The California Election 2026 primary is over.
And yet, it’s not over because the counting continues.
Democratic leaders will justify the Golden State’s drawn-out
counting because they emphasize ease for everyone to vote. Everyone gets a
mail-in ballot; everyone can vote wherever they please in the state; and
everyone should like it.
The state allows ballots to be counted up to seven days
after Election Day, provided that the ballots are postmarked ON Election Day,
too. UGH! It’s Election Day, as Justice Alito commented in a recent Supreme
Court case, which could have upended this month and a half of counting long
after Election Day.
Republicans are right to call foul on this inordinate amount
of time to collect and count California’s ballots. How can anyone trust an
election system in which ballots keep rolling in day after day, and certain
margins start flipping seats here and there? Republicans have benefited from
sudden changes in the voting, sure, but Democrats, by and large, benefit even
more. It’s not a sound, integrated system.
Thankfully, the federal government is investigating the
election centers. The California Post exposed the LA County voting center for
having only one person manning a desk while all the other desks sat empty, all
with a $336 million budget! After the expose, lots of employees showed up to
start counting ballots.
So far, so good.
Let’s set aside the recriminations about voter fraud, and
let’s assume the results as they stand statewide will remain relatively stable
until certification. Who are the winners and losers on California’s Primary
Election Night 2026?
Let’s start with the biggest winner: Trump.
He endorsed British Fox News anchor and author Steve Hilton
in April (Easter Sunday, in fact), and the momentum never stopped building for
him. His main rival, the Riverside County Sheriff, had launched his campaign in
February 2025, and then Hilton followed about two months later. Early in the
election, polls indicated that Hilton and Bianco would take up the Top Two
spots. Hilton alone made it, all because of Trump.
The next winner: Xavier Becerra.
This long-time politico was struggling along with
single-digit support for a greater part of the campaign season. As candidates
began dropping out, including serial #MeToo creep former Congressman Eric
Swalwell, Becerra’s chances increased. Democratic activists (including Indivisible
chapters) networked to push back on the single-digit gubernatorial contenders,
and a wide array of liberal coalitions lined up behind the former Assemblyman,
Congressman, state attorney general, and Secretary of Health and Human
Services.
Another winner: Steve Hilton, obviously.
A Republican made it into the Top Two again for Governor,
when some of the polling disturbingly indicated that two Democrats could lock
out Republicans from the governor’s race! Hilton had some slips along the way,
and at one point, his opponent alleged that Hilton had run out of money. Yet he
persisted, and Trump gave him another boost a week before the primary election
day. Some of my friends were pledging to vote for Sheriff Bianco, but changed
their minds following Trump’s reminder endorsements. So far, that boost has
paid off.
Now, let’s talk about the losers:
Left-wing cosplaying billionaire Tom Steyer went down in
flames yet again. He was much closer to getting the gubernatorial nomination
this year compared to his silly bid for President in 2020. Not only did Steyer
lose the race, he wasted $200 million for the privilege of losing again. He
flooded mailboxes with campaign literature. As a high-propensity Republican
voter, even I received six campaign mailers from the Steyer campaign, including
a big gloss-up slamming Becerra for mismanagement, scandal, and incompetence.
None of it worked. I visited his final rally in Downtown Los
Angeles, and it was a pretty middling crowd. Becerra had a rally a few hours
later, with three times the attendees, endorsements, and lots of energy. Money
can’t buy a politician love (just ask Hillary and Kamala!), and Steyer had to
relearn that lesson.
Former Congresswoman, US Senate candidate, and now
gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter burned up again during her campaign, too.
Democratic operatives have never liked her, yet she didn’t get the message in
2024 when she played victim and cried about a rigged primary. In 2026, her
polling bottomed out worse. It’s stunning to see how even registered Democrats
had enough self-respect that they didn’t want to give the Orange County
harridan Karen a chance at further political power. The nasty videos of her cursing
out staff, her heated and unpleasant interview with a CBS reporter, all of
which showcased her arrogance and diffidence towards others, revealed how out
of touch and out of place Porter was in pursuing elected office again. She
believed all the progressive headlines when she got elected to Congress, but
never realized that the political aura of winning a seat in once-conservative
Orange County, California, would wear off.
The Progressive-Berniecrat wing of the Democratic Party lost
big time. Our Revolution, THE Bernie Sanders-aligned PAC, endorsed Tom Steyer,
undermining their messaging and hurting their credibility. For years, Bernie
and his bros have been railing against the billionaire class. Then they line up
behind a billionaire? Steyer’s biggest promoters struggled to justify their
clashing endorsement, and voters didn’t buy it. Will this latest capitulation
signal the end of Bernie Sanders’ influence in national politics?
Other losers include the Republican Party establishment. California’s
Republican state legislators all lined up behind Sheriff Bianco early in the
race, and now they have egg on their faces. A majority of California county
central committees also endorsed Bianco, yet their say didn’t amount to much.
Republican leaders need to consider what role they play in California politics
now that Trump is calling the shots so squarely.
On a similar note, Republican conservative grassroots,
specifically the California Republican Assembly (CRA), also lost big with this
primary election. As early as February 2026, Sheriff Bianco had lined up conservative
support. The CRA convention endorsed Bianco overwhelmingly for Governor v. Hilton.
That didn’t matter at all. The Trump endorsement wiped out any influence of
this organization, and Republican voters who just vote, voted for Hilton.
This outcome should prompt reflection among conservatives
and other Republican groups in California. If they differ from Trump, do they
have any strategy or resources to sway voters? If they don’t have the time or
energy to make their case, then why gather and organize in the first place?
The ballots are still being counted, but these results will
pretty much pan out by July and into the November general election. Does Hilton
have a chance against Becerra in November? It will take a miracle. If
progressive voters sit out the election, and Republican turnout exceeds prior
off-year general elections, Hilton has a chance. But Becerra has arranged key
endorsements from major companies, and he has gathered enough support from
disparate factions of the Democratic Party that he has the momentum and the
message that a two-to-one Democratic state wants to hear.
One should also add that California, yet again, is the
biggest loser of them all. If the election turns out as expected, we can expect
four to eight more years of performative progressive government, complete with
malfeasance, scandal, and incompetence.
Will California voters ever learn?
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