California elections: governor, LA mayor and Congress at stake as the state braces for turbulence

There is little sign of clarity in the closing stretch of a campaign season for governor, Congress and LA mayor Californians were frustrated and underwhelmed as they headed to the polls to cast their ballots in Tuesday’s primary election, where voters will eliminate all but two candidates in the volatile race for governor, the messy battle for Los Angeles mayor and a series of high-stakes congressional contests. Polls closed at 8pm local time on Tuesday. With a notoriously slow vote-counting system, the outcomes of the tightest races may take days to become clear. In the marquee race to succeed term-limited Democratic governor Gavin Newsom a trio of new surveys shows Democrat Xavier Becerra pulling slightly ahead as progressive Tom Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton scrap for the second-place spot to advance in the state’s non-partisan primary. Meanwhile, voters in Los Angeles remain divided over whether to stand by the embattled mayor, Karen Bass, or to elevate her challengers. At the federal level, voters will set the stage for a November showdown in the state’s newly redrawn congressional districts, choosing their candidates for November in a series of House races that are poise