California Today

California's House races under the new Prop 50 map: 11 of the 12 competitive seats we're tracking have been called. Projected winners (AP, NBC News or Decision Desk HQ): • 1st: Mike McGuire (D), 55.5% • 3rd: Ami Bera (D), 57.0% • 6th: Richard Pan (D), 57.5% • 13th: Adam Gray (D), 61.3% • 21st: Jim Costa (D), 62.7% • 22nd: Randy Villegas (D), 66.6% • 42nd: Robert Garcia (D), 60.6% • 45th: Derek Tran (D), 59.6% • 47th: Dave Min (D), 57.4% • 48th: Marni von Wilpert (D), 59.4% • 49th: Mike Levin (D), 57.7% Still open is the 40th, where two Republican incumbents, Ken Calvert and Young Kim, landed in the same district. Calvert leads 54.2% to 45.8%. Statewide, Xavier Becerra is the projected next governor (AP, NBC News), with 64.6% of the count. Every race, measure and caller in one place: californiatoday.com/guides/e…

Why California is still counting, and the dates that matter County elections officials mail a ballot to every active registered voter. A mailed ballot counts if it's postmarked by Election Day and arrives within seven days. Each envelope's signature is checked before the ballot is counted. The dates: • Nov. 10: last day for mailed ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 to arrive • Nov. 17: counties' deadline to notify voters with a missing or mismatched signature • Nov. 25, 5 p.m.: last day to fix that signature problem • Dec. 3: counties certify their results • Dec. 11: the Secretary of State certifies the statewide results Two days after the November 2024 election, about a third of all ballots were still uncounted. Close races take time to call here, and that's by design. Check your own ballot with the state's Where's My Ballot tool: sos.ca.gov/elections/ballot-…

A police union PAC ran a "No on Kelli Evans" campaign against one of the two California Supreme Court justices on the ballot. In the latest count, Evans is running ahead of the justice nobody campaigned against. Secretary of State count as of 6:58 p.m. PT, Nov. 5: • Kelli Evans: 71.9% yes • Joshua Groban: 71.0% yes Each needs a simple majority to keep the seat, and both are inside the range of every Supreme Court retention vote since 1990. Californians last removed justices in 1986, when Rose Bird, Cruz Reynoso and Joseph Grodin lost. The county results are more mixed. Evans ran behind Groban in 30 of 58 counties, including 18 of the 24 where Steve Hilton leads the governor's race. Her largest deficits were in Sierra (4.5 points), Modoc (3.6) and Lassen (2.4). She ran 2.3 points ahead of Groban in Los Angeles County, which cast 28% of the votes on her question. All 62 Court of Appeal justices on the ballot are above 59% yes in their districts. We mapped all 58 counties and every appellate result here: californiatoday.com/news/ele…

California's 14 propositions: where every measure stands Secretary of State count as of 6:58 p.m. PT, Nov. 5. Counties are still counting, and the results are certified Dec. 11. Projected to pass (AP): • Prop 1, $11.25 billion veterans and affordable housing bond: 60.0% yes • Prop 2, rainy-day fund cap raised from 10% to 20%: 60.2% yes • Prop 3, high-income tax rates made permanent: 59.3% yes • Prop 37, $25 billion in state loans for middle-income homebuyers: 61.5% yes Projected to fail (AP): • Prop 39, voter ID and citizenship checks: 40.7% yes • Prop 44, 90% spending rule for community health clinics: 18.0% yes Not called yet: • Prop 4, public campaign financing: no leads, 51.4% to 48.6% • Prop 5, removing the replacement question from recalls: yes leads, 51.0% to 49.0% • Prop 38, $8.4 billion immunology research bond: yes leads, 55.2% • Prop 40, one-time 5% billionaire tax: no leads, 54.6% • Prop 41, bars taxes exempt from the spending limit: no leads, 53.3% • Prop 42, bars new personal-property and retroactive taxes: yes leads, 53.4% • Prop 43, two-thirds vote for voter-initiated local special taxes: no leads, 55.7% • Prop 45, CEQA fast track for nine project types: no leads, 54.8% The closest two are Props 4 and 5, each within three points. Props 40, 41 and 42 are scored against each other by yes votes.

California rent cap updates for 2026–2027: What tenants need to know californiatoday.com/news/hou…

2026 California voting master guide: Deadlines, vote centers and drop-off sites in all 58 counties californiatoday.com/guides/e…

2026 California Governor Race breakdown: Becerra vs. Hilton on taxes, housing and homelessness, and the 14 propositions californiatoday.com/guides/e…

California Prop 44 guide: A 90% spending rule for community health clinics, backed by a union and opposed by the clinics themselves californiatoday.com/guides/e…

California gas prices fall 12 cents after coming within 4.4 cents of the 2022 record californiatoday.com/news/gas…

Michael Jackson biopic sequel gets $30.8 California film tax credit; "Michael 2" will film in CA californiatoday.com/news/ent…

What, exactly, is California's "billionaire tax"? (Spoiler: It's not an annual tax on billionaires) californiatoday.com/news/ele…

Medi-Cal work requirements, six-month renewals and immigrant eligibility: Every 2026–27 date you need to know californiatoday.com/news/med…

AB 1776 is on Newsom's desk: California's antitrust law would reach single companies for the first time californiatoday.com/news/bus…