Ballots continue to be counted in key races. Brittany Hope reports for the NBC4 News at 5 a.m. on June 4, 2026.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra caught up to Republican frontrunner Steve Hilton in the primary race for California governor, trailing the GOP rival by about 8,700 votes, according to the latest vote count by the NBC News Decision Desk Friday.
Among over 63% of the expected ballots across the state, Hilton, former Fox News Host, received 26.6% of the votes, compared to Becerra, former Health and Human Services secretary, at 26.5%.
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Despite the latest batch of ballots tabulated, it is too early to say who will advance to the November runoff, the NBC News Decision Desk said.
The difference between the two candidates was just over 8,770 votes as of 2:45 p.m. Friday.
Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer in third place gained about 107,000 votes in the past 24 hours, the latest tabulation showed.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco remained at fourth place with 11.2%.
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The latest vote count came as First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced Friday his office has “multiple” probes underway into alleged voting fraud — onne day after President Donald Trump alleged,
without providing any examples or evidence, that Democrats were cheating this week’s California primary election.
Essayli, a Trump appointee, wrote on social media Friday morning that “protecting the integrity of California’s elections is a top priority for my office.”
“California’s election system has serious structural vulnerabilities,” he wrote. “Universal vote-by-mail with no voter ID requirements creates conditions where fraud can go undetected and unpunished, eroding public confidence. Without commenting on any specific investigation, my office has multiple election fraud investigations underway in coordination with (the FBI). We will follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent.”
Although he declined to provide any specifics, he pointed to a case announced last month charging a Marina del Rey woman with allegedly paying people — including the homeless living on Skid Row — to register to vote.
“Yes, there is evidence of election fraud in California,” he said.
Essayli also said his office is working with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon in an effort to audit the state’s voter roll.
The comments came one day after Trump — without evidence — publicly accused Democrats of engaging in election fraud in California, pointing to the legally established mail-in voting process.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom responded on X, writing, “Trump is lying about California again — time to take the phone away from grandpa and put him to sleep.”
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said Thursday that residents should expect continued updates in vote totals from Tuesday’s election as outstanding ballots are counted. She noted that California law allows county election officials up to 30 days to complete the official canvass and process eligible ballots that remain outstanding.
“Accuracy comes before speed,” Weber said in a statement.
City News Services contributed to this report.
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