<!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ --></p> <p>from <a href=""https://calmatters.org/author/maya-miller/"" title=""Posts" by="" maya="" c.="" miller="" class=""author" url="" fn="" rel=""author"">Maya S. Miller</a>CalMatters</p> <figure> <img decoding="async" width=""1200"" height=""800"" src=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/081425_Redistricting-Rally_TS_CM_14.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1"" class=""attachment-post-thumbnail" size-post-thumbnail="" wp-post-image="" alt=""A" person="" wearing="" a="" black="" suit="" with="" stripped-pattern="" tie="" stands="" in="" front="" of="" podium="" red="" sign="" on="" the="" that="" says="" rigging="" response="" act="" during="" press="" conference.="" crowd="" attendees="" many="" holding="" signs="" can="" be="" seen="" standing="" background.="" decoding=""async"" srcset=""https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/081425_Redistricting-Rally_TS_CM_14.jpg?w=2000&ssl=1" https:="" sizes=""(max-width:"/><figcaption>U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla attends a redistricting rally at the Japanese American National Museum’s Center for Democracy in Los Angeles on August 14, 2025. Photo by Ted Socchi for CalMatters</figcaption></figure> <p>This story was originally published by <a href=""https://calmatters.org/"">CalMatters</a>. <a href=""https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/"">Sign up</a> for their newsletters.</p> <p>US Senator <a href=""https://calmatters.org/tag/alex-padilla/"">Alex Padilla</a> of California will not run for governor next year in the highly watched race to succeed the governor. <a href=""https://calmatters.org/tag/gavin-newsom/"">Gavin Newsom</a>the senator unexpectedly announced at the US Capitol on Tuesday.</p> <p>The decision comes after months of speculation that the senior senator from California, whom Newsom tapped to succeed former Vice President Kamala Harris after she retires in 2020, could throw his hat in the ring and dominate an otherwise open field. </p> <p>Padilla’s staff confirmed Tuesday that he will not run for governor. </p> <p>“With a full heart and even greater commitment than ever, I am choosing not to run for governor of California next year,” Padilla told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. “I choose to stay in this fight because the Constitution is worth fighting for.”</p> <p>Padilla, the first <a href=""https://calmatters.org/politics/2020/12/california-senator-padilla-harris-replacement/"">Latino to represent California</a> in the Senate, gained national attention this summer after a video of him went viral on the Internet <a href=""https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/06/alex-padilla-handcuffed/"">taken to the ground and restrained</a> at a news conference hosted by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. </p> <p>In his brief remarks, Padilla said he received encouragement to run from people across the state, including business leaders and labor leaders, people who approached him at his church, the grocery store and local parks. </p> <p>“Californians have called on me to do everything I can to protect California and the American dream from this vindictive president,” Padilla said. “I was truly honored and humbled by their encouragement and took it to heart.”</p> <p>The crowded Democratic field still includes prominent names like former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, who made headlines by threatening to walk out of a CBS television interview after the reporter asked questions she didn’t like, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Former California State Inspector Betty Yee, the only other female candidate still in the race, called on Porter to drop out. </p> <p>Other Democrats still in the mix include former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who lost to Newsom in 2018; former Attorney General Xavier Becerra, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond; former state comptroller Betty Yee; and former MP Ian Charles Calderon. Notable Republican contenders include Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News contributor Steve Hilton. </p> <p>This article was <a href=""https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/11/alex-padilla-california-governor/"">originally published on CalMatters</a> and is republished under <a href=""https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives</a> license.</p> <p> Copy the HTML
