots in the general election, with the fourth-place candidate, Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, trailing far behind.
Hilton had 27% support in the multi-party primary with about half of the votes remaining to be counted, while Becerra had 26% and Steyer 20%. Bianco was the only other candidate in double digits, with 11 percent.
In California, all candidates run on the same ballot in primaries and the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election.
However, it is difficult to say when it will be clear which two candidates will qualify for the November general election, due to the state’s desire to prolonged vote counting.
And with millions of ballots remaining to be counted, other key races in California also remain uncalled, including the runoff to face the mayor of Los Angeles. Karen Bass one-on-one in November, several House races that could help determine the majority next year, and more.
In the race for governor, all three candidates rallied their supporters across the state as the evening wore on.
“We’re not there yet, but things are looking good,” Hilton told his allies. “It looks like Californians will actually have the chance to vote for change in November and take our state in a new direction, a new beginning for our state, which is long overdue. »
But while Hilton took first place when he spoke, Democratic candidates received the majority of votes.
Becerra reflected on his own “underdog story,” from his immigrant relatives to his run for governor, which took a long time to catch fire.
“Almost immediately he was written off, as an afterthought, overlooked by many, spent a ton, even called along the way to drop out and save us the trouble,” Becerra recounted to his supporters. “Well, guess what? The underdog stayed in the fight. Like my parents, I never gave up.”
Steyer struck a note of hope in his election night speech despite a deficit in the vote count.
“It may take some time to figure out where this leaves us, we’re going to wait for every ballot to be counted, we’re going to give democracy time to work, and we know we finished very strong,” Steyer said.
Main battlefield districts
Republican Rep. David Valadao’s district has been a top Democratic target for years, but two Democrats are locked in a tight race for second place in the November general election against the incumbent.
School board member Randy Villegas, who has won support from national progressives, has a slight lead over state lawmaker Jasmeet Bains, 30% to 26%with less than half of the expected votes counted in the 22nd district. Valadao is comfortably in first place.
And in 6th District of Northern CaliforniaRep. Kevin Kiley — who was elected as a Republican and became an independent this election cycle, while running in another newly redrawn district — is grouped in a tight race that includes Democrat Richard Pan, a former state lawmaker, and Republican Michael Stansfield. Currently, Stansfield is ahead of Pan; They spent much of Tuesday night and Wednesday morning trading leads, which could have important implications for the general election.
Meanwhile, outside California, Democrats believe they may be able to run in one of Montana’s red congressional districts this fall, after Rep. Ryan Zinke decided to retire. But less than 2 percentage points separate Democrats Sam Forstag and Ryan Busse, with more than 85% of the vote expected in their primary in Montana’s 1st District.
Read more about Tuesday’s House primaries here.
Two safe seat battles to watch
Many other districts in California — and a few elsewhere — still have shaky primaries, but two have drawn particular attention because of the outsized personalities involved.
In San Francisco, the race to succeed the outgoing representative. Nancy Pelosithe former House speaker first elected in 1987, attracted three particularly prominent Democrats. State Sen. Scott Wiener has qualified for the general election, according to NBC News projections, but second place is still up for grabs, with Pelosi-backed Connie Chan leading progressive activist Saikat Chakrabarti, 29% to 15%.
And in Southern California, where two Republican incumbents are facing off in a district due to redistricting, Rep. Ken Calvert has advanced to the general election, but Rep. Young Kim is still fighting for second place. She leads Democrat Esther Kim-Varet in the race for second place, 22% to 16%, with about half the vote.
Who will Bass face in Los Angeles?
Although Bass is expected to advance to the November runoff in Los Angeles, it is not yet clear whether she will face the Republicans. Spencer Pratt or the Democrat Nithya Raman.
Bass has about 37% of the vote so far to Pratt’s 29% and Raman’s 21%, with about half of the expected votes counted.
Speaking to supporters on election night, Raman, the Los Angeles City Council member, said that “tonight may not give us a definitive answer on this race.”
“Thousands of votes will be counted in the days to come, and we may not get the answer we want, but whatever happens next, no one, no one can take away what we have all built together,” she continued.
Pratt, meanwhile, considered a possible clash with Bass when speaking to reporters.
“Now I have five months to go deep into every community that hasn’t heard my message and keep them safe,” said Pratt, a former reality TV star. “So I’m very excited, because I felt very rushed. It’s a big city and I haven’t been able to talk to as many people as I would have looked forward to talking to.”
Bass also projected optimism, telling his backers, “We still have a lot to do, but so far, everything is going well.” »
