California's congressional primaries on Tuesday are a preliminary test of Democrats' best chance at countering Republican redistricting gains elsewhere this year. The party won voter approval last year to redraw the state's congressional map to create five more winnable U.S. House seats. But some Democrats now worry that they could be locked out of the November ballot in one of those districts, near San Diego. The reason: So many Democrats are running for the seat that they could split the vote and allow two Republicans to advance to the runoff. Other races elsewhere in the state are defined by the progressive-establishment split among Democrats.

Two candidates for California governor will emerge from a massive field of 61 hopefuls in a state primary on Tuesday, when voters will also select U.S. House nominees using a new map they approved in a 2025 ballot measure. California has a top-two primary format, where all candidates run on the same ballot. That has complicated the gubernatorial race because the number of well-known Democrats running threatens to split the vote and possibly clear the path for two Republicans to advance to the general election. Voters will also decide various state and local contests, including the Los Angeles mayoral race.

The crowded race for California governor still has no clear front-runner with only days left for voters to decide which two candidates to advance to the general election in November. Fewer Democrats are voting early so far this year than usual. Some Democratic voters say they aren't impressed with the field, while others say they're fearful of two Republican candidates advancing and locking out Democrats. That's possible because the state's primary system allows the top two vote-getters to advance regardless of party. But it became less likely after one of the major Democrats dropped out and President Donald Trump endorsed one of the leading Republicans.