About 60 candidates have filed to run for governor in California, turning the contest to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom into one of the strangest big-state races in memory. The field is wide open, the money is flowing, and the top two finishers in Tuesday’s primary will move on to November no matter what party they belong to.
That is why Tom Steyer is drawing so much attention now. The billionaire and former 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful has poured more than $200 million of his own money into politics, and he is leaning hard on advertising in a race where name recognition can matter as much as organization. One campaign video puts it bluntly: “Tom Steyer is not afraid. He answers to no one.”
California’s open primary system usually rewards candidates who can break out of the pack, but this year’s field has become even more unsettled after Kamala Harris decided against running and Alex Padilla did the same. Neither Newsom, Harris nor Padilla has endorsed anyone, leaving Democrats without the kind of quick signal that might normally narrow the field. Xavier Becerra, who served as secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden, has emerged as another leading Democratic name, even as others struggle to gain traction.
The race is drawing attention because California is synonymous with Democratic power, yet the governor’s contest has become almost absurdly hard to read. Rep. Ro Khanna called it “one of the craziest races I’ve seen,” while Rep. Kevin Kiley said it has felt like “this process of elimination,” leaving Steyer and Becerra as the Democratic names few expected to be front-runners. Rep. Dave Min put the mechanics more bluntly: a serious candidate needs high name ID, a lot of money, or both.
That narrowing has not made the contest any tidier. Former host Steve Hilton has won President Donald Trump’s endorsement, and former Rep. Katie Porter has faced scrutiny of her own, underscoring how unpredictable the race has become in a state that usually projects stability. Budget pressure is waiting for whoever wins, but the first question is simpler: which two candidates can survive Tuesday’s top-two filter and make the November ballot at all.
For Steyer, the answer may depend on whether money can buy enough momentum to outrun the surprise factor of the field itself. For everyone else, the race now looks less like a normal California Democratic contest than a scramble to be one of the last two standing.
