Election 2026 updates: CA gov race remains close between Hilton, Becerra as count continues

California's elections are never quite over on Election Day, and this year is no different.

The state's big population and its universal vote-by-mail system add to the time it takes to count the large volume of ballots counties will receive.

In the 2024 general election, for instance, mail ballots accounted for a little more than 80% of the 16.1 million ballots cast that November. Typically, county election officials first process ballots received before Election Day as they roll in and post those results quickly.

But, under state law, mail ballots can be received at local election offices up to seven days after the election, as long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day. And officials must verify ballots before they can be counted.

It's typical for mail ballots counted in the days after the election to skew Democratic.

And in this election, Democratic voters appeared to be returning their ballots at a slower pace than in past elections, according to data from Political Data, Inc., a Democratic-aligned data firm, suggesting that the trend could be even more pronounced.

Where things stand

In the California governor's race, Democratic former US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is in strong position to get one of the two slots in the November election given how votes counted after Election Day in California are typically more Democratic. The other slot is likely to go either Republican former Fox News host Steve Hilton or Democratic billionaire investor Tom Steyer.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass advanced to the November election. Republican former reality TV star Spencer Pratt landed in second place behind Bass in the first reports, but later updates found him losing ground to progressive city councilmember Nithya Raman. That trend, coupled with the expected Democratic shift from ballots counted after Election Day, means the second spot remains too early to call.

Gubernatorial candidates have told their supporters to prepare for slow results and less-than-typical trends as the count goes on.

Steyer's campaign said a larger share of Democratic votes are expected to be counted later in the process than in previous elections. Meanwhile, the Trump-endorsed Hilton said he hasn't "seen anything" that would raise concerns about the validity of the results but criticized the slow process in California.

In an interview with CNN, Hilton called it "ridiculous" that the state has "a system where it could take days or even weeks to get election results."

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With just under 50% of the expected votes counted, ABC News projects that incumbent Karen Bass will advance to the November runoff for Los Angeles mayor.

On Tuesday night, Bass was leading the pack with 37% of the vote. She would need over 50% of the vote to outright win the election and avoid a runoff.

ABC News has not yet projected who Bass' opponent will be in the November election. At last check, Spencer Pratt was in second place with 30% of the vote, followed by Nithya Raman with 21%.

Kate Porter, the only major female candidate in a crowded Democratic field for California governor, conceded in the race Tuesday night.

Katie Porter, the only major female candidate in a crowded Democratic field for California governor, conceded in the race Tuesday night.

Porter released her remarks in a social media video.

Her campaign focused on housing affordability and eliminating state income tax for middle-class residents, with an explicit platform to abolish ICE.

Porter was the only major candidate for governor that did not accept corporate donations.

Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer told supporters he and his backers "know we finished really strong."

Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer told supporters he and his backers "know we finished really strong."

Steyer pledged to advance progressive policies like universal healthcare and aggressive climate policy, ideas he reiterated as votes were still being tallied.

"We should have a system based on fairness, not on asking for fairness," he said.

Steyer's campaign spent or booked more than $203 million in ads for broadcast TV, cable and radio, yielding accusations from some that he had tried to buy the election.

But Steyer noted that major corporate interests, including a major California utility, dumped money into defeating him because he's the candidate willing to take them on.

"I welcome their hatred," Steyer said.