What We Know (And Don't) After The California Primary Election

Results are still early in a lot of national, statewide and local races (and may take a while to count), but here’s what we know so far in California’s 2020 primary. And find full California election results here.

Bernie Sanders wins in California

Sen. Bernie Sanders is projected to win the California Democratic presidential primary, while former Vice President Joe Biden had a big night nationally. Sanders had 32% of the vote in California as of 5:21 a.m., according to the Associated Press, with 76% of California precincts reporting.

Sanders also took home Colorado, Utah and his home state of Vermont on Super Tuesday. NPR called Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas and Minnesota for Biden, and he’s leading in Maine as of 5:21 a.m.

It’s still really early

The big thing to remember tonight is that these results are still really early. Several city council races in Sacramento, as well as the voting on Proposition 13 and Sacramento’s citywide ballot measures, are too early to call.

Early results show Proposition 13, which would allow for the issuance of $15 billion in bonds to fund school and college facilities in California, losing in the polls, but things could change as more results roll in. The measure was behind 43% to 57% with just over half of precincts reporting on election night. Campaigns for and against the measure said they expect the gap will tighten as more votes are counted. 

There’s a close race for the Sacramento District 4 city council seat, where incumbent City Councilman Steve Hansen is facing a tough challenge from Katie Valenzuela. 

Votes are also still being counted in District 8, where school board member Mai Vang is leading with 46% of the vote over Les Simmons, a pastor and community organizer, who is at 30%. If Vang does not earn a majority of votes, she and Simmons will move on to a runoff election in November.

Councilman Eric Guerra appears poised to secure re-election, while District 2 Councilman Allen Warren is in a tighter contest so far. On election night, he tallied 39 percent of the vote, a significant lead over challengers Sean Loloee (28%) and Ramona Landeros (22%).

Results are also still early on Sacramento’s citywide measures as of Wednesday morning. Measure G, which would create a separate fund for youth and child services in the city’s general fund, was narrowly behind. Measure H, which would allow for the issuance of $750 million in bonds to improve facilities in the Sacramento City Unified School District, had 59% in favor early.

Results will continue coming in over the next few weeks before they have to be certified in 30 days. We’ll keep updating our stories with the latest numbers, and you can check out our live results page here.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg wins re-election

One race that is clear is the one for Sacramento Mayor. Incumbent Mayor Darrell Steinberg appears to be cruising toward re-election for a second term in office.

Voters face long lines in Los Angeles County

Some voters in California faced long lines this Super Tuesday as they tried to cast their ballots, especially in Los Angeles County. The campaigns for Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren even filed a complaint to prevent polling locations in Los Angeles County from closing.

The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters said anyone who was in line at 8 p.m. could still vote. Some voters reported waiting up to two hours at vote centers, so the Secretary of State tweeted out the locations of some less busy vote centers to try to ease up lines.

In Sacramento, the line to vote during California's primary election at Sacramento State went through Modoc Hall and out the back door. But the wait didn’t dissuade students.