California Governor’s race draws crowded field of contenders

By Alexander J Schorr

Updated January 25 with an additional candidate.

January 20, 2026— As of January 2026, the race to succeed the term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom features a crowded field of candidates ahead of the June primary. California uses a nonpartisan blanket primary system, where the top two finishers regardless of party advance to the general election.

Who are the candidates? In alphabetical order, those who have launched campaigns so far include:

Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, served as the 25th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Joe Biden from March 2021 to January 2025, where he was the first Latino to hold the position. Becerra served as the 33rd Attorney General of California (2017–2021), during which he filed over 100 lawsuits against the first Trump administration. He is scheduled to participate in a candidate forum hosted by Commonwealth Club World Affairs on February 4, 2026.

Chad Bianco is a Republican politician and the current Riverside County Sheriff, a staunch supporter of President Trump’s border policies, and seeks to overturn California’s sanctuary laws. He is a prominent conservative and vocal critic of Governor Gavin Newsom. He gained national attention for his resistance to state-mandated COVID-19 vaccine requirements.

Democrat Ian Calderon is a former member of the California State Assembly from 2012 to 2020, where he made history as the first millennial elected to the state Legislature and the youngest person to serve as Assembly Majority Leader. He is a prominent tech advocate, and has pledged that as governor, he would hold Bitcoin on the state’s balance sheet and make California a leader in blockchain technology.

Steve Hilton, a Republican, is a former Fox News host of The Next Revolution from 2017 to 2023 and authored the book Califailure. Born in the United Kingdom to Hungarian immigrants, he became a US citizen in 2021where he served as a director of strategy for British Prime Minister David Cameron. He officially launched his campaign in April 2025, branding himself as the candidate of “change” to end decades of one-party Democratic rule.

Daniel Mercuri is a Republican politician, author, and frequent candidate who has consistently run for various offices since 2019, where he positioned himself as a “constitutionalist.” He served in the U.S. Navy from 1998 to 2003 as an Air Warfare 2nd Class Petty Officer. His professional background includes co-founding an entertainment production company, serving as a partner in a private investment group, and working as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu professor and boxing coach.

Katie Porter, a Democrat, served as the US Representative for California’s 45th and 47th districts from 2019 to 2025. Porter is a tenured law professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Law, where she returned to teaching in 2025 after her congressional term ended.

Mike Schaefer, 87, currently serves on the state Board of Equalization and served on San Diego’s City Council back in 1965-71. A Democrat, he has also been an assistant city prosecutor and financial analyst/investigator for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, among other positions held. He calls himself the “most experienced” candidate. However, he has been disbarred from practicing law in both California and Arizona due to fraud.

Tom Steyer is a billionaire hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmental activist, and a Democrat. He founded the nonprofit NextGen America to advocate for climate change action and progressive policies, spending millions on various ballot initiatives in California to support education.

Eric Swalwell has represented California’s 14th (and formerly 15th) district in Congress since 2013; he announced that he will not seek re-election to his House seat in 2026 to focus on the governor’s race. Swalwell served as a House manager in the 2021 impeachment trial of Donald Trump and previously ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. In the 119th Congress (2025—2026), he serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection and is a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Tony Thurmond is a Democrat who has served as the 28th California State Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2019. Thurmond served in the California State Assembly (2014—2018), on the Richmond City Council, and as a member of the West Contra Costa Unified School District board. He is a former social worker and has frequently used his personal history, where he grew up in poverty as an Afro-Latino orphan, as a central theme of his political identity.

Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa previously served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles (2015—2013) and as the Speaker of the California State Assembly (1998—2000). His campaign for California Governor announced on January 5 that it had raised $6.1 million, the highest direct donation total in the race at that time. During his tenure as the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles in over a century, he was noted for expanding the police department, increasing higher school graduation rates, and steering the city through a recession.

Betty Yee currently serves as the Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party. She sits on the boards of Golden Gate University and Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit. Before her time as  State Controller, she served two terms on the California Board of Equalization (2004–2015) and was the state’s Budget Director under Governor Gray Davis.

Candidates who have withdrawn or declined to run

Former candidates who have withdrawn include Toni Atkins and Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis. Prominent figures like Kamala Harris, Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, California Attorney General Rob Bonta have declined to run, as has businessman Rick Caruso,

Deadlines and Fillings

The deadline for candidates to file for the 2026 California Gubernatorial election is March 6, 2026 by 5:00 PM. Key filing periods and requirements for the June 2, 2026 Primary Election include:

• Declaration of Candidacy and Nomination Paper Period: Candidates must file their official paperwork between February 9 and March 6, 2026.

• Signatures-in-Lieu of Filing Fee: The period to submit signatures to reduce or waive filing fees is open from December 19, 2025 to February 4, 2026.

• Tax Returns Submissions: Gubernatorial candidates are required to submit redacted tax returns by March 6, 2026, with a final deadline for properly redacted versions by March 16, 2026.

• Filing Extension: If an eligible incumbent does not file by the March 6 deadline, the period is extended for other candidates to March 11, 2026. Please note that this extension does not apply if the incumbent is termed out, as is the case for Governor Gavin Newsom.

For detailed requirements, candidates can refer to the official California Secretary of State Candidate Qualifications page.