California's wide-open gubernatorial primary remained unresolved Wednesday morning with roughly half of all expected votes counted, as three candidates held the top positions in a race that will ultimately send only two contenders to the November general election. Former Fox News host and Republican Steve Hilton led with approximately 27 percent of the vote, followed closely by Democrat and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra at 26 percent and billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer at 20 percent. Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco was the only other candidate in double digits, at 11 percent, but trailed the top three by a wide margin.

Two Democratic candidates conceded shortly after polls closed Tuesday night — San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — clearing some of the uncertainty in the field. Steyer declined to concede, telling supporters in San Francisco that he intended to wait for a full vote count. Becerra, speaking to supporters on election night, cast himself as an underdog who had been counted out and outspent throughout the race, saying, 'The underdog stayed in the fight.'

The race to succeed term-limited Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom unfolded against a backdrop of unusual political uncertainty. No dominant candidate emerged to consolidate support in a state where Democrats hold nearly a two-to-one voter registration advantage, in part because several prominent Democrats — including U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and Attorney General Rob Bonta — declined to enter the race. The field ultimately swelled to 61 candidates on a single primary ballot under California's jungle primary system, which allows all candidates regardless of party to compete together with only the top two finishers advancing.

In other California races, incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass advanced to a November runoff after failing to secure an outright majority, and will face either reality television personality Spencer Pratt or City Council member Nithya Raman for her seat. In the race to fill retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi's House seat, San Francisco County Supervisor Connie Chan and state Sen. Scott Wiener both advanced, setting up a Democrat-versus-Democrat general election contest. Progressive activist Saikat Chakrabarti, a former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, did not advance.

A final outcome in the governor's race is not expected for days or possibly weeks, given California's extensive use of mail-in voting and the state's rigorous ballot verification process. Many Democratic voters are known to submit mail ballots close to or on Election Day, further delaying the count. Political observers noted that Republican candidates in California have historically performed better on election night than after mail ballots are fully tabulated, a dynamic that could still shift the standings among the top contenders.