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About this election
What to keep in mind about these numbers
- For LAist's charts showing vote counts, we get numbers directly from the L.A. County and Orange County registrars of voters for local races. Totals are updated on our site as soon as possible after the registrars provide new tallies. For statewide races, counts come from the California Secretary of State's Office.
- Has your ballot been tallied yet? You can track the status of your ballot here.
- Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after election day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known. The upshot: Ballots can be postmarked up to and including Election Day. They're counted as long as the ballot arrives within seven days of the election and that window contributes to the lag time before results are announced.
- In L.A. County, for example, daily updates on the counting are expected to take place at least once a day — usually around 5 p.m. — through Nov. 13. (There will be multiple updates on Nov. 5 and 6.) Then, the once-a-day counts will resume again on Nov. 17, 19, 25 and 27. The office is scheduled to certify election results by Friday, Nov. 27. In Orange County, there will be multiple updates after the polls close, and then daily updates weekdays at 5 p.m. until results are scheduled to be certified on or before Dec. 3.
- The California Secretary of State is scheduled to certify the election results on Dec. 11.
- Our priority during the vote count will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted by journalists. To that end, we will rely on official results and report when candidates concede. Otherwise, we rely on NPR and the Associated Press for race calls. We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more about NPR's and the AP's process for counting votes and calling races here and here.
Wondering how we got here? Here's the backstory to this race:
What’s at stake in this race
California’s top cop carries out the governor’s law enforcement directives. The attorney general’s job touches almost every facet of life in California, from the environment to its tech sector and consumer protections. During both Trump administrations, the attorney general’s office led high-profile lawsuits defending policies favored by California Democrats.
The candidates
Rob Bonta
Party: Democrat
Attorney General | Incumbent
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Bonta was appointed attorney general in 2021 and was elected to a four-year term in 2022. Before that, he was an assemblymember representing parts of the East Bay. As attorney general, Bonta spent much of his first term enforcing housing and criminal justice laws passed in the early 2020s, including laws compelling recalcitrant cities to build new housing. Since the reelection of Donald Trump, Bonta has filed or joined more than 50 lawsuits against his administration.
LAist's AirTalk program has invited Bonta to join the show to talk about why he believes voters should reelect him.
Key endorsements
More voter resources:
Michael E. Gates
Party: Republican
Deputy United States Attorney
Gates, a former trial attorney, served as Huntington Beach city attorney for a decade. In that role, he challenged what he viewed as lenient criminal justice policy emanating from the state capital. He also fought elements of the new housing laws that would have compelled Huntington Beach to build more affordable housing. In 2025, Gates was appointed a deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, a job he left in November when he returned to the Huntington Beach city attorney’s office.
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Listen
21:27
Michael Gates on why he should be the next California attorney general
Gates spoke to LAist's AirTalk program about why voters should choose him.
Key endorsements
More voter resources:
Follow the money
What questions do you have about this election?
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