What does California have in common with Iowa, New York, Montana, South Dakota, New Mexico and New Jersey? They all held primaries today, June 2 – and California was rife with political drama, similar to New York.
There were 61 gubernatorial candidates running in California’s primary. That race has been one of the most watched races in the nation.
After polling swung from two Republicans advancing to the General Election in November, to two Democrats shutting out the Republicans, tonight’s results revealed that it will most likely be – as of publication time – Republican Steve Hilton with 26.9% of the vote and Democrat Xavier Becerra with 25.75% of the vote advancing to the November General Election.
Democrat Tom Steyer, as of 11:30pm, is in third place with 19.8%. As of publication time, final results were not available.
Locally, it was a three way race for Tulare County District 4 Supervisor between Ian Bakke, Rudy Mendoza and incumbent Eddie Valero.
Bakke is chief operating officer at Bakke Ag Services and a resident of Visalia. Mendoza is the mayor of Woodlake, a small business owner, and CEO of an agricultural company.
District 4 includes the unincorporated communities of Badger, Cutler-Orosi, Elderwood, Goshen, Ivanhoe, London, Monson-Sultana, Seville, Three Rivers, Traver, and Yettem. The cities represented in District 4 include Dinuba, Woodlake, and a small portion in the northwest corner of Visalia.
With 85.7% of the ballots counted it is likely that Valero with 45.93%, and Bakke with 38.11%, will battle it out on November 3.
Mendoza received 15.96 as of Tuesday night. If one of the candidates had garnered 50% of the vote, plus one additional vote, there would not be a runoff.
Valero expressed his gratitude about the primary results.
“I’m grateful and humbled by the support we’ve received across District 4. Tonight’s results reflect the hard work of so many volunteers, supporters, and community members who believe in the progress we’ve made together and the work still ahead. While votes are still being counted, I’m encouraged by the trust voters have placed in our campaign, and I remain committed to serving every community in District 4 with the same energy, accessibility, and dedication that have guided me over the last eight years,” he said.
“We’re extremely proud of Ian Bakke’s performance tonight. It’s noteworthy that a majority of the district voted against the incumbent, Eddie Valero, and our team is confident Ian will win this fall,” Connie Conway, Tulare County Republican Party Chairwoman, commented.
California’s congressional District 22, along with our gubernatorial race, is also being watched by the rest of the country.
Incumbent David Valadao is the last Republican Representative left in Washington who voted to impeach Trump out of the original ten in 2019.
Congressional District 22 serves parts of Kern, Kings, Tulare, and Fresno. With 74% of the votes counted Valadao is certain to advance to the General Election with 44.2% of the vote.
After a bruising battle between the two Democrats Candidates Jasmeet Bains and Randy Villegas it is too close to call as of 11:00pm, with Bains receiving 26.1% to Villegas’ 29.7%.
Over in Congressional District 20 – which includes Bakersfield, Clovis, Visalia, Tulare, Hanford, and the southern Sierra Nevada and is currently held by Republican Representative Vince Fong – two of the four candidates running were No Party Preference and received less than two percent of the vote each.
With 75% of the vote counted, Fong has 69.4% to Democrat Sandra Van Scotter’s 27.7%. Both will go on to the general election.
Congressional District 21 features the majority of Fresno, the north side of Visalia, and all of Sanger, Selma, Kingsburg, Parlier, Reedley, Orange Cove, Dinuba, Orosi, Cutler, Farmersville, Woodlake, and Exeter.
With only 21.4% of the vote counted, incumbent Jim Costa had a comfortable lead and will most likely be proceeding to the General Election. Republican Kyle Kirkland was currently in second place.
California State Senate District 16 represents Bakersfield, Visalia (northern portion), Hanford, Porterville, Tulare, Delano. As of 11:00pm 83% of the ballots had been counted and incumbent Democrat Melissa Hurtado had 36.1% to Republican Guillermo Gonzalez’ 49.5%. Manpreet Kaur, Vice Mayor of Bakersfield, was a distant third.
California State Senate 12 covers Fresno, Kern, and Tulare, covering cities Clovis, Exeter, Maricopa, Ridgecrest, Taft, and Tehachapi and parts of Visalia and Tulare. With 65% of the ballots counted Nathan Magsig has a comfortable lead with 62% of the vote. Libertarian William Brown is in second with 24.7%.
With 67.5% of the vote counted former State Senator from Bakersfield Republican Shannon Grove leads the other four candidates with 36.1% of the vote for State Board of Equalization District 1. In second place is Democrat Nelson Esparza 30.3%.
Vote-By-Mail Ballots returned by mail, in order to be counted, must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by county elections offices by June 9, 2026.
The last day for county elections officials to certify election results is July 2, 2026.
