California officials continue to count ballots in June 2 governor primary, tally could take weeks

The California primary was June 2, yet ballots continue to be counted across the nation's most populous state.

By Ian Maile

Published: June 9, 2026 4:10pm

California may be just three hours behind the East Coast, but its election system is light-years behind in counting votes. More than a week after polls closed, election officials are still tallying ballots, with certification of results not expected until later this month.

In Los Angeles, incumbent Democratic Mayor Karen Bass and Progressive Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman secured enough votes to advance to the November general election. On Monday evening, the Associated Press projected Raman would claim the second spot after overtaking candidate Spencer Pratt, a registered Republican, over the past couple of days.

However, the race to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom remains undecided.

Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and Democrat Xavier Becerra is projected to advance to the General Election, but who he faces in November is still up in the air.

With roughly 82.9% of votes counted, Decision Desk HQ projected Monday evening that Republican Steve Hilton will advance to California's top-two general election alongside Becerra.

While still waiting until the Associated Press officials call the race, Hilton nevertheless celebrated the Decision Desk projection on social media Monday night: "Thank you so much for all your congratulations!" Hilton wrote on X. "We always said we would wait for @APRaceCalls before declaring victory so we're not popping the champagne just yet ... but it's definitely time for a beer!"

As of Tuesday afternoon, results show Becerra with more than 2.17 million votes, Hilton with 1.97 million votes, and Democrat Tom Steyer trailing Hilton by 215,000 with 1.76 million votes.

Republicans including President Trump have raised concerns about the amount of time California takes in its election process. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Monday, "I think everybody knows instinctively, something is wrong here, and that’s a concern.”

California officials have defended the state's lengthy vote-counting process, pointing to the large number of mail-in ballots that must be verified and processed before final results can be certified.