President Donald Trump has criticized California for its vote-counting delay in the gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral races, accusing the state’s Democratic leaders of “BIG cheating.”
While California polls closed at 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday, that state’s counting appears to remain at a standstill as of Thursday morning.
‘Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS.’
Only 56% of the votes have been counted in the race for governor and 62% in the mayoral election, according to the Associated Press. This is a 2% decrease for both races compared to Wednesday morning.
In the race to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Fox News host and small-business owner Steve Hilton (R) currently holds a slight lead over former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (D), and climate advocate and businessman Tom Steyer (D) remains in third position.
Hilton has so far received 1,421,466 votes, Becerra received roughly 1,318,536, and Steyer received 1,019,332.
Despite the AP and other election data aggregators stating that the race is currently too early to call, Trump declared Hilton the winner on Wednesday afternoon.
“Congratulations to Steve Hilton on coming in first, last night, in the California Vote for Governor,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “If Californians are smart, which I know they are, they will put Steve into the Governor’s Mansion, and watch their State get better at a rate that has probably never been seen before. I know Steve — He is a hard driving WINNER, and he will turn California around, quickly — and the Federal Government will be there, with him, to help!”
The top two winners will face off again in November.
RELATED: California vote-counting continues: Who’s advancing in the governor and LA mayor races?
Frederic J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
Meanwhile, in the race for L.A. mayor, only incumbent Karen Bass has currently secured enough votes, 183,701, to move on to November’s runoff election, according to the AP.
Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt sits in second place with 157,116 votes, and L.A. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman is in third with 119,809.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk claimed that many voters had returned their mail-in ballots on Election Day.
RELATED: ‘Doomsday scenario’: California governor race turns into high-stakes scramble as vote split may keep Republican out
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
Trump accused the “Dumocrats” in California of “trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES.”
“Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS,” he wrote on social media.
Trump announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles is investigating the vote-counting delay.
“There’s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California. Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???” Trump wrote.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined Blaze News’ request for comment.
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