Wednesday will offer the first substantial post-Election Day ballot update.
As each county across California will begin counting vote-by-mail ballots dropped off by 8 p.m. and those submitted at vote centers, election results will likely begin to take shape Wednesday, revealing who will likely head to the November general election and won won’t.
LA County will process and scan ballots between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Wednesday before providing an update to the public at around 4 p.m., according to the LA County Registrar-recorder.
A total of 1,318,466 ballots were processed and counted as of early Wednesday morning, with 22.38% of registered voters casting ballots.
Here are the key races with at least one candidate advancing to the run-off, according to NBC News projections.
Los Angeles Mayor
Mayor Karen Bass became the first mayoral candidate to punch her ticket to the November run-off Tuesday evening.
With more than 63% of the ballots counted, the incumbent received nearly 35% of the votes, NBC News projected Tuesday night.
Reality TV personality Spencer Pratt was in second place with over 30% of the ballots, distancing himself from Councilmember Nithya Raman in third place, according to the NBC News projections.
The initial tally from Tuesday night wasn’t great for Raman, according to political science professor Dr. Fernando Guerra of Loyola Marymount University.
“Theoretically, yes, (Raman can catch up.) There’s still about 500,000 votes to count, but not practically. We’ve seen the patterns before,” Guerra said.
Pratt said Tuesday night he was confident that he would face Bass in the November election.
“Well, obviously God wanted five more months of me exposing all the failures of our mayor, so it’s going to be a fun ride. I hope she’s ready,” Pratt said.
California governor
As of early Wednesday morning, this race with 61 candidates remained too close to call.
After 57% of the ballots were counted, Republican Steve Hilton picked up more votes, followed by Democrat Xavier Becerra in second. Democratic billionaire candidate Tom Steyer was in third place.
Most of the remaining contenders, including Katie Porter, Matt Mahan and Antonio Villaraigosa, conceded Tuesday night, but there were no updates from the Chad Bianco and Tony Thurmond camps.
While it’s not certain who, between Spencer Pratt and Nithya Raman, will advance to the run-off, the early count for Raman may not be promising.
California attorney general
Incumbent Attorney General Rob Bonta will face Republican challenger Michael Gates, NBC News projected.
After more than half of the ballots were counted, Bonta received 52% of the votes, compared to Gates’ 42.6%.
California lieutenant governor
With more than half of the votes counted, the race was locked in a dead heat as of Wednesday morning.
Republican Gloria Romero was edging ahead with 19.9% of the votes, closely trailed by outgoing State Treasurer Fiona Ma at 19.1%. Democrat Josh Fryday was in third place with 13.6%
Romero is a running mate to Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton.
Ma, who was embroiled in two scandals, including a 2024 sexual harassment settlement and her ties to a private Chinese boarding school.
California secretary of state
Incumbent Shirley Weber and her Republican challenger Don Wagner will advance to the November run-off, NBC News projected Tuesday night.
Weber is seeking a second four-year term, but Orange County Supervisor Wagner has blamed Weber for the state’s slow ballot-counting process.