Santa Clarita residents are voting in the California Primary for several public offices at the state and federal level, as well as a handful of ballot initiatives with a wide range of impacts.

8 a.m. Katie Hill and Steve Knight

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting in, it appears that Democrat Katie Hill and Republican incumbent Steve Knight will run against one another in November.

The vote results were as follows:

11:30 p.m. See you all tomorrow

We’re wrapping up our liveblog for the night. Santa Clarita hasn’t had a significant update on any important races in hours, and L.A. County as a whole doesn’t look like it will be reporting anytime soon.

We will have a comprehensive roundup of the primary tomorrow, with the updated numbers when those are made available.

In the meantime, goodnight all, and happy primary day.

10:30 p.m. Still waiting on L.A. County 

Just over six percent of L.A. County votes have been reported, more than two hours after polls closed. A 10:24 p.m. update did little to change the state of the CA-25 and Assembly District 38 races. But it is a sign that the county is beginning to tally votes, and may soon release a large number of votes.

10:30 p.m. Newsom and Kennedy 

During his victory speech, Gavin Newsom referred to the late Robert Kennedy, as today marked the anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination.

“It was 50 years ago to the day that Senator Robert Kennedy stood on a stage like this and claimed victory in the California primary for president,” said Newsom. “As all of you know, it was the last speech he would ever give. Decades later, we still mourn that loss, but tonight I prefer to be inspired by his legacy.”

KHTS reported earlier today on the anniversary and Rep. Steve Knight’s retrospective on how Kennedy shaped California and federal politics. You can read that article here.

9:40 p.m. John Cox will face Gavin Newsom

Fox News and CNN have both just called the race for John Cox. This mean Cox, a Republican, will face Newsom in the November election to take over from Jerry Brown as governor of California.

JUST IN: Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox will be one of the top two finishers in California’s jungle primary and will advance to the November election to face off against Democrat @GavinNewsom. pic.twitter.com/QgqHakcWmy

— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 6, 2018

9:30 p.m. Republicans turn out the lights

At the Republican HQ, supporters are rolling up the sidewalks. Knight is clearly ahead in the results and, unless there is a massive shift once L.A. County reports the other 95 percent of their votes, will advance to November. And Acosta is also ahead in his race, but even as Christy Smith makes some gains in her return numbers, Acosta has also secured a spot on the ballot whatever the result.

Now the focus is on who will take up the second spot in the races for governor and U.S. Senator, as well as which of the Democrats will advance alongside Knight to the November ballot.

9:20 p.m. Gavin Newsom advances to November

Gavin Newsom, in a result that can only be described tonight as predictable, will be on the November ballot. The Associated Press called the race just a couple of minutes ago. It looks like John Cox, a Republican, will join him, but that’s still up in the air for now.

BREAKING: Democrat Gavin Newsom advances to November election for governor in California. @AP race call at 9:17 p.m. PDT. #Election2018 #APracecall #CAprimary pic.twitter.com/1YYrW82wQm

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) June 6, 2018

9:15 p.m. Katie Hill at the Democrat HQ

As the results from precincts continue to come in, the race between Caforio and Hill appears extremely close. But as she watches results come in at the Democrat HQ, Hill kept a level head, saying the results were expected.

“I think that it shows you that this could be a close race,” said Hill. “That is something that we were prepared for from the beginning.”

While Smith has a background in education, and has stated that it is a passion of hers, she said this election is all about tackling all of the issues, not just education.

“I’m invested in every issue,” Smith said. “I’ve been out there listening, talking to small business owners, talking to those folks impacted by the Aliso Canyon leak. The full range of issues are the things that I really want to dive in to.”

9 p.m. L.A. County Reports

Knight is still ahead as L.A. County begins reporting a few minutes ago. Caforio has pulled ahead by a few percentage points, but it’s still neck and neck between him and Hill.

9 p.m. Acosta vs. Smith: an early look at November

The first results from Assembly District 38 are in, and Dante Acosta is leading. He’s received 5,300 of the approximately 9,000 votes currently counted. That puts him at around 57 percent of the vote to Christy Smith’s 43 percent. Good numbers for him going into November, but it’s unclear if voters from either party stayed home because both will appear either way on the fall ballot.

8:45 p.m. Knight ahead in early reporting

Congressman Steve Knight is topping the vote in CA-25, and two of his Democratic competitors are neck and neck for second place as polling places begin reporting in. This tweet sums it all up:

#BREAKING the first numbers from CA-25 are in. As expected, knight far ahead, and Hill is tied with Caforio at just over 19 percent. These results are liable to change dramatically as more polling places begin reporting pic.twitter.com/UHq7YRXuWf

— Chris McCrory (@ckm_news) June 6, 2018

8:30 p.m. A look at the Republican HQ

Our KHTS reporter at the Republican HQ is starting to send some info back to us. Here’s a picture from inside, where they’re waiting for the first results from L.A. County to roll in (0 percent reporting right now). That’s Acosta peering down at the table in the center. He will face Democrat Christy Smith in November, but these results will let him know how his chances of re-election look.

8:30 p.m. Feinstein on the ballot

The Associated Press just called the race for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who will appear on the November ballot. Who she will run against is uncertain at this time, but it could be James Bradley (R), who is creeping away from De Leon in the polls with 11 percent of the vote.

BREAKING: Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein wins California primary in bid for fifth full term in Washington. https://t.co/BuuTWiifGI

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) June 6, 2018

8:15 p.m. Very early results 

Stanislaus and Napa counties are both the first to report in, with 44 percent and 98 percent reporting, respectively. Those numbers look good for Dianne Feinstein and for both Kevin De Leon and Republican James Bradley. They also echo pretty closely our exit polling, with Feinstein taking the lions share of around 40 percent of the vote and De Leon trailing under 10 percent.

Gavin Newsom and John Cox are leading the race for governor in the very early reporting, with 39 and 23 percent of the vote, respectively. We’ll keep updating as more numbers come in.

8 p.m. Polls are closed

That’s it, the polls are now closed. Sometime within the next hour or two, we should get the official results and see who will advance to the general election in November.

8 p.m. Off the record

Over 100,000 voters in L.A. County (118,522 to be exact) appear to have been left off the rolls at their local polling places, according to the L.A. County Registrar’s Office. KHTS has confirmed polling places in Castaic and Valencia have been impacted by this error in the system.

Anybody who can’t find their name in the official record at their polling place could still cast a provisional ballot, which will be added once it’s checked against the voter database. Let us know if you experienced this issue, and what polling place you were at when it happened.

7:50 p.m. Exit polling 

Throughout the day, KHTS reporters have been going to polling places around Santa Clarita to get a sense of how the community is voting. A warning: our polling isn’t meant to be a perfect forecast of the vote, but a look into likely outcomes for tonight’s election before the results are counted.

And with that, let’s look at the races:

In the gubernatorial race, it looks like Trump’s endorsement of John Cox (you can see the tweet down below) is having an impact. While frontrunner Gavin Newsom looks to be around 31 percent of the vote, Cox is a close second in our polling with 27 percent.  Santa Clarita is voting much more red than the rest of the state. This is good news for Cox, and for Republicans in general. Analysts believe having two Democrats in the state’s largest race in November could depress GOP turnout.

In the race to overthrow Sen. Feinstein, Santa Clarita appears to be against Kevin De Leon. Despite the candidate visiting Santa Clarita several times (most recently appearing at the opening of the Democratic HQ in Newhall), he is polling around seven percent in SCV. Feinstein leads with 49 percent of the vote. The other votes are split among the large number of candidates vying for the position from throughout the state, with no clear frontrunner among them. Feinstein’s lead is expected to continue through November.

In the closely watched CA-25 race, Steve Knight is ahead of the pack, but is trailed closely by Katie Hill. While the incumbent representative has approximately 40 percent of voters in Santa Clarita, Hill is gaining with around 36 percent of the vote. Some residents leaving the polls in Santa Clarita indicated that they thought it was time for a new face to represent the district. The other Democratic candidates, Bryan Caforio and Jess Phoenix, sit at around 15 percent and 8 percent, respectively, according to our polling of Santa Clarita residents.

And the first incumbent race for Dante Acosta, R-38, appears to be going well for him. Acosta pulled in approximately 56 percent of Santa Clarita residents, whereas his Democratic opponent, Christy Smith, sits around 44 percent. Acosta and Smith are the only candidates for the 38th District seat, so while they are both set to move on to the general election in November, regardless of tonight’s outcome. But the numbers from the primary will be a good indicators as to what we can expect in the fall.

Trump Weighs In

President Donald Trump took to Twitter Tuesday morning to endorse candidates in two California elections. The president encouraged voters to cast their ballots for businessman John Cox, one of the candidates for governor.

In High Tax, High Crime California, be sure to get out and vote for Republican John Cox for Governor. He will make a BIG difference!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2018

He also tweeted about Devin Nunes, a frequent supporter of Trump’s agenda, who led the controversial House investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump called Nunes “a true American patriot.”

Vote for Congressman Devin Nunes, a true American Patriot the likes of which we rarely see in our modern day world….he truly loves our country and deserves everyone’s support!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2018

And the president encouraged voters to vote red in all federal races, singling out Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, as somebody to rally behind.

Get the vote out in California today for Rep. Kevin McCarthy and all of the great GOP candidates for Congress. Keep our country out of the hands of High Tax, High Crime Nancy Pelosi.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2018

CA-25 Candidates On-Air

Two of the four candidates for the CA-25 Congressional seat spoke to KHTS during Problem Solver Politics with Cardon Ellis, a political talk show aired on KHTS Radio every Sunday night.

“It’s an absolute honor to represent this district,” said current Congressman Steve Knight on the Sunday before the Primary. “I enjoy every minute of it. It’s one of the greatest things I’ve been able to do in life.”

Two weeks before Knight, the show featured volcanologist Jess Phoenix, one of the Democrats hoping to unseat him. She said she decided to run for the office after realizing that politics were clouding policy decisions that should be made with science.

“I decided to run for Congress when I realized that we have our current representative, who sits on the science committee, has no scientific background and basically said that California’s preparations for climate change are foolish,” Phoenix said on the show.

What are the races?

Ed. Note: Below is an abridged version of the June 5 primary roundup KHTS published on Monday. To read the full breakdown, click here.  

For primary elections, California uses a system commonly known as a top-two, or jungle, primary. In this type of election, all candidates are listed on the same primary ballot. The two candidates who get the most votes, regardless of their party affiliation, advance to the general election.

At the federal level, Santa Clarita voters will decide on candidates for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Dianne Feinstein and who will run in the November midterm election for the CA-25 House of Representatives seat, currently held by Republican Steve Knight.

The top candidates for the Senate seat are Feinstein and Kevin De Leon. The candidates for the House seat are Knight, Katie Hill, Bryan Caforio, and Jess Phoenix.

Voters will also decide on the candidates for governor. The top candidates for governor are Gavin Newsom, John Cox, Antonio Villarigosa, and John Chaing.

In the California State Assembly, the 38th district, which encompasses Santa Clarita, is up for grabs. Freshman incumbent Dante Acosta, a Republican, only faces one challenger: Democrat Christy Smith.

Because only two candidates are competing, both will automatically advance to the November ballot. But the June primary is expected to be an early indicator of how that election is expected to play out.

Additionally, voters will decide on five state measures that range from bond funding to transportation to property tax systems. For more information about these measures, College of the Canyons Political Science Professor Dr. Phil Gussin created a number of informative videos for each ballot measure that can be watched below:

• Proposition 68 (Video) — Authorizes bonds funding parks, natural resources protection, climate adaptation, water quality and supply and flood protection.
• Proposition 69 (Video) — Requires that certain new transportation revenues be used for transportation services. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.
• Proposition 70 (Video) — Requires Legislative supermajority vote approving use of cap-and-trade reserve fund. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.
• Proposition 71 (Video) — Sets effective date for ballot measures, legislative constitutional amendment. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.
• Proposition 72 (Video) — Permits Legislature to exclude newly constructed rain-capture systems from property-tax reassessment requirement. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.

Ed. Note: KHTS will continue to update this story throughout the day as results come in.

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