Many of California's primary races are still too close to call

Here's what we know about the results from the gubernatorial and congressional primaries in California.

Transcript

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

Primary day in six states yesterday, and while the political parties and pundits are eager for information about this midterm year, they're going to have to keep waiting for results from the biggest state - California. Many of the races there are too close to call, as California counts mail-in ballots. As of now, that hyper crowded competition to replace Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is looking like it could come down to Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton.

The primaries in California were also the first test of Democrats' rebuttal to President Trump's redistricting fight. Last year, California voters allowed the state to redraw the U.S. House map to lean five more seats for Democrats. We will talk about those races and more with CapRadio's political reporter Laura Fitzgerald, who joins us from Sacramento. Hey, Laura.

LAURA FITZGERALD, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.

DETROW: Let's start with that governor's race. Who is leading as of right now?

FITZGERALD: Well, early results show Republican candidate Steve Hilton is in the lead. He's a former Fox News commentator and actually got President Donald Trump's endorsement in the race here in California. And, Scott, you might not expect a Republican to be in the lead here in California. But here, most races are a top-two primary, meaning the two candidates who get the most votes in the primary end up advancing to the general election regardless of what party they're in. And more Democrats were running, meaning they'd each get a smaller percentage of the votes.

Xavier Becerra is leading the pack of Democrats in the race. He's got a lengthy political career - kind of a fixture of California's Democratic establishment. He was state attorney general. He was Health and Human Services secretary for the Biden administration. And then in third, you have Democratic candidate Tom Steyer. He's a climate activist and a former hedge fund manager. And Steyer is a billionaire, and he actually put $213 million of his own money into his campaign for governor, making it the most expensive gubernatorial campaign in California history.

DETROW: This race had so many twists and turns. Some of them were pretty shocking. Looking back on it now, as we're counting votes, what stands out to you?

FITZGERALD: You're so right. This race really has been unlike any other governor's race in recent California state history. It all really started with this question of whether Vice President Kamala Harris would run. Last summer, she announced that she was passing on the race. Then former representative Eric Swalwell was really starting to gain traction, but his campaign eventually imploded in mid-April when he suspended his candidacy amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. He also resigned from Congress that same week. Then - I mean, that was really the turning point in this race. Becerra had been among the lower polling Democrats, but he really saw a surge in support after Swalwell's exit. A lot of Swalwell's supporters were looking for who to turn to. And that really made Becerra the Democratic front-runner.

DETROW: Yeah. And another race, as I mentioned this at the top - this is the first election with California's new congressional map. This is the one that voters passed last November, and it was designed to give Democrats an edge. What are the early results telling us about that?

FITZGERALD: Yeah. There were five districts redrawn here in California to try to benefit Democrats. And one that's really worth mentioning that I'm following here in Sacramento is Representative Kevin Kiley. He was very outspoken against the redistricting here, and his district drastically changed under California's new congressional map. He's a former Republican, but now he's running as an independent. And it's looking like that strategy is paying off for him. He's probably going to advance to the November election, but it could be him and a Republican in this race in a district that leans Democratic. So...

DETROW: Interesting.

FITZGERALD: ...Democrats could really be sweating this.

DETROW: That is CapRadio political reporter Laura Fitzgerald in Sacramento. Thank you so much.

FITZGERALD: Thank you for having me, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.