These are the candidates for governor of California

IN SUMMARY:

Little controversy has affected the otherwise quiet and open race for California’s next governor.

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Last updated: February 24, 2026

At least nine Democrats are vying to succeed the governor Gavin Newsom, who has run out of office, in the 2026 general election, but they will first have to overcome the June primary. The influx of candidates has raised concerns among Democrats that they will be completely shut out of the November election.

Polls show former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco leading in the race, which is tied with Bay Area Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell.

With such an open field, Democrats at a party convention in February they were unable to support either candidate, increasing the pressure on candidates with lower poll numbers and fewer fundraising opportunities to drop out of the race.

The primary election is on June 2. Here’s a look at the candidates right now:

MATT MAHAN

Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, is the latest Democrat to join the race after saying in the fall that he was unenthusiastic about fielding candidates. Don’t expect him to join the other candidates in their fight to be President Donald Trump’s primary challenger. He is a moderate politician from Silicon Valley criticized Newsom for focusing too much on the “resistance” to Trump, especially on social media.

It argues that the state is over-regulating businesses and failing to comprehensively address homelessness and crime. He broke with the party in 2024 to support Proposition 36, the voter-approved measure to increase penalties for some drug and theft charges. Mahan has aimed at reducing street homelessness with hundreds of tiny houses as well as provisions for they arrest homeless people who reject repeated offers of accommodation in hostels.

XAVIER BESSERA

If former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was looking for attention for his campaign, he found it in the form of negative holders.

Last month, federal prosecutors indicted a powerful Sacramento power broker in an alleged corruption scandal that rocked the state’s Democratic elite. At the center of the scandal is a passive Becerra campaign account from which $225,000 was stolen in a conspiracy that prosecutors say was orchestrated by Dana Williamson, former chief of staff to Gov. Gavin Newsom, and other political advisers. Williamson is accused of helping divert funds to the wife of Sean McCluskey, a former Becerra associate who pleaded guilty in the alleged conspiracy.

Becerra was California’s first Latino attorney general before serving as secretary in former President Joe Biden’s cabinet. His main campaign goal is reducing health care costs.

He is not accused of any wrongdoing in the case and has declared ignorance of what is happening. But it’s still possible the association — and the suggestion that he wasn’t paying attention — could tarnish his campaign, which already had just 8 percent support in polls last fall.

The dispute is one of the few moments of intrigue in an otherwise quiet campaign.

Katie Porter

In October, former Orange County Democratic Rep. Katie Porter was caught on camera trying to abruptly leave a television interview with a reporter who was pressing her about whether she needed Republican support in the race. A second video shows Porter berating a staff member during a Zoom call. Considered a favorite at the time, she weathered the news cycle and later said she “could have done better” in terms of behavior in the videos, but those their approval ratings seem to have dropped . She is effectively tied with the leading Republican candidate.

Porter rose to prominence as part of a “blue wave” of female Democratic lawmakers elected to Congress during the first Trump administration in 2018. A law professor at the University of California, Irvine, she ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate last year and drew attention for her tough questioning of corporate executives using her trademark whiteboard.

TOM STEYER

Joining a large group of Democrats, a billionaire investor and climate activist Tom Steyer announced in November who will join the battle.

A man in a blue suit speaks into a microphone while standing on stage in front of a crowd at a campaign rally with a sign behind him that says "VOLUME 2020". — Then-presidential candidate Tom Steyer addresses a crowd during a presidential primary party in Columbia, South Carolina, on February 29, 2020. Photo by Shawn Rayford, Getty Images.

Steyer, who made his fortune founding an investment fund in San Francisco, has used his wealth to support liberal causes, including the environment. He has never held public office, but ran a brief presidential campaign in 2020. He focused on controlling the nation’s second-largest electric bills in California, though some experts are skeptical of their proposals.

Chad Bianco

Trump supporter Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is tied with Porter in the polls, though he’s unlikely to remain near the top in a state where registered Democratic voters are nearly twice as many as Republicans and a GOP candidate hasn’t won a state seat in nearly 20 years.

Bianco, wearing his cowboy hat, sharply criticized the Democratic government. He advocates loosening regulations on businesses and says he wants to repeal California’s sanctuary law, which prevents local police from cooperating with federal deportation agents.

ERIC SWALWELL

Other Democrats have focused on their resumes and government experience to try to stand out in a race where name recognition is typically scarce. All said they want to make California more affordable and counter the Trump administration’s impact on the state.

A man in a blue sweatshirt, a badge that says "American Democrats" and a microphone clipped to his lapel, he finds himself in front of a group of people talking and gesticulating. In the background are two people standing behind him and a row of political posters hanging from the windows of a building. — Congressman Eric Swawell speaks to reporters after a Proposition 50 campaign event in San Francisco. Photo by Jeff Chiu, AP Photo.

swwell, a former Bay Area prosecutor and congressman likely to lean heavily on his credibility against Trump. He was one of several congressmen appointed by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to assist in Trump’s second impeachment trial after the attempted coup on January 6, 2021, and has been attacked by the Trump administration for your mortgage .

ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA

Former mayor of Los Angeles and former Speaker of the House Antonio Villaraigosa is among the most moderate on the Democratic scene. He brags about his tenure in the state’s largest city, during which he beefed up the police force. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018.

Betty Yee

Former State Comptroller Betty Yee emphasizes her experience with the state budget and tax system, having held a senior finance position during the administration of former Gov. Gray Davis and served on the state Board of Equalization.

Tony Thurmond

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, a Democrat, is the only candidate currently running for the state seat. His career as a social worker raised by a low-income family on public assistance programs stands out. It has set itself the ambitious goal of building two million homes on surplus government land.

Ian Calderon

Ian Calderon, former Democratic Assembly Majority Leader, stands out for his relative youth. He was the first millennial member of the state assembly and is part of a Los Angeles County political dynasty. There is ties to the cryptocurrency industry and mentioned it in advertisements and debates.

STEVE HILTON

Republican Steve Hilton, a Fox News contributor, was an adviser to British Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron before entering American politics. Before launching his campaign, he published a book this year calling California “the worst-run state in the United States.”