Stanislaus leans Republican in primary vote tally for governor so far. Why?
.JPG "Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks during the California Republican Party's launch of Victory '26 at the California Republican Party headquarters in Sacramento on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.")
Stanislaus County has just about equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, but the GOP did better here in Tuesday’s primary for governor.
That’s mainly because a good fifth of the registered voters have no stated party. They can swing right or left depending on the election, as shown in the early results from Tuesday.
This will not change the fact that a Democrat almost certainly become the next governor of the deep blue state of California. The Stanislaus numbers nonetheless can indicate the mood of the local electorate.
The top two primary candidates will advance to the November general election, regardless of party. Here’s where the count stood as of Thursday morning:
- Republican Steve Hilton led statewide for governor with 27.6%, but he got 34.9% of the Stanislaus votes.
- Democrat Xavier Becerra had 25.5% statewide and 22.6% in the county.
- Democrat Tom Steyer received 19.7% statewide and 12.3% in the county.
- Republican Chad Bianco was at 11.3% statewide and 18.5% in Stanislaus.
- Democratic incumbent Rep. Adam Gray won 41% of the Stanislaus County portion of his district and 40.9% of the total. He will face Republican Kevin Lincoln in November in the Democratic-leaning district.
- Republican incumbent Rep. Tom McClintock has 60.7% of the Stanislaus part of his district and 63% of the total. Democrat Michael Masuda also made the general election in the strongly conservative district.
- Republican incumbent State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil is running third in the primary to Democrat Jaron Brandon and the GOP’s Alexandra Duarte. Brandon stood at 41.3% in Stanislaus and 39.2% districtwide. Duarte was at 39.1% in the county and 32.6% overall. The incumbent has 19.6% of the Stanislaus voters and 28.2% across the district.
- Republican incumbent Assemblymember Heath Flora received 43.9% of the vote in the Stanislaus portion and 30.1 % in the district overall. The battle for the second spot in November is too close to call between Democrat Matthew Adams and Republican Jim Shoemaker. The county’s other GOP incumbent, Assemblymember Juan Alanis, was unopposed for a new term.
The party registration figures are in a May 18 report from the California Secretary of State’s Office. Democrats make up 36% of the Stanislaus electorate to 35.8% who are Republicans. An additional 19.9% are independent, and the rest are minor parties.
Democrats are at 44.9% of the California total. Republicans are at 25% and independents at 22.8%. The other 7.3% belong to minor parties.
Check back at modbee.com for election updates.
