Here’s the current California governor race field: eight Democrats and two Republicans have filed to run in the 2026 election.
Candidates
Candidate| Party| Background
---|---|---
Xavier Becerra| Democrat| Former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary;
former California Attorney General 24
Chad Bianco| Republican| Riverside County Sheriff 24
Steve Hilton| Republican| Fox News contributor; former adviser to David
Cameron 24
Matt Mahan| Democrat| Mayor of San Jose 24
Katie Porter| Democrat| Former U.S. representative from Orange County 24
Tom Steyer| Democrat| Billionaire entrepreneur; former presidential candidate
24
Eric Swalwell| Democrat| U.S. representative from the Bay Area 24
Tony Thurmond| Democrat| State superintendent of public instruction 24
Antonio Villaraigosa| Democrat| Former mayor of Los Angeles; former Assembly
Speaker 24
Betty Yee| Democrat| Former state Controller 24
What’s notable
The field is unusually crowded, and the top-two primary system means the two highest vote-getters, regardless of party, move on to November. Recent coverage also says the race has been narrowing toward a few leading contenders, with Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton drawing attention.
Election timing
California’s primary is on June 2, 2026, and the general election is on November 3, 2026.