In summary

A few moments of controversy have touched an otherwise sleepy, wide open race to be California’s next governor.

Last updated: March 9, 2026

At least eight Democrats who’ve held office before are competing to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom in the 2026 general election, but first they’ll have to get through the June primary. Two Republicans who are polling well will also be on the governor’s race ballot, setting up a wide-open contest that has left Democrats nervous.

The most recent polling has shown that likely California voters are closely divided between five candidates: Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Democrats Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell and Tom Steyer. 

With such a wide-open field, Democrats at the party’s February convention were unable to endorse a single candidate, meaning pressure is building on candidates with lower polling numbers and less ability to fundraise to drop out of the race.

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

KATIE PORTER

Former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat, made a name for herself as one of a “blue wave” of female, Democratic lawmakers elected to Congress during the first Trump administration in 2018. A law professor at UC Irvine who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate last year, she gained attention for her tough questioning of corporate executives using her signature whiteboard. 

In October, she was caught on camera trying to walk out of a TV interview with a reporter who pressed her on whether she needed Republican support in the race. A second video followed, showing Porter berating a staff member during a Zoom call. She appears to have moved past the debacle after apologizing but is no longer at the top of the polls.

ERIC SWALWELL 

Eric Swalwell, a Bay area congressmember and former prosecutor, is a prominent antagonist of President Donald Trump on social media and a cable news darling who is leaning heavily on his Trump bonafides. He was one of several members of Congress appointed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to help lead the second Trump impeachment after the attempted Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and is now the latest Democrat under attack by the Trump administration over his mortgage.

Swalwell has decried how Californians have been disproportionately targeted by a second Trump administration, whether through vengeful immigration raids or the cancellation of critical cancer and health research. 

A person wearing a blue sweatshirt with a badge that reads “US Democrats” and a microphone pinned to the lapel stands in front of a group of people speaking and gesturing with their hands. In the background are two people standing behind him and a row of political signs hung in the windows of a building.
Rep. Eric Swalwell speaks to reporters after a campaign event on Proposition 50 in San Francisco. Photo by Jeff Chiu, AP Photo

STEVE HILTON

Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator, was an adviser for British conservative Prime Minister David Cameron before moving to California in 2012 with his wife, a tech executive who has led communications at Google, Uber and Facebook. He released a book last year calling California “America’s worst-run state.”

He has focused his campaign so far on blaming Democratic policies for the state’s high gas and home prices. Policies he’s pushing include income tax and business regulatory cuts, and a promise to advocate for suburban-style single family home construction over urban density.

CHAD BIANCO

Pro-Trump Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is neck-and-neck with Hilton and Swallwell in the polls, making Democrats nervous, though it’s unclear where he’ll land in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two-to-one and a GOP candidate hasn’t won a statewide seat in nearly 20 years.

The cowboy-hat-toting Bianco has heavily criticized Democratic governance. He argues for loosening regulations on businesses and says he wants to overturn California’s sanctuary law that restricts local police from cooperating with federal deportation officers. 

TOM STEYER

Joining a wide field of other Democrats, billionaire investor and climate activist Tom Steyer joined the race in November, but has spent millions since then plastering his name on TV and radio ads. 

Steyer, who made his fortune by founding a San Francisco hedge fund, has used his wealth to back liberal causes, including the environment. He’s never held public office before, but ran a short-lived campaign for president in 2020. He has honed in on reining in Californians’ second-highest-in-the-nation electricity bills, though some experts are skeptical of his proposals.

A person in a blue suit speaks into a microphone while standing on a stage in front of a crowd of people during a campaign rally with a sign behind him that says “TOM 2020.”
Then-presidential candidate Tom Steyer addresses a crowd during a presidential primary election night party in Columbia, South Carolina, on Feb. 29, 2020. Photo by Sean Rayford, Getty Images

MATT MAHAN

Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, is the latest Democrat to enter the race after saying in the fall he wasn’t excited by the selection of candidates. Don’t expect him to join the other candidates’ jockeying to be the biggest opponent to Trump. A Silicon Valley moderate, he’s criticized Newsom for overly focusing on “resisting” Trump, especially on social media. 

He says the state overregulates businesses and fails to comprehensively address homelessness and crime. He broke with the party in 2024 to support Proposition 36, the ballot measure voters approved to increase penalties on some drug and theft charges. Mahan has honed in on reducing street homelessness with hundreds of tiny homes as well as a policy to arrest unhoused people who refuse repeated offers of shelter placements.

XAVIER BECERRA

Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was California’s first Latino attorney general before serving as a cabinet secretary for former President Joe Biden. He is running primarily on a platform of lowering health care costs. 

He gained attention last year in the form of negative headlines, when federal prosecutors indicted a Sacramento powerbroker in an alleged corruption scandal that rocked the state’s Democratic establishment. At its center was a dormant campaign account held by Becerra, from which prosecutors allege Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff Dana Williamson conspired with other political consultants to steal $225,000. Williamson is charged with helping to divert the funds to the wife of Becerra’s longtime aide, Sean McCluskie, who pleaded guilty in the alleged scheme. 

Becerra has not been accused of wrongdoing in the case and has said he was unaware of what was happening. But it’s still possible the association — and the implication he wasn’t paying attention — will taint his campaign, already polling at just 8% last fall. 

ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA

Former Los Angeles mayor and former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa is among the more moderate of the Democratic field. He boasts of his time running the state’s largest city, during which he boosted the police force. He ran for governor unsuccessfully in 2018. 

BETTY YEE

Former state Controller Betty Yee emphasizes her experience with the state budget and the tax system, having been a top finance office in ex-Gov. Gray Davis’ administration and having sat on the state Board of Equalization. While she has little support in the polls, she was the second-highest ranking candidate for governor at the California Democratic Party convention in February.

TONY THURMOND

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, a Democrat, is the only candidate currently in a statewide seat. He emphasizes his background as a social worker who grew up on public assistance programs in a low-income family. He has stated an ambitious goal of building two million housing units on surplus state land. 

Jeanne Kuang covers politics, California’s state government, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the 2026 governor’s race. Previously, she wrote about labor, homelessness and economic inequality. Jeanne is focused...