Just when I feel like I know something about LA’s political scene, it makes the most bizarre 180. Then I realize I actually know nothing. I don’t know how to explain this. Do others who also don’t live there experience this feeling?

California’s big-city mayors seem like a natural fit for governor, yet they rarely make the leap, as Antonio Villaraigosa and Matt Mahan just learned @robertlgreene.bsky.social calmatters.org/commentary/2...

Here's where things stand this morning, with 5 key takeaways from the first night of ballot counts @frombenc.bsky.social calmatters.org/politics/202...

Another California race to keep an eye on: CD6, redrawn by Prop 50 as pickup for Democrats, who could get locked out of the top two. Richard Pan narrowly led Michael Stansfield in earlier returns, now trails slightly in third. We'll see if remaining ballots are more Democratic.

This guy? Really, LA? youtu.be/iHVZFhdtP_g?...

Another update: With just 4.1 million votes counted, Hilton is at 26.7%. Becerra at 25.8%. And Steyer at 19.7%. AP estimates about half of votes have been counted so far. Steyer's campaign staffers say they expect him to do better in the later vote totals, which will likely skew more liberal.

I can't defend the way California counts ballots, but all the TV pundits who mock our lengthy counts without any context have clearly forgotten how elections look in the real world, far from their big boards and chyrons and major race updates.

That's now twice that Antonio Villaraigosa has failed to advance beyond the gubernatorial primary. This could very well be the last time the 73-year-old former mayor runs for elected office.

A little over an hour after polls closed, here's where things stand so far in California's statewide races (excluding governor) @katewolffe.bsky.social calmatters.org/politics/202...

No surprises so far with Becerra (27%)-Hilton (26%)-Steyer (20%) as the top three in the governor's race, per the AP. And if you're wondering about the stronger initial returns for GOP candidates statewide, well, in California conservatives vote early. The counts shift left, hence the conspiracies.

The polls are officially closed in California (if you’re in line, STAY in line). Rather than endlessly refreshing the feed, here’s a 🧵 of recent @calmatters.org stories to catch up on:

Polls are officially closed. The first batch of results should be posting soon...

To my new followers, a rare and humble plug for @calmatters.org staff, which treats elections like a Super Bowl and has worked tirelessly for months, including on our ever-popular Voter Guide. We're a nonprofit, so donations keep our bills paid and journalism free give.calmatters.org/campaign/796...

Election results will start rolling in once polls close at 8pm PST tonight. Bookmark this page from @calmatters.org to track all the state, legislative and congressional races, and check it often in the coming days (and weeks) as we update it live calmatters.org/politics/ele...

It is so hard for me to take Steve Hilton seriously. The entire thing feels like a prank. If the election gods are merciful, they will brexit us from this man’s doomed campaign and spare California from five more months listening to English Lex Luther trash our state.

For an incumbent like Karen Bass to be fighting for her political life just to reach the run-off, words like “extraordinary” feel quaint. I just can’t believe we’re talking about Spencer Pratt in the year 2026 www.latimes.com/california/s...

It’s understandable that the governor’s race is taking up all the oxygen this election cycle in California, but the next insurance commissioner may face one of the most precarious moments this office has ever known @levisu.bsky.social calmatters.org/politics/202...

The outcome of the state’s open primary, which narrows each race to the top two vote-getters regardless of party, sets the stage for a fierce contest in November as Democrats across the country push to retake control of Congress. cal.news/4vntEBg 📸 Graeme Sloan

Maybe I'm a bit romantic about the earlier chapters in my career starting Election Day coverage at polling sites, but I love field reports like this where voters of all ages and stripes are being quoted www.sacbee.com/news/politic...

Election results will start rolling in once polls close at 8pm PST tonight. Bookmark this page from @calmatters.org to track all the state, legislative and congressional races, and check it often in the coming days (and weeks) as we update it live calmatters.org/politics/ele...

If you're just tuning into the CA primary today, @calmatters.org has a last-minute guide to bring you up to speed: calmatters.org/politics/ele...

It’ll be interesting to see whether the 13-day law that Newsom signed last year to speed up counting leads to tight races, like for governor or in the House, for example, getting called sooner.

If you can't see how a prediction market company donating to a single candidate -- while also letting people bet on their odds for winning an election -- isn't totally bat shit, we are operating in very different realities. And I am jealous of the one you live in.

Kalshi gives Xavier Becerra a 74% chance of becoming California governor. His campaign also just got a $39,200 check from the company days before the election @jeremiak.com calmatters.org/politics/202...

Tom Steyer, for obvious reasons, gets the most attention for opening his wallet to self-fund his campaign for California governor. The @calmatters.org data team found that it's also been a historic year for down ballot candidates spending their own cash @jeremiak.com calmatters.org/politics/202...

Strong reporting from @areyesvelarde.bsky.social and @gauchoesque.bsky.social on the oversight gap for the chemical that almost caused a tank to explode at an Orange County aerospace plant, forcing 50,000 people to evacuate calmatters.org/environment/...

California air regulators approved a sweeping carbon market overhaul Friday, giving oil refineries billions in free permits over environmentalists' objections. cal.news/4wUUqml 📸 Damian Dovarganes, AP

A lot of people ran around with their hair on fire this spring worried that Dems could get locked out of the general and yet, lookie here.

Talarico is so good at this.

The world is producing more wealth than ever, but it's not going to workers -- it's going to companies and their shareholders. The drivers are outsourcing, corporate concentration, automation, and laws hostile to collective bargaining. www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...

The most grassroots candidate in California's governor race is...Steve Hilton calmatters.org/politics/202...

We're hiring an editor to lead our new California hub! If you're interested, check it out here: job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/j...

“From 2019 to 2025, California billionaires’ wealth grew an average of over 15% per year, while they paid, on average, just 0.26% of their wealth annually in state income taxes. Their income tax payments accounted for only 2.4% of California’s income tax revenue.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Japan opened its first bullet train line in 1964. California’s inability to get its high-speed rail project done is a failure that should outrage all Americans, full stop. We are getting lapped by the rest of the modern world. Completing it ASAP, no matter the cost, is the only respectable take.

Data center builders don’t tell the public how much water they use, according to a new report — and the industry is encroaching into water-stressed and vulnerable communities. cal.news/42EUHvH 📸 Gina Ferazzi

The way Xavier Becerra has ducked responsibility on this scandal and his mishandling of migrant children while health secretary should be huge red flags for someone running for California governor. That they're being dismissed by so many voters because of polls is wild calmatters.org/politics/202...

Right-wing media are praising reality TV personality-turned-politician Spencer Pratt, a Republican, as a “star” and a “political colonoscopy for California politics.”

BREAKING: Canvas says it has reached an agreement with the hackers. A letter shared with CalMatters from Canvas's parent company says: "As part of that agreement, the data was returned to us, we received assurances that it will not be further shared on the dark web or elsewhere" OUR STORY:

There is also a lot of good evidence to support this opinion.

Launched by Gov. Gavin Newsom in the summer of 2020, Homekey awarded $3.8 billion to local governments to convert motels and other buildings into homeless housing, thrusting many local governments into a new role running multimillion-dollar real estate projects. 📸 Julie Leopo-Bermudez 1/5

These blue states aren’t getting fire prevention money from Trump. FEMA slowed grants intended to help states such as California and Colorado prepare for and prevent wildfires, a Washington Post analysis shows. wapo.st/4nfrTU9

We are in a dark place as a democracy when the elections for the Peoples house in Washington are being decided in state legislatures rather than ballot boxes. Months before the election.

ace beat reporting from @jeannereporter.bsky.social 🔨 calmatters.org/politics/202...

California is demonstrating in real time how solar and battery storage is the most viable route to rapidly decarbonizing the power grid insideclimatenews.org/news/0505202...

“Chevron has maxed out its contributions to his campaign, the first time they’ve found a gubernatorial candidate to back in a decade.” @billmckibben.bsky.social takes us back to Becerra’s early days as California AG and the fight he curiously stayed out of it www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Not even Hiram Johnson, one of modern California’s political founding fathers, knew what makes a good treasurer. The job, he said in 1911, is “merely clerical” and its “qualifications naturally can not be well understood.” So, uh, good luck deciding, California. calmatters.org/politics/202...

Breaking news from me.

The @calmatters.org Voter Guide for the June primary is officially live and remains the best tool you'll find in California for navigating your ballot calmatters.org/voterguide

Earlier I got a text from Eric Guerra’s county supervisor campaign, promoting a video introducing him to Sac voters. It disclosed in the very same caption promoting him that the ad was paid for by the city’s business chamber, and the top funder is PG&E. Don’t tell me sunshine laws don’t work.

The change, one of many to hobble high-speed rail over the years, stemmed from good intentions. Now it’s another example of how politics warped the state’s marquee transit megaproject.