California voters went to the polls Tuesday in the June 2 primary election, and the early count quickly turned the night into a test of who would survive to November. In Alameda County, voters were also choosing the next district attorney as results began to come in after the polls closed at 8 p.m.
The governor's race narrowed the field to the top two contenders, and the first numbers gave Republicans and Democrats very different reasons to watch closely. Republican Steve Hilton was leading with roughly 848,000 votes, while Democrat Xavier Becerra had roughly 838,000.
The biggest early surprise was Antonio Villaraigosa, once one of the best-known names in the race. Early results showed him dead last among the top seven candidates with nearly 47,000 votes, and he conceded as those numbers came in. “Tonight didn’t turn out the way we hoped, and I offer my congratulations to the winners and offer my best wishes for the road ahead,” Villaraigosa said.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan also conceded in his primary election night speech after collecting some 145,000 votes. That left the June 2 contest looking less like a final verdict than a sorting process, with the statewide governor's race moving on and local contests such as Alameda County's district attorney race still unresolved in the public count.
The ballot reached well beyond those marquee contests. California voters were also deciding congressional races, including South Bay voters selecting a representative for District 14 and San Francisco voters voting in the District 11 contest, while KTVU FOX 2 said it would track live primary election results through the night. What the first count made clear was that the candidates with the most name recognition did not automatically come out on top, and the race for the governor's nomination was already heading toward a November showdown.
