Meg Whitman gets GOP nod in California

The former eBay chief executive cinched the Republican Party's nomination over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner after spending more than $81 million – about $71 million of it her own money. Poizner, a multimillionaire technology entrepreneur, poured $25 million of his own into the race that featured nonstop negative advertising.

With 10 percent of precincts reporting, Whitman had 63 percent of the vote compared with Poizner's 27 percent.

Whitman now faces Brown, a former two-term governor and son of a former governor. Brown faced no serious opposition in the Democratic primary.

In a state hard hit by the recession and beset with ongoing budget deficits, Poizner and Whitman, both 53, tangled over such issues as illegal immigration and abortion, typically hot-button topics among Republican primary voters.

Each candidate also promised to rein in state spending and cut taxes. Whitman has pledged to eliminate 40,000 state government jobs.