While California (population 39 million) continues to count votes cast in its gubernatorial primary election — on average, more than 80 percent of California votes are mail-in ballots — MAGA-aligned U.S. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) added her voice to a frequent Trump administration criticism of the Golden State, writing on social media: “The US gov sends billions to California to subsidize their failed policies. It is time we STOP until they clean up their shady election process.”
California Gavin Newsom replied directly to Luna’s post, writing: “Try again. California pays the bills for failed red states.”
Try again. California pays the bills for failed red states. https://t.co/PQtVo3QpN6 pic.twitter.com/04teVh00Cd
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 8, 2026
When a self-described conservative X user asked Grok if Newsom’s statement was true, Grok replied: “California is consistently one of the biggest net donors to the federal budget—residents/businesses pay far more in taxes than the state receives in spending (e.g. ~$83B net donor in 2022 per Rockefeller Institute; $275B gap in recent USAFacts FY2024 data). Many red states are net recipients.”
Luna isn’t the only MAGA-aligned congressmember to criticize California for the time it takes to count votes and to suggest its lack of speed creates suspicion. As seen below on Fox News, U.S. Representative James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said: “We had 100 percent of the results in the U.S. Senate race in two hours…so in California, where Silicon Valley is, it takes weeks? Nobody believes that.”
Comer on vote counting: We do it in Kentucky and we're finished in two hours. California, it takes weeks? Nobody believes that. pic.twitter.com/HbFUqXhOch
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 4, 2026
[NOTE: Kentucky, which has a population of 4.5 million, had approximately 103,686 mail-in votes to count for the 2024 primary elections. California had approximately 8,280,096 mail-in votes to count.]
Comer added, “We do it in Kentucky where we don’t even have Internet access in half the state, we’re finished in two hours.”
