Since primary night on June 2, California's results have been trickling in at a pace that would embarrass a third-world democracy — and both parties are furious about it.

Where the Numbers Stand

In the California governor's race, early returns from the jungle primary — where the top two finishers advance regardless of party — put Democrat Xavier Becerra narrowly ahead with 26.4% of the vote to Republican Steve Hilton's 25.7%, according to the NY Post. That is NOT a safe lead. It's 0.7 percentage points with a fraction of precincts reporting.

Progressive billionaire Tom Steyer trails in third at 19.7%, having dumped more than $200 million of his own money into the race. Former congresswoman Katie Porter sits at 5.1%, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan at 4.3%, and former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at just 1.6%.

Those bottom-of-the-pack numbers are brutal for Villaraigosa. He was supposed to be the establishment Latino Democrat who would consolidate the party's base. He is currently being lapped by people most Californians couldn't pick out of a lineup.

Hilton's Path Is Real — But Unproven

Hilton, the former Fox News host who received Donald Trump's endorsement in April, is running on a platform that California's dysfunction has made every other candidate's message look tone-deaf. Fox News reported Hilton called himself "very excited" heading into primary night.

He's not wrong to be. A Republican finishing in the top two of a California statewide primary would be the biggest political earthquake in Sacramento in a generation. But the key word is "finishing." The votes are still being counted.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, the other major GOP contender, sits at 11.7% — far enough back that he's almost certainly out. That consolidates the Republican lane around Hilton.

If Hilton and Becerra end up as the November matchup, California Democrats will have selected the most polarizing possible establishment figure — a former Biden Cabinet secretary — to defend deep-blue California against a MAGA-endorsed outsider in a year when voters across the country are screaming for change.

LA Mayor: Bass Is in Real Trouble

The LA mayoral race tells a similar story. A California Post/McLaughlin & Associates poll conducted days before June 2 showed Spencer Pratt — yes, the reality TV personality — leading incumbent Karen Bass 30.1% to 29.5%, with left-wing Councilwoman Nithya Raman at 23.4%.

The sitting mayor of America's second-largest city is statistically tied with a man most people know from The Hills.

Bass's vulnerability is straightforward. The January 2025 Pacific Palisades fires destroyed homes and devastated communities while Bass was out of the country. Voters have not forgotten, and they have not forgiven.

"I voted for Pratt because our apartment burned down in the Palisades. I felt like everybody kind of abandoned us," Marissa Abel told the NY Post outside a polling location. Pratt himself lost his home in the same fire. For fire victims, that's not a gimmick — that's solidarity.

Of the roughly dozen voters the Post spoke to outside polling locations on Election Day, not one supported Bass — despite many saying they valued experience in government.

Turnout Is Up — Nobody Knows Who That Helps

LA County cast more than 1.3 million ballots as of polls closing at 8 p.m. Tuesday, a roughly 2-3% increase over 2022 primary turnout, according to the NY Post citing the LA County Registrar's Office.

Analyst John Fleischman told the Post the increase reflects more registered voters, not just more enthusiasm. Democratic consultant Steven Maviglio credited the competitive races themselves.

"The governor's race is a contested primary; 2022 wasn't," Maviglio told the Post. "The mayor's race in the city is generating national buzz."

As for who that turnout benefits — nobody knows yet. Fleischman noted that the traditional pattern of Democrats voting early and Republicans voting late appeared to shift this cycle. That's significant. Early ballot counts in California historically skew Democratic. If Republicans are voting early too, the final count could look very different from the opening numbers.

California's Counting Problem Is Everyone's Problem

The sluggish vote counting is being "ripped across the political spectrum," as Fox News put it — and for once, that framing is accurate.

LA County Registrar Dean Logan held a press conference defending the timeline, saying: "I want to emphasize that it's not stupid. It's not crazy. It's actually the law in California."

Fair point on the legality. It is California law. But California's law also produces situations where the most watched state in the union takes weeks to finalize results for elections that happened in an evening. That's a policy choice. California's legislature made it. Voters are allowed to decide whether it's a good one.

What We Know So Far

California is counting. Slowly. The numbers already show the state's Democratic establishment is weaker than it looks on paper, Republican voters have a real candidate with real momentum, and Los Angeles's incumbent mayor is fighting for her political life against a man who turned personal tragedy into a campaign.

The results will trickle in over days. California voters want change, and they may have found candidates willing to deliver it.