Democrat Xavier Becerra will be California's next governor after defeating Republican Steve Hilton, according to a race call by The Associated Press on election night. Alameda County backed Becerra by nearly four to one in the votes counted so far, and millions of ballots across the state are still waiting to be tallied.
Statewide count
The California Secretary of State's results feed, last updated at 6:58 p.m. Thursday, showed Becerra with 5,681,264 votes (64.6%) and Hilton with 3,112,092 (35.4%).
Hilton conceded about an hour after polls closed, speaking to supporters in Orange County, CalMatters reported. Becerra is a former California attorney general and U.S. health secretary who previously represented Los Angeles in Congress, the outlet said. He will succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Alameda County
In the Alameda County Registrar of Voters' most recent posted update, timed at 2:07 a.m. Wednesday, Becerra had 245,342 votes (79.22%) and Hilton had 64,373 (20.78%). That update counted 314,951 ballots, about 32% of the county's 985,123 registered voters, so the county share could move as later ballots are added.
Among the nine Bay Area counties, Alameda's margin trailed only San Francisco's (82.8% for Becerra) and was about even with Marin's (79.4%), according to AP figures compiled by KTVU. Santa Clara County gave Becerra 69.7% and Contra Costa County 70.8%.
The registrar's posted results do not break the governor's race out by city, and its precinct map site could not be reached when this story was prepared, so Pleasanton and Tri-Valley totals for the race are not yet available. In the same county update, Mayor Jack Balch led Councilmember Julie Testa 11,213 votes to 4,958, and the city's Measure HH had 60.73% yes.
How long the count will take
Statewide, 8,906,017 ballots had been tallied by county election offices as of Thursday and estimated 4,816,722 more were still outstanding, the Secretary of State's office said in a Nov. 5 release. Vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day count if they arrive within seven days after it.
