Five takeaways from California's primary: Normie Democrats win, self-funded campaigns flop

In California's June primary, voters delivered a clear message: experienced, mainstream Democrats are preferred over self-funded outsiders, and party affiliation still matters. Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra lead the governor's race, with billionaire Tom Steyer a distant third after spending nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.

Other self-funded candidates also fared poorly, including Patrick Wolff, Yvonne Yiu, Saikat Chakrabarti, and Zach Sokoloff. Democratic incumbents in Congress, such as Mike Thompson, Brad Sherman, and Doris Matsui, fended off progressive challengers.

The top-two primary system, designed to reduce partisan gridlock, has not produced a governor's race with two Democrats; instead, partisan patterns held, with the exception of the insurance commissioner race where two Democrats are headed to November. Democrats avoided a feared "shut out" scenario where two Republicans could have claimed the top spots, thanks to strategic voting or low likelihood.

Several state legislators seeking higher office struggled, including former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, who placed fourth in the superintendent race, and Sen. Anna Caballero, who trails in the treasurer contest.

However, state Sens. Scott Wiener and Aisha Wahab easily won their congressional primaries.