Four Democrats vying to become California's next governor will meet at a candidate forum at 10 a.m. Sunday that will be streamed live on latimes.com.
If you're tired of thinking about who the next president will be, why don't you start thinking about who the next governor of California will be?
With the 2024 election still six weeks away, Golden State Democrats are gearing up for their first major candidate forum in the open race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026.
Newsom is serving his second term and is barred from running again. Among the candidates vying to replace him are five Democrats, four of whom will face off Sunday at a forum in San Francisco sponsored by the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
The panel will include Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, state Sen. Toni Atkins and former state Comptroller Betty Yee. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is also running for governor, declined an invitation to participate, the union said.
The forum, which begins at 10 a.m. Sunday, is being held in partnership with the Los Angeles Times and will be streamed live on latimes.com.
The candidates will answer questions from Laurel Rosenhall, California politics editor for The Times; Lisa Matthews, national planning editor for the Associated Press; and Melanie Mason, a senior reporter for Politico.
The health care union has about 19,000 members in California, including psychologists, pharmacists, nurses, janitors and social workers. The union also hosted the first major candidate forums in the 2024 California Senate primary and the 2018 gubernatorial race.
Sal Rosselli, the union's director of political and legislative campaigns, said in a prepared statement that union members want to hear positions on health care, housing, transportation, education and workers' rights.
“We hope this year's forum will provide those answers to our members and other California voters,” Rosselli said.
Democrats are expected to dominate the statewide race to replace Newsom in 2026, and more candidates could still enter the race.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has said he is “seriously considering” a run for governor, but has not announced a bid. Neither has Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), whose name has been among potential candidates since she lost her bid for U.S. Senate in the March primary.
Other possible candidates include Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s health and human services secretary, and developer Rick Caruso, who ran for Los Angeles mayor in 2022, losing to Karen Bass.
Several Republicans are said to be considering entering the race, including Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton.
Each of the Democratic candidates who have entered the race so far has a chance to make history. California has never elected a woman as governor, and a person of color has held the office only once: Gov. Romualdo Pacheco, for just a few months in 1875.
Atkins, 62, represents the San Diego area in the state Senate and is serving her final term as a state legislator. She is the former Senate president pro tempore and former Assembly speaker, the first lawmaker since 1871 to hold both leadership positions. She was the first woman and the first LGBTQ+ Senate leader in state history.
Kounalakis, 58, was first elected lieutenant governor in 2018 and is up for re-election in 2022. Kounalakis has made a point of opposing college tuition hikes, combating climate change and protecting women’s rights in the largely ceremonial role. She lives in San Francisco.
Thurmond, 56, represented the East Bay in the state Assembly before being elected to California’s top education post in 2018 with strong support from the California Teachers Association and other unions.
Yee, 66, was elected state comptroller in 2014. During her tenure, her agency uncovered tens of millions of dollars of local government misappropriation and questionable financial practices. She was born to Chinese immigrant parents in San Francisco, where the family lived behind their dry-cleaning business.
