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Live primary election results tonight: California Senate races
More about these races
About the live results
We'll get our first results shortly after the polls close at 8 p.m. tonight.
Looking for our voter guides? Check out the candidates for California Senate and more L.A. County guides ▶
What’s at stake in this race
As with the state Assembly, what's at stake in this election is the Democrats' supermajority.
The current Senate has 30 Democrats and 10 Republicans. If the GOP flips at least four seats, Democrats would lose their two-thirds supermajority, which allows them to pass tax increases or put constitutional amendments on the ballot without any Republican votes.
Why these races matters
The California State Senate is one-half of our state Legislature. Along with the Assembly, it essentially serves as California’s Congress. This year, voters will choose representatives in half of the 40 state Senate districts, each home to more than 900,000 constituents. State lawmakers draft and pass laws that govern the entire state.
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About the vote count
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.
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. In L.A. County, for example, updates on the counting are expected to continue through June 26. After the polls close on election night, expect updates every 15 minutes or so through the early morning hours Wednesday. After that, expect updated counts around 5 p.m. on the following days: June 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 24 and 26. Final results must be certified by July 10.
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 report when candidates concede and otherwise rely on NPR and the Associated Press for race calls (before official results). 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, here and here.
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Tracking your ballot
You can track the status of your ballot through California's BallotTrax website.
If your mail-in ballot has any problems (like a missing or mismatched signature), your county registrar must contact you to give you a chance to fix it.
Official results
The California Secretary of State's Office is required to certify the final vote tallies by July 10, marking the official end of the 2026 primary election.
LAist's Voter Game Plan will be back in the fall to help you prepare for the Nov. 3 general election.
Ask us a question
What questions do you have about this election?
You ask, and we'll answer: Whether it's about who's funding the campaigns or how to track your ballot, we're here to help you understand the 2026 election