Early results of the California Governor’s Race and Los Angeles Mayor’s Race

Tom Steyer’s refusal to concede while trailing badly in California’s governor count shows how early election-night numbers can become a political weapon long before the final canvass is done.

Quick Take

Tom Steyer was trailing in the early California governor count after spending heavily, with Los Angeles County results showing him behind Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton.^[1]
Early returns also showed Hilton running strongly, which fed the broader story line that voters wanted change, but those returns were still incomplete.^[1]^[3]
California’s official process allows ballots to keep arriving after Election Day and requires counties to continue counting before final certification.^[5]
The early numbers support a political narrative, but they do not yet prove a settled statewide verdict.^[5]

Steyer’s Standoff With the Early Count

Los Angeles County’s election results put Xavier Becerra first in the governor race with 390,154 votes, or 29.26 percent, while Steve Hilton followed at 304,890 votes and Tom Steyer trailed just behind at 302,610 votes, or 22.69 percent.^[1] That margin matters because Steyer’s campaign had already spent heavily, and the early count did not show him near the front. His decision not to concede reflects a common post-election tactic: keeping the spotlight on unfinished totals while hoping later ballots change the picture.

That approach also keeps alive the larger political argument around the race. Supporters of change can point to Hilton’s strong showing as evidence that voters were open to an outsider message, while Democrats can note that the lead remained with Becerra in the early county tally.^[1]^[6] But the count was not complete, and California’s election system is built around ballots that arrive after Election Day and continue through the canvass process, so the first wave of returns often overstates what is already locked in.^[5]

Why Early California Returns Are Easy to Overread

California’s Secretary of State says vote-by-mail ballots may be postmarked on or before Election Day and received later, and county officials continue counting through the official canvass before final results are certified. The Los Angeles City Clerk’s election calendar also shows a later certification deadline for local contests, reinforcing the basic point that election-night numbers are provisional.^[5] That structure makes it risky to turn an early lead or deficit into a broad political theory about the state or the country.

The same dynamic explains why election coverage often turns partial returns into a larger story about voter anger, even before the evidence is settled. In California, all-party primaries send the top two vote-getters to the general election regardless of party, which can produce unusual early headlines and mislead casual readers about the final political meaning.^[4] A candidate can look stronger in the opening count without that result proving a lasting statewide shift, especially when late-counted ballots may alter the percentages.^[4]

What the Race Suggests So Far

The early governor tally suggests that spending alone does not guarantee a commanding finish and that California voters remain open to candidates who present themselves as alternatives to the political establishment.^[1]^[3] Still, the available numbers support a narrower and more careful conclusion: Steyer was behind, Hilton was competitive, and Becerra led at the moment those results were captured.^[1] Anything stronger would go beyond what the current count can support.

That distinction matters in a state where election-night narratives can harden fast, especially when public frustration already runs high over housing costs, public safety, and government performance. The early data may encourage both parties to claim momentum, but the unfinished count means voters have not issued a final judgment yet.^[6] For now, the most defensible reading is that Steyer’s money did not produce the decisive edge his campaign may have expected, and the rest depends on ballots still being processed.