California governor primary opens crowded race, results expected to take days
California’s governor’s race is a test of the top-two system, with 61 candidates, $315 million in spending and a field split between Democratic contenders and Republican hopefuls.
California’s governor’s primary was set up as a referendum on the state’s political direction before November: whether the top-two system would elevate the broadest statewide appeal or reward the most disciplined ideological base. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s term limit opened the race, and with 61 candidates on the ballot, the contest became one of the most crowded governor’s races in recent memory.
The money matched the size of the field. The campaign had already surpassed $315 million in ad spending and reservations, according to AdImpact, and a mid-May Public Policy Institute of California poll cited by ABC News showed Xavier Becerra at 23 percent, Steve Hilton at 20 percent, Tom Steyer at 15 percent, Chad Bianco at 13 percent and Katie Porter at 12 percent. That spread underscored the central question in California politics: whether Democrats could consolidate behind one candidate or whether the state’s top-two system could hand both general-election slots to Republicans.
That concern was not abstract. POLITICO reported in February that Porter, Eric Swalwell and Steyer were effectively tied atop the Democratic field, while Hilton and Bianco emerged as the leading Republicans. Then the field shifted again. Betty Yee withdrew on April 21 and endorsed Steyer, arguing by action that lower-profile candidates were being squeezed by polling and viability concerns. Swalwell suspended his campaign in April after sexual misconduct allegations, but he remained on the ballot because he missed the withdrawal deadline. Donald Trump endorsed Hilton on April 6, helping focus Republican attention around the former Fox News host.
Election officials warned that the count would not resolve quickly. Polls closed at 8 p.m. California time, but the California Secretary of State said unofficial results would update county by county as local offices reported in, and ballots would continue moving through the canvass period after Election Night. The state’s election results page listed 19,788 precincts statewide. Final official results are due by July 3, 2026, and certification is scheduled for July 10, leaving the country’s largest state with a governor’s race whose outcome may be defined as much by turnout patterns and regional breaks as by any first-night lead.
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