The Guardian · US news · Original story
First Thing: Race for California governor deadlocked as primary results across the US pour in
Mixed picture emerges from races across the US, as Trump’s pick fails in Iowa. Plus: Jill Biden speaks about her husband’s decision to drop out of the 2024 election
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Good morning. It has been a night of drama as crucial election results have unfolded – or not – across the US.
In California, the crucial race for governor remains too close to call. With mountains of ballots left to count, the Republican Steve Hilton was leading the field with the Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer following. A quirk of the state’s political system means the top two candidates face off in the general election regardless of which party they belong to.
Where else were primary elections held? In many other states. Many eyes were on Iowa, where Josh Turek, backed by millions in outside spending, clinched the state’s Democratic primary, defeating the state senator Zach Wahls, who had pitched himself as an anti-establishment outsider. On the Republican side, Randy Feenstra’s second-place finish in the gubernatorial race ended Donald Trump’s perfect endorsement streak, which had held strong since March.
When will we know the full results? Voting experts say it could take weeks to finalize the tightest races.
What was Pelley said to have done? In an email, the newly appointed executive editor, Nick Bilton, claimed Pelley had “hijacked my first meeting … to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt”. In a message to staff he said that after repeated, failed attempts to find common ground over the weekend, “we have parted ways with Scott Pelley”.
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Martin Belam · Wed, Jun 3, 2026, 4:57 AM
US news | The Guardian
Mixed picture emerges from races across the US, as Trump’s pick fails in Iowa. Plus: Jill Biden speaks about her husband’s decision to drop out of the 2024 election
Good morning. It has been a night of drama as crucial election results have unfolded – or not – across the US.
In California, the crucial race for governor remains too close to call. With mountains of ballots left to count, the Republican Steve Hilton was leading the field with the Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer following. A quirk of the state’s political system means the top two candidates face off in the general election regardless of which party they belong to.
Where else were primary elections held? In many other states. Many eyes were on Iowa, where Josh Turek, backed by millions in outside spending, clinched the state’s Democratic primary, defeating the state senator Zach Wahls, who had pitched himself as an anti-establishment outsider. On the Republican side, Randy Feenstra’s second-place finish in the gubernatorial race ended Donald Trump’s perfect endorsement streak, which had held strong since March.
When will we know the full results? Voting experts say it could take weeks to finalize the tightest races.
What was Pelley said to have done? In an email, the newly appointed executive editor, Nick Bilton, claimed Pelley had “hijacked my first meeting … to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt”. In a message to staff he said that after repeated, failed attempts to find common ground over the weekend, “we have parted ways with Scott Pelley”.
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