California Primary 2026: Raman Surges on Pratt, Becerra Edges Ahead in Still-Fluid Counts

Three days after California's June 2026 primary, the state's biggest races remain unresolved — and late-arriving ballots are scrambling the early results. In the Los Angeles mayoral race, reality TV personality and Republican Spencer Pratt led on election night with enough early fanfare to draw media crews to his party, but progressive City Council member Nithya Raman has been steadily closing the gap. Friday's updated returns cut Pratt's lead in half: he now holds 28.2% to Raman's 24.9%. If that trend continues, Raman would leapfrog Pratt into the runoff against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass — transforming what might have been a Democrat-vs.-Republican general election into an intraparty fight over Los Angeles's approach to housing and homelessness.

In the governor's race, former Biden cabinet member Xavier Becerra overtook Fox News host Steve Hilton for the first time since polls closed on Friday, leading 26.7% to Hilton's 26.4%. The Associated Press called Becerra's spot in the general election official. Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer sits in third at 21%, roughly five points behind Hilton, making it an open question whether the runoff will feature two Democrats or a Democrat-Republican matchup. California Republicans, a distinct minority in the state, unified behind Hilton, who carries a Trump endorsement. Democrats, meanwhile, fielded a crowded and widely described as uninspiring field, producing a fragmented vote that the results so far confirm.

The slow count is a structural feature of California's heavily mail-ballot system, which demands significant labor to certify and tabulate. This cycle appears to have attracted unusually high turnout — over nine million ballots cast statewide compared to roughly seven million in each of the past two primaries — with more than three million still uncounted. Compounding the delay, many voters waited until the final days to submit their ballots, and county update schedules vary widely, with some releasing new figures only twice a week.

President Trump injected himself into the process with a 1:05 a.m. Thursday post claiming Democrats were stealing the election in California — echoing his long-running and evidence-free election fraud claims. He also prematurely congratulated Steve Hilton for finishing first while millions of ballots remained uncounted. In response, a Justice Department assistant U.S. attorney toured the Los Angeles County vote-processing center in the City of Industry on Friday. Governor Gavin Newsom's office pushed back publicly, calling out the misinformation and posting an explainer video on California's counting timeline.

Beyond the marquee races, Friday's returns brought some relief for Democrats in a Sacramento-area House district redrawn to favor the party. Former state lawmaker Richard Pan climbed into second place, potentially rescuing Democrats from a scenario where five candidates split the vote and none advanced to the general. In San Francisco, a proposed tax on high-paid CEOs — backed by unions and city officials — was losing in early returns, a signal that arguments against broader wealth taxes may be gaining traction, even as tech-backed candidates underperformed in the governor's race and congressional contests.