Modoc County Governor Vote: Steve Hilton Leads Xavier Becerra 1,779 to 653 in Early Returns

ALTURAS / MODOC COUNTY, California — November 6, 2026. Voters throughout Modoc County gave Steve Hilton 1,779 votes and Xavier Becerra 653 votes in an early county tally for the California governor election. The county-by-county election tracker dates Modoc’s latest displayed update to November 3 at 10:01 p.m. Pacific; Hilton’s share is 73.1% of the 2,432 valid candidate votes shown, versus 26.9% for Becerra. These are countywide votes, not an Alturas-only subtotal, and the count remains unofficial.

Modoc versus California as a whole

The Associated Press projected Becerra the statewide winner, even though he trailed in the Modoc County source snapshot. That is not a contradiction: one county’s electorate may differ considerably from the state as a whole, and statewide results reflect millions of voters from all 58 counties. The Secretary of State’s results portal supplies the official statewide reporting context.

Why registered voter statistics require care

California’s October 19 registration report recorded 5,172 registered voters in Modoc, including 1,525 in the incorporated city of Alturas and 3,647 in unincorporated communities. Registration statistics are not the same as the number of ballots counted in the governor’s contest, and this story does not infer the final turnout or the number of unprocessed ballots from the preliminary 2,432 candidate votes.

What this means for Alturas and rural communities

Residents of Alturas, Cedarville, Bieber, Newell and other county communities shared the statewide governor question but may have had different school, county, special-district and local offices on their ballots. It would be wrong to distribute Hilton’s 1,779 county votes proportionally among those towns without a verified precinct breakdown. California58 is reporting the county’s early result to help local readers compare their region with statewide voting.

When the count is official

The county’s election office continues any required lawful canvass steps. Voters should consult Modoc County government for its registrar and count notices; the source tracker provides the exact reporting cutoff used here. The article is dated November 6, but the candidate numbers are from November 3 and have not been represented as newly updated today. See also the county House election result.

Sources: The Ballot Book 2026 governor by-county tracker; California Secretary of State Oct. 19 registration report; AP election projection. Modoc source timestamp November 3 at 10:01 p.m., unofficial.

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