<\/p>\n
Residents arrive to cast their votes for the Primary Election at the San Francisco Columbarium & Funeral Home in San Francisco, Calif. Tuesday, June 2, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jessica Christian\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, center, greets a supporter in Chinatown on Primary Election Day in San Francisco, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Chan, who represents District 1 on the Board of Supervisors, is running to represent California’s 11th Congressional District, currently held by Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Election Day in California, and voters across the state face a long list of decisions from statewide primaries to congressional races to consequential local races and ballot measures. Eyes across the nation will be on the race to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom, a tumultuous, wide-open gubernatorial primary unlike any California has seen in decades.<\/p>\n
When will California election results be available? Polls close at 8 p.m. across California. Early results will begin to roll in for statewide races immediately after polls close; then, San Francisco drops its first set of election results at 8:45\u00a0p.m. As with previous elections, we will be analyzing returns and calling many local races as returns come in. But many outcomes won\u2019t come tonight: California\u2019s vote counting is likely to extend for weeks and, for some races and measures, it could be some time before results are official.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Going into today\u2019s election, a spate<\/a> of reputable polls were converging on one outcome: Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra seems most likely to advance to the November general election. Less certain is whether financier Tom Steyer, a Democrat, or former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican, will move forward too.<\/p>\n Since the weekend, we\u2019ve had another major poll drop. The California Elections and Policy Poll<\/a>, conducted by researchers at a number of Southern California universities, polled 735 likely voters from May 23rd to 26th. It also found Becerra well in the lead with 29% of the vote, one of the highest shares we\u2019ve seen so far. Hilton is a distant second at 23%, with Steyer firmly in 3rd at 18%.<\/p>\n Perhaps more interesting is that CEPP also polled potential November runoff matchups. In the situations where either Becerra or Steyer advance along with Hilton, both Democrats beat Hilton by at least a 20-point margin. But should both Becerra and Steyer advance, the poll finds Becerra with a solid lead against Steyer, albeit with plenty of undecided voters.<\/p>\n Also among the CEPP poll\u2019s findings is how excited voters are for their preferred candidate (Republicans are much more excited than Democrats) as well as who supporters of each candidate name as their second choice, whether or not that candidate seems \u201cviable.\u201d<\/p>\n Supporters of Hilton and Republican Riverside County sheriff Chad Bianco most often named the other as their second choice, as did supporters of Steyer and Becerra respectively. Supporters of Porter more frequently named Steyer than Becerra, while Villaraigosa supporters were nearly equally likely to name Steyer and Becerra as their second choice. Strikingly, supporters of San Jose mayor Matt Mahan, a Democrat, most frequently named Hilton, a Republican, as their second choice.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is typically bullish when asked to predict how her party will do in upcoming elections, and this year is no different. Last week, during a North Beach campaign rally for Connie Chan, Pelosi predicted that Democrats would win the House in November by \u201c30 to 40\u201d seats.<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n That\u2019s optimistic even by the Pelosi standards. The latest Cook Political Report counts 17 \u201ctoss-up\u201d races, with 14 of those seats currently held by Republicans. Yes, gas prices are at record highs, the country is mired in an unnecessary war and President Donald Trump\u2019s approval rating is at 34% — but that\u2019s still a very ambitious prediction.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Pelosi, long one of the Democrats\u2019 best fundraisers, is wired to be optimistic. Perhaps a little too optimistic. In 2016, she predicted that Democrats would win 20 seats. They picked up only six. She also said Trump defeating Hillary Clinton \u201cain\u2019t gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Pelosi announced last fall that she would not seek reelection to the seat that she has held since 1987, so this may be one of her final predictions before she leaves office.<\/p>\n If not for the Democrats he is fond of attacking, Riverside County Sheriff Chad\u00a0Bianco, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, would have had to choose between defending his badge or running for governor.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom\u00a0 signed<\/a> Assembly Bill 759<\/a>, aligning countywide elections for sheriff and district attorney with presidential elections rather than midterm ones, when turnout is lower. The reasoning was to ensure more voter input on two of the more consequential local offices, but it also meant tacking on two bonus years for any sheriff or DA elected in 2022.<\/p>\n Bianco, a former Oath Keeper militia member who handily won reelection in the June 2022 primary<\/a> when only 28.7% of registered voters participated, saw his term padded until 2028. So did sheriffs and district attorneys in Humboldt, Mendocino<\/a>, Trinity, San Luis Obispo<\/a> and Orange<\/a> counties, as well as Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni<\/a>, whom the Chronicle found cooperated with federal immigration authorities<\/a> in violation of state sanctuary laws.<\/p>\n Bianco, who galled voting rights advocates by seizing ballots in his inland county and has pushed unfounded claims about undocumented immigrants being brought into the state to vote, is currently polling fourth in the governor\u2019s race. Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said the polarizing sheriff could indirectly determine whether Republican candidate Steve Hilton survives the top-two primary. \u201cIf Chad Bianco\u2019s support erodes by Election Day, Hilton is positioned to benefit,\u201d Kimball said Saturday in a statement accompanying a poll<\/a> finding Hilton one percentage point behind billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democrat, for second.\u00a0<\/p>\n Billionaire Tom Steyer\u2019s $220 million campaign<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 almost entirely funded from his own pocket\u00a0\u2014 is the most expensive in California\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He has also beaten out the previous record for a donor in a California state election set by former eBay executive Meg Whitman, who spent $144 million on a failed bid for governor in 2010, an analysis from advertising tracker AdImpact found. (Adjusted for inflation, Whitman\u2019s total remains higher, though that could change if Steyer progresses to the general election). Steyer\u2019s spending blitz is also the country\u2019s most expensive<\/a> display of political advertising this year.<\/p>\n Steyer has spent more money on California elections than any other individual in recent history: roughly $280 million since 2005, according to a Chronicle analysis of campaign donation data.<\/p>\n Former U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra has a far smaller war chest, though it\u2019s still in the tens of millions of dollars. After former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out<\/a> of the race while facing sexual assault allegations, health care unions\u00a0\u2014 which had supported Swalwell\u2019s candidacy\u00a0\u2014 instead put their weight behind Becerra, as have a range of other labor unions. Big business groups, including the California Association of Realtors, Uber and Meta, have also made major donations in support of Becerra.<\/p>\n In contrast, seven-figure donations to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, whose candidacy generated an initial surge of support among wealthy Silicon Valley donors, have tapered off. While dozens of billionaires have donated to support Mahan\u2019s campaign, giving him the second-highest contribution sum in the race, he has continued to poll in the single digits.<\/p>\n Steyer\u2019s ascent in the polls has been met with more than $35 million of opposition spending from \u201cCalifornia Is Not for Sale,\u201d a group funded by the California Association of Realtors, the California Building Industry Association, the Chamber of Commerce, PG&E and an electrical workers union.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time Steyer, who has bankrolled Democratic causes for decades, has attempted to use his wealth as a springboard into public office. He spent<\/a> about $250 million on a long-shot campaign for president in 2020, though he ultimately failed to gain traction with voters.<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and former Gov. Jerry Brown have all declined to endorse anyone in this year’s crowded race for governor.<\/p>\n The silence of the state’s top Democratic leaders is especially notable in a year when their party has been concerned it could be shut out of the general election. Newsom’s term limit created an open race for one of the highest-profile roles in Democratic politics and the most powerful office in the nation\u2019s most populous state drew so many Democrats, attracting a wide field of candidates.<\/p>\n Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in California about 45% to 25%. But in the first few months of the year, nine Democrats were splitting the liberal vote, compared with just two leading Republican candidates. In California\u2019s open primary system, where the first- and second-place finishers advance to the general election regardless of party, that could mean that two Republicans advanced, shutting Democrats out entirely.<\/p>\n The big question tonight is who makes it into the top two. If it\u2019s a Republican and a Democrat, the Democrat will likely win in November. If it\u2019s two Democrats, California will have the first truly competitive general election for governor in more than a decade. And if it\u2019s two Republicans, that will be a nightmare scenario for the Democrats currently running the state.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance urged California voters Tuesday to support Republican Steve Hilton, giving the former Fox News host another national GOP boost as the state\u2019s crowded governor\u2019s race reached primary day.<\/p>\n \u201cHe will work with me and the Federal Government, the money will flow because I have confidence in him (but not any of the others!), and we will MAKE CALIFORNIA GREAT AGAIN!\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n Vance also rallied for Hilton.<\/p>\n \u201cGood luck today to my friend Steve Hilton, who is running to become the next governor of California,\u201d Vance wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s a good guy and I encourage everyone to get out there and support him. California is such a beautiful state \u2014 it just needs better political leadership!\u201d<\/p>\n Hilton, who has also been endorsed by President Donald Trump, is among the leading candidates in a race that has drawn more than 50 people seeking to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited.<\/p>\n The primary has no clear front-runner. Other major candidates include former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer, former Rep. Katie Porter, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.<\/p>\n California\u2019s top-two primary system sends the two candidates with the most votes to the November election, regardless of party.<\/p>\n The race has centered heavily on California\u2019s high cost of living, with Republicans calling for sharp changes after years of Democratic control and Democrats promising to lower costs while continuing to challenge the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Because California relies heavily on vote-by-mail ballots, the final lineup for November may not be clear Tuesday night.<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> signed Senate Bill 73 into law last week, making it a felony for anyone\u00a0\u2014 including law enforcement\u00a0\u2014 to seize ballots from a county election office. The bill included an emergency clause, which meant it went into effect immediately and will be the law of the land on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Newsom framed the bill as an act to safeguard California elections. The bill came in response to Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco\u2019s decision to seize more than 650,000 ballots from his county\u2019s election office in February under the guise of investigating a local group\u2019s disputed claims of an overcount in the November 2025 special election for Prop 50.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bianco, a Republican, is a candidate for California governor.<\/p>\n The California Supreme Court eventually stopped Bianco\u2019s office from hand-counting the ballots, but Democratic lawmakers claimed the chain of custody \u2014 and voters\u2019 trust \u2014 was already damaged.\u00a0<\/p>\n Newsom didn\u2019t say Bianco\u2019s name while signing the bill Wednesday. Instead, he referred to him as \u201ca former member of the Oath Keepers,\u201d the far-right militia that Bianco recently said he was proud<\/a> to have been a dues-paying<\/a> member of.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under the new law, anyone who seizes ballots could be punished by up to three years in prison and a $1,000 fine. It also makes it illegal for law enforcement to search or take custody of voter rolls or voting machines without a signed warrant or agreement with election officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n Department of Elections workers sort mail-in ballots for the California primary election at City Hall on Tuesday in San Francisco.<\/p>\n Jeff Chiu\/Associated Press<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s office fired back at President Donald Trump after he falsely claimed California elections and mail-in ballots are fraudulent, escalating a dispute over the state\u2019s voting system on the eve of Tuesday\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n The exchange followed a Fox News interview<\/a> with Lara Trump, the president\u2019s daughter-in-law, on Sunday in which the president criticized California\u2019s elections and repeated his long-running attacks on mail voting.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir elections are a fraud, their mail-in votes are a fraud,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s press office responded on X<\/a>: \u201cNo, you\u2019re just a loser.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also falsely said California does not have voting booths and that \u201ceverything\u2019s by mail.\u201d<\/p>\n California mails ballots to all active registered voters, but voters are not required to use them. The California secretary of state\u2019s office says any registered voter may choose whether to vote by mail or at a polling place.<\/p>\n Los Angeles County\u2019s registrar-recorder responded to Trump\u2019s comments<\/a> Sunday with a \u201cMISINFORMATION ALERT,\u201d saying vote centers are open for in-person voting in the June 2 primary.<\/p>\n California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, also criticized Trump\u2019s claim on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump, once again, is lying,\u201d he wrote. \u201cCalifornians have several ways to ensure their vote is counted,\u201d<\/p>\n The comments come as Trump and California Democrats are already fighting over a March executive order that seeks to impose new federal rules on voter registration and mail ballots. Bonta and other Democratic attorneys general have sued to block the order, arguing that it unlawfully interferes with states\u2019 authority to run elections.<\/p>\n Newsom last week signed a California law intended to limit federal access to voter rolls and election infrastructure without a court order, a move his office described as a safeguard against federal interference.<\/p>\n Three key polls were released in recent days and all three of them found former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra several points ahead of both Republican former Fox News host Steve Hilton and investor Tom Steyer. PPIC has Becerra at 23%, IGS has him at 25% and Emerson shows him 28% of the vote. No other candidate received more than 22% of the vote in any of the polls.<\/p>\n By contrast, Katie Porter and Matt Mahan remain stuck in the low double or high single digits. Support for Riverside County sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, hovers at 11% to 13% across the polls.<\/p>\n That slight but significant edge has translated to a much more lopsided lead on another metric: betting odds on markets like\u00a0Kalshi<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Polymarket<\/a>. On both platforms, ordinary people are putting their money where their mouth is, yielding a two-thirds probability that Becerra advances and wins the November race.<\/p>\n Betting markets aren\u2019t perfect\u00a0\u2014 Sacramento political strategist Paul Mitchell warns they reflect the views of \u201ccrypto bros,\u201d as well as people who are willing to lose money to move the odds\u00a0\u2014 but they have lately\u00a0proved<\/a>\u00a0prescient.<\/p>\n Read more about how\u00a0Becerra came from behind to lead the polls here<\/a>.<\/p>\n In California, ballots arriving to county election offices by mail must be postmarked by Election Day\u00a0\u2014 June 2\u00a0\u2014 to count under state law. County officials can receive and process the ballots for another seven days after Election Day, as long as the ballots are postmarked by Election Day. But a new U.S. Postal Service policy implemented this year under President Donald Trump has added a major caveat: It\u2019s no longer certain that a ballot dropped into the mail on Election Day will be postmarked on Election Day.<\/p>\n The Postal Service said in January that operational changes\u00a0\u2014 like how often mail is picked up\u00a0\u2014 mean that sometimes mail pieces aren\u2019t arriving at processing facilities the same day they\u2019re mailed. Under the new definitions, a postmark is only added when a piece of mail is processed.<\/p>\n Those in rural locations farther away from central processing facilities are more likely to experience a gap between a ballot being mailed and when it\u2019s postmarked.<\/p>\n Voting experts say that ideally, voters relying on standard mail should already have mailed their ballots a week before the election.<\/p>\n Residents head out to cast their votes for the primary election in San Francisco on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Jessica Christian\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n Take the Chronicle\u2019s Voter Guide<\/a> with you: it allows you to enter your address to see only the races you\u2019ll be voting on and allows you to make and save your selections, plus includes links to our editorial board\u2019s endorsements<\/a>.<\/p>\n Need to look up your assigned polling place? You can do so here<\/a>. Voting centers will be open on Election Day for in-person voting and ballot drop-off from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n If you want to cast your vote-by-mail ballot in-person, you can do so at a secure ballot drop box, a voting location, or your county elections office. You can find a location in your area here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Want to fill out your mailed ballot in person? You can do so at voting centers. Take your mail-in ballot with you, and ask to vote in person instead\u00a0\u2014 your mail-in ballot will be exchanged for a polling-place ballot. If you don\u2019t bring your mail-in ballot, the California Secretary of State\u2019s office says you will be given a provisional ballot, which will be counted after your county elections official confirms you are registered and did not vote more than once in this election.<\/p>\n However, election officials in at least one Bay Area county\u00a0\u2014 San Francisco\u00a0\u2014 say if you go to your assigned polling center or City Hall, you may vote a standard ballot in person without surrendering your vote-by-mail ballot. If you go to a different polling center, or if your name doesn\u2019t appear on the roster, or if officials have other notes such as an address change without updated registration, you will receive a provisional ballot.<\/p>\n If you have questions, check with your local elections office.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n