The high-profile primary for California governor is still undecided as of Wednesday evening, with Republican Steve Hilton and Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer vying for two spots in the general election. Hilton maintains a lead following the initial post-election night results, but Becerra and Steyer have made gains in nearly every county that has reported, narrowing Hilton’s early advantage.

Vote Counting Process

California is known for its lengthy vote-counting process, largely due to the millions of mail ballots that are processed. Some of these ballots arrive after Election Day but are still counted if postmarked by the deadline and received by June 9. Additionally, provisional ballots cast on Election Day require further verification.

Counties across California are currently reporting mail ballots that arrived close to or after Election Day. The reporting schedule varies, with some counties like Los Angeles updating results daily, while others may only update a few times a week. All counties must finalize their election results by July 2.

Trends in Voting

Historically, Democratic candidates tend to improve their standing as more votes are counted, a pattern seen in previous elections. For instance, during the 2024 Senate primary, Democratic candidates increased their combined vote share from 57.3% to 59.5% as mail ballots were counted. This trend is attributed to Democrats’ preference for voting by mail, while Republicans often vote on Election Day.

This year, Democratic voters have returned their ballots at a slower pace than in past elections, according to Political Data, Inc., a Democratic-aligned data firm. This could mean a larger share of the remaining votes are Democratic, potentially impacting the final outcome of the primary.

The key question in the coming days is whether the shift in votes will be significant enough to displace Hilton from one of the top two positions.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.