Vote tallies in California's gubernatorial primary and Los Angeles mayoral race remained incomplete nearly 48 hours after polls closed on Tuesday. President Donald Trump accused Democrats of stealing the elections through delayed counting. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass leads the mayoral contest and has secured a runoff spot.
With 58 percent of votes reported Thursday evening, Republican Steve Hilton led the gubernatorial primary at 27.2 percent, ahead of Democrat Xavier Becerra at 25.9 percent and Tom Steyer at 20.1 percent. Millions of ballots remain uncounted under the state's top-two system. In the Los Angeles mayoral race, 66 percent of votes had been counted by Thursday evening. Bass held 35.1 percent, followed by Republican Spencer Pratt at 29.4 percent and Councilmember Nithya Raman at 23.4 percent. Bass has already advanced to the November runoff. Trump posted on Truth Social late Wednesday and Thursday that Democrats were “stealing the vote” and questioned the delay. Bass responded on X that Trump raises such claims only when MAGA candidates like Pratt trail, adding that Los Angeles will count every vote. Officials said the extended timeline stems from California's mail-in ballot system, which accepts postmarked ballots up to seven days after Election Day, along with signature verification and ballot curing processes that can stretch results out for up to three weeks.
