As Californians, and curious Americans across the country, continue to wait for results from the state’s primary elections this week, President Donald Trump accused the Democratic Party of trying to “steal” the elections for governor and mayor of Los Angeles.
“Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social early Thursday.
In a separate post, Trump wrote that the “Votes are all tied up” in California. “May not be in for weeks,” he wrote.
The president said California’s primary election is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
“Why the vote counting DELAY???” he said.
The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, wrote back to the president on social media, saying Trump is “lying about California again.”
The Golden State’s “jungle primary system” allows two candidates with the most votes to advance to the general election regardless of their party affiliation, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Why does it take California time to count votes?
Jeff Le, a deputy Cabinet secretary for former California Gov. Jerry Brown, told the Deseret News that California’s “Election Day is more like an election month.”
“Unfortunately, counting ballots and the ballot dumps also takes time,” said Le, a managing principal at consulting firm 100 Mile Strategies.
“For some of the races, it’s possible to see color mirages, where second place candidates of one party could be overtaken by candidates in another party.”
California mails a ballot to all 23 million eligible voters. As long as the ballots are postmarked on Election Day, they will count even if they arrive at the election office a week later. The process of verifying the ballots begins after the polls close.
“We might not like how California administers its elections (and I don’t),” said Stephen Richer, the former recorder of Arizona’s Maricopa County, in a post on X. “But that doesn’t make it fraud. That doesn’t make it cheating. It doesn’t make it unlawful.”
“That being said, this postelection outrage was entirely foreseeable, but Gov. Newsom and the state legislature (assembly) did nothing to improve the situation,” he said, adding it won’t “bode well for November.”
The state of key races so far
Le noted it is possible there could be movement in the candidate rankings in the race for Los Angeles mayor, where former reality TV star Spencer Pratt and former City Council member Nithya Raman are vying for second place to advance to the general election against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in November.
Pratt maintained a 33,000 vote lead over Raman as of Thursday. A day after the election, Pratt challenged Bass to a debate every Friday until the general election. “I hope she’s ready because I couldn’t be more excited,” the former reality star from “The Hills” told reporters on Wednesday.
Although it’s possible for Raman to catch up, it’s less likely for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer to gain a lead over “Secretary Xavier Becerra, despite record self-funding,” Le said. Steyer spent nearly $220 million of his own wealth on his gubernatorial bid.
The top two candidates are likely going to be Becerra, a Democrat who had secured at least 25% of the vote as of Thursday, and former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican who secured 27%.
“Having Steve Hilton make it to the top two was critical for Republican turnout down ballot and would have been demoralizing for the California GOP,” Le said.
The last Republican governor elected to serve California was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He left office in 2011.
The idea behind California’s “top two” election system, approved in 2010 through a ballot measure, gained support from Schwarzenegger because it was meant to create more competitive elections and encourage politically diverse candidates to run. Democrats have argued this system puts them at a disadvantage and forces Democratic candidates to split the vote.
A race worth paying attention to
Although Newsom has stayed out of the governor’s race, he did endorse his Cabinet member, Josh Fryday, for the contest of lieutenant governor, which hasn’t garnered the same press as other races.
“He is currently in third and it’s possible for the governor to have a rare loss,” noted Le. “Make no mistake, it’s a potentially important stepping stone to the top job.”
He pointed to the likes of Gov. Gray Davis and Newsom, both of whom served as lieutenant governors before running to lead California.
Fryday must defeat Republican Gloria Romero, a former state senator, and Democrat Fiona Ma, the state treasurer. Both of them are neck-and-neck with 19% of the vote and could advance to the runoff.