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June 6 (UPI) — Democrat Xavier Becerra is advancing to the November election in the California governor’s race, while Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Tom Steyer battle for the second spot.

California’s primary is nonpartisan, so the top two finishers advance, regardless of party.

If elected, Becerra, 68, would be California’s first Latino governor since 1875. The state’s population is about 41% Latino.

“The people of the great state of California, in the greatest nation on Earth, have spoken — loudly and proudly,” Becerra said in a statement. “We will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we are never backing down.”

Becerra was the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden and is a former California attorney general.

No Republican has won statewide office since 2006. Hilton has also been endorsed by President Donald Trump, who is unpopular in the state. California Gov. Gavin Newsom can’t run for re-election because of term limits.

The vote count has taken several days because California has mail-in voting. It’s not unusual for California’s elections to take a long time to count. Trump-endorsed Hilton led early, but it’s likely that’s because Republicans voted early, while Democrats waited because they had many more contenders from which to choose, The New York Times reported.

Hilton, 56, is a British-born former Fox News host who once worked for Prime Minister David Cameron. Steyer, 68, is a New York-born billionaire philanthropist and climate activist who ran for president in 2020.

On Friday, the Department of Justice sent a federal prosecutor to observe ballot counting in Los Angeles after Trump claimed that the count was being rigged by Democrats.

The Los Angeles County registrar-recorder said in a statement Friday: “Our office was notified late yesterday that the U.S. attorney’s office would send an assistant U.S. attorney to the Ballot Processing Center to observe ballot processing activities.”

“The individual arrived this morning, was provided an overview of the public observation program and participated in a walkthrough of the ballot processing operations,” spokesperson Mike Sanchez said in an email to CNN.

Sanchez noted that ballot processing is open to the public.

California law gives election officials 30 days to complete the counting and certification process, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement.

“Our commitment is immediate: in California, every ballot is counted properly and every ballot is accounted for,” Weber said.

May 7 (UPI) — Federal law enforcement agents have arrested and charged 18 people accused of selling drugs in and around downtown Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park, according to authorities who say additional drug operations will be conducted.

The 18 people arrested over the last 24 hours in the so-called Operation Free MacArthur Park are among 25 defendants named in a federal criminal complaint charging them with distribution of, and possession with intent too distribute, a controlled substance, the Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California told reporters during a press conference that some 300 federal drug and law enforcement agents participated in the raid and that they “are not going anywhere.”

“This is not a one-and-done operation,” he said. “We are here and we are not leaving.”

Located in Los Angeles’ Westlake neighborhood, the historic MacArthur Park is within a densely populated immigrant area and has long been associated with drugs, crime and gangs.

Last summer, it was the backdrop for National Guard and federal agents deployed to the city as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

On Wednesday, it was the location of a similar show of force as heavily armed federal drug and law enforcement agents, with military-style vehicles, conducted raids in and around the park as they sought to arrest those named in the criminal complaint.

Among those arrested were Mallaly Moreno-Lopez, 32, and her boyfriend, Jackson Tarfur, 28, whom authorities believe are the main sources of fentanyl and methamphetamine in MacArthur Park.

The pair are accused of delivering narcotics to the MacArthur Park-adjacent Alvarado Corridor to be stashed in storefronts and then distributed to street-level dealers. Their Westmont residence is allegedly used as a stash location for drugs that are to be sold in MacArthur Park, according to authorities.

The complaint alleges 27 separate drug deals between March 9 and April 15 in and around the MacArthur Park area.

According to authorities, Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration personnel seized about 40 pounds of fentanyl at one defendant’s Calabasas residence.

Seven suspects remained at large, authorities said.

Essayli said they were at MacArthur Park on Wednesday “to liberate it,” while blaming the Democratic-led government of California for allowing the area to become what the Justice Department called an open-air drug market.

“Look, we’re here today because California policies have failed. The policies of California to let people use drugs open and notoriously, with little to no criminal consequences, is a failed experiment,” he said.

“MacArthur Park should be for families, should be for residents of Los Angeles, not for drug dealers and gangsters.”

The Los Angeles Police Department said it assisted the federal agencies in the operation.