California Governor’s Race: All Set for 2026’s June Primary

California Governor’s Race: All Set for 2026’s June Primary

There are eight Democrats and two Republicans who have filed their paperwork for Governor and on the June 2nd California primary ballot. This has been described by many as a “wide-open contest” with two Republicans consistently leading in the polls in our super-majority Democrat state.

Here is a run-down of the 10 gubernatorial candidates:

The Democrats

• Xavier Becerra is the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary and former California Attorney General
• Matt Mahan is the mayor of San Jose
• Katie Porter was a former U.S. representative representing Orange County
• Tom Steyer is a billionaire entrepreneur and former presidential candidate
• Eric Swalwell is the U.S. representative from the Bay Area
• Tony Thurmond is the state superintendent of public instruction
• Antonio Villaraigosa was the former mayor of Los Angeles and former Assembly Speaker
• Betty Yee was the former California State Controller

Tom Steyer (and yes, we’ve seen our former Board President, Cheryl Turner, in the commercials!) became the last to file his candidate paperwork just before the submission deadline. Former Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon exited the race earlier this week, endorsing Swalwell instead.

The Republicans

• Chad Bianco is the Riverside County Sheriff
• Steve Hilton is a Fox News contributor and former adviser to conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron