{"id":319567,"date":"2026-05-17T02:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/319567\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T02:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:46:15","slug":"california-sees-massive-surge-in-republican-votes-as-more-than-900k-ballots-already-returned-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/319567\/","title":{"rendered":"California sees massive surge in Republican votes as more than 900K ballots already returned"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could the state of California actually be turning red<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Early voters in the Golden State have already returned more than 900,000 ballots ahead of the June 2 Primary, showing a massive surge in Republican votes<\/a> compared to four years ago for the governor\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

A post on Saturday from the research firm Political Data (PDI)<\/a> showed that out of 905,889 ballots that have been returned, 37% were from Republicans, with Republican returns up 11% compared to the same stage of the 2022 midterms.<\/p>\n

\"More<\/p>\n

More than 900,000 ballots ahead of the June 2 Primary show a massive surge in Republican votes. Godofredo A. V\u00e1squez\/Pool AP via AP<\/p>\n

More shocking is the fact that the data showed 41% of Democrats who have returned their ballots, down 13 points from the same moment in the primary election four years ago.<\/p>\n

When comparing the 2022 numbers to 2026 the difference is stark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

41% (-13)-Democrats<\/p>\n

37% (+11)- Republicans<\/p>\n

22% (+2)-Independents\/other<\/p>\n

Vice President with PDI Paul Mitchell attributed the early numbers to two different things.<\/p>\n

\"Vice<\/p>\n

Vice President with PDI Paul Mitchell attributed the early numbers two to different things. Godofredo A. V\u00e1squez\/Pool AP via AP<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans are potentially returning their ballots at a pre-2020 rate, before [President Donald]Trump and other leaders discouraged it,\u201d Mitchell told The Post.<\/p>\n

And the second, he said that \u201csome Democrats are holding on to their ballot to make sure their vote isn\u2019t wasted, so that they get to vote for someone that makes it to the top two.\u201d<\/p>\n

A post on X from Central Valley Politics<\/a> celebrated the early voting results mapping out how each county is faring, showing huge swaths of the state blood red for Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia Republicans are currently killing it in the early vote, so I decided to map it out,\u201d the post read.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst map is returns by party. Second map is returns relative to the party registration advantage of each county.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Central<\/p>\n

Central Valley Politics celebrated the early voting results. Central Valley Politics<\/p>\n

It added, \u201cwe\u2019re punching above our weight in all but two counties so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Digging into the PDI data<\/a>, it found that the largest turnout has been in the 65 and older group, with 54% ballots returned, with the 18-34 age group having a low turnout of 10% ballots returned.<\/p>\n

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Mitchell noted that these are the kind of numbers they typically see in a low-voter turnout election year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of typical of a low-turnout election that these are the people that always vote in every election. They probably almost always vote early, and they\u2019re getting their ballots in right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A voter fills out a ballot at an El Dorado County. REUTERS<\/p>\n

The Democratic field is led by former US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra<\/a>, progressive billionaire Tom Steyer<\/a> and former Orange County congresswoman Katie Porter<\/a>, while San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan<\/a> and ex-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa<\/a> have shown more feistiness in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

While on the Republican side, former Fox News host Steve Hilton<\/a> appears to have a firm lead on Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco<\/a>.<\/p>\n