By Sam Barron | Monday, 09 March 2026 08:42 PM EDT
The California governor’s race is as muddled as can be, with Democrats starting to panic.
“It’s kind of a good news, bad news thing,” former Senator Barbara Boxer, who backs former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said.
“The good news is people want to serve and are very motivated by the issues, thinking they can solve problems,” Boxer added. “The bad news is there’s too many” seeking the office.
Eight notable Democrats are competing to succeed term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom, with none having broken out of the pack.
“Every one of these Democrats is itching and clawing to get to that sweet 20% that would guarantee them a place in the runoff,” said Paul Mitchell, a pollster.
The race has also been shaped by candidates who opted not to run: former Vice President Kamala Harris, Senator Alex Padilla, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and billionaire Rick Caruso — the latter having previously sought the mayoralty of Los Angeles.
The absence of a clear frontrunner has drawn numerous other candidates into the race.
“With no clear overwhelmingly powerful candidate who could clear the field, there’s a whole bunch of slightly-under-top-tier candidates who look in the mirror and say, why not me? I have as much of a chance as these other people,” consultant Parke Skelton said.
The frontrunners include former Representative Katie Porter, who faced negative stories about her personality earlier this year; Rep. Eric Swalwell, and former presidential candidate Tom Steyer. However, none have yet established themselves in the same way as Governor Newsom or former Democratic Governor Jerry Brown and Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
California consultants note that years of Democratic control have led to internal power struggles and a fractured media environment, along with a lack of institutional powerbrokers — conditions that have pushed candidates to believe they could be propelled to the top by a single viral moment.
“Everyone’s sort of an entrepreneur in their own political ambitions,” Boxer remarked.
“You don’t really have a machine where people say, ‘Well, this one endorsed me, so everyone else get out,'” Boxer added.
California employs a jungle primary system, where the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.
“Someone with some money is going to have to try and turn this into a two-person race,” Skelton said. “There’s no one who’s going to really excite some kind of coherent Democratic base,” he added.
The race has also been overshadowed by Proposition 50, a redistricting measure aimed at boosting Democratic representation in Congress, as Governor Newsom’s battles with President Trump dominate the political landscape.
“You would’ve had a lot more focus last year, but there was a series of circumstances that shifted attention,” Newsom stated. “Trump is 24 hours a day sort of redirecting attention, nationalizing our focus on politics, then you had the issues around Prop 50, which I think also took a lot of energy, and you had the questions around whether Kamala’s going to get in, whether Padilla’s going to get in,” Newsom explained.
Some California Democrats express concern that so many candidates could lead to two Republicans winning the jungle primary and advancing to the general election.
California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks issued an open letter urging lesser candidates to drop out for the party’s benefit. Yet, only one Democrat withdrew from the race.
