As voters across Riverside, San Bernardino and the rest of California cast ballots today, final results in many races are not expected Tuesday night — and possibly not for days or weeks.
The delay is a familiar feature of California elections, where every registered voter is mailed a ballot and many votes arrive after Election Day. Under state law, mail ballots are counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day and received by county election offices within seven days. Counties have deadlines to complete their counts, and the state has up to 38 days after Election Day to certify the final results.
That process could leave Californians waiting to see who advances in some of the state’s most closely watched contests, including the governor’s race.
Gov. Gavin Newsom last month urged election officials to “accurately count every lawfully cast ballot as quickly as possible.” Two changes may help speed the process this year. Proposition 50, which redraws congressional districts in a way expected to benefit Democrats, could make some races less competitive and easier for analysts and news organizations to project. A new state law also shortens the deadline for counties to finish counting most ballots to 13 days instead of 30.
The election is already notable for its cost. California is seeing its most expensive primary on record, driven in part by billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer, who has put $213 million of his own money into his campaign for governor. Candidates in other races have also contributed heavily to their own campaigns, with self-funded down-ballot candidates putting in roughly a quarter-billion dollars this year — the highest amount since California began tracking such spending nearly 30 years ago.
Supporters of self-funded candidates often argue that personal wealth can make a candidate less dependent on lobbyists or special interests. Critics counter that it raises questions about whether wealthy candidates can buy influence or access to public office.
Chris Anderson, a Lodi City Council candidate who has contributed to his own campaign, described the tension this way: “There is a part of me that likes the fact that a person is funding their own campaign because they’re less likely to be beholden to a special interest. But on the other hand, what special interests got them to where they are?”
In another development tied to the governor’s race, users of the prediction market platform Kalshi were giving Democrat Xavier Becerra a 74% chance of becoming governor in November as of Monday. At the same time, Kalshi itself donated $39,200 last week to Becerra’s campaign.
The contribution has prompted concerns from campaign finance watchdogs about whether a betting marketplace should give money to a candidate while its users are wagering on that same candidate’s political future.
Trent Lange, executive director of the California Clean Money Campaign, said the situation appears troubling. “It does seem especially problematic when a betting market is giving large contributions to any candidate that they are holding betting markets for,” Lange said.
Kalshi has recently expanded its political presence in Sacramento. Earlier this year, an advocacy group for prediction markets registered to lobby in California as part of a coalition that included Crypto.com, Coinbase and Robinhood. Since last year, Kalshi has increased its California political spending, donating $115,000 to state candidates, including Becerra.
Campaign money is also flowing in another long-running California political fight: the battle between tribal casinos and privately operated cardrooms.
A San Francisco judge last month handed tribal casinos a setback in their effort to stop cardrooms from offering blackjack-style games. Tribes have argued for years that they have exclusive rights to offer blackjack and other lucrative games. The dispute has drawn substantial campaign contributions to state officials and lawmakers from both sides.
Twenty-seven casino-owning tribes have given at least $15.8 million to current members of the Legislature, according to CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database. Roughly the same number of cardrooms and affiliated companies have donated at least $2.8 million to lawmakers.
Cardrooms have also contributed at least $244,000 to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office has been involved in pursuing related gambling regulations. Tribes have given $531,000 to Bonta.
Jonathan Underland, a spokesperson for Bonta, told CalMatters that “Contributions have never impacted the Attorney General’s decision-making process.”
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, CalMatters and local partners held a series of voter engagement events around the state, drawing more than 600 Californians to discuss the issues driving their votes. As part of the VotingMatters events, CalMatters Director of Partnerships Dan Hu traveled more than 2,000 miles, meeting voters from Vallejo to Riverside.
Other statewide political commentary this week focused on the challenges awaiting California’s next governor, including the state’s troubled unemployment insurance system, which columnist Dan Walters described as burdened by worsening finances and debt. Christian Arana, vice president of civic power at the Latino Community Foundation, also argued that California should strengthen voting rights protections in response to a state voter ID initiative, federal proposals that could limit voting access and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions affecting voter protections.
Additional coverage being followed across California includes scrutiny of the crowded governor’s race, concerns about internet campaign misinformation ahead of 2028, an AI-generated video posted by Republican Assembly candidate Darin Hale, a possible corruption case involving a San Joaquin Valley government agency, Bay Area graduates’ views on artificial intelligence, questions over whether local or state governments can stop a proposed ICE detention facility near Gilroy, Spencer Pratt’s strategy in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, vandalism and burned ballots under review in Los Angeles County, and the experience of transgender athlete AB Hernandez amid national political attacks.
Original source: CalMatters
