California Governor’s Race Heats Up With Back-to-Back Debates

LOS ANGELES — The California primary election will chart a course for the nation’s most populous state for years — and possibly generations — to come. The state’s long-ruling Democratic Party is at an inflection point, and residents continue to struggle with the high cost of living, fears over immigration raids and the ever-rising threat of natural disasters driven by climate change.

Still, many Californians have delayed tuning in to the races that could shape their lives, particularly the race for governor.

That is likely to change this week with back-to-back televised gubernatorial debates, starting with one airing nationally on CNN at 6 p.m. local time Tuesday. The events come as voters statewide have begun receiving their ballots, allowing them to participate early in the June 2 primary.

The most significant contest this election is the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who can’t run again because of term limits.

And in Los Angeles, voters will decide whether to give Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, another term or support one of her challengers, including a former ally on the City Council and a reality television star.

Here’s what to know about the California primary election.

What Is Happening in the Governor’s Race?

No candidate has seized control of the race after more than a year of campaigning for the state’s top job, and Democrats in particular have struggled to winnow their field.

None of the candidates have the name recognition of former Vice President Kamala Harris, who weighed running but decided against it last year.

Then, for a while, Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from the Bay Area who is a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, started to rise in polls and gathered high-profile endorsements. But last month Swalwell was accused of sexual assault. He swiftly ended his campaign and resigned from the U.S. House. He has denied wrongdoing.

Democrats have six prominent candidates left, while Republicans have two near the top of polls. The top two candidates, regardless of party, will advance to the general election in November. (More on that below.)

After Swalwell’s departure, Xavier Becerra, the state’s former attorney general and a Biden administration official, surged after long being ignored by voters. Tom Steyer, a billionaire with a progressive platform, has also been a top contender after spending more than $130 million of his own money and gathering major Democratic endorsements.

On the Republican side, Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host who got his start in British politics, has generally received more support in polls than Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff. Hilton received Trump’s endorsement last month.

Still, it is too early to predict what could happen in coming weeks. There are two major debates this week: the Tuesday debate on CNN, and another one Wednesday on NBC Los Angeles at 7 p.m. local time. (The New York Times will stream the Wednesday debate and provide live analysis.)

Californians might be surprised to see 61 candidates for governor on the ballot. Only a handful of them have received enough support to appear in the debates.

Could a Republican Become Governor?

California, a reliably Democratic state, has not had a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office more than 15 years ago.

But over the past few months, there were rumblings that the high-profile Republicans, Hilton and Bianco, could slip past the large field of Democrats and lock up the two general election spots. The theory was that while Democrats had far more voters, their candidates would split votes so many ways that they could trail both Republicans.

Recent poll results suggest that such an outcome is becoming less likely as more voters start to pay attention. And some surveys suggest that Republican support may be coalescing around Hilton since he gained the endorsement of the president, pushing Bianco below at least one Democrat.

If a Democrat and a Republican reach the general election, it will be virtually impossible for the Republican to win, given the Democratic Party’s enormous registration advantage in the state.

How Does Voting Work in California?

Election Day is June 2. But beginning this week, all active registered voters in the state are being sent a ballot, which they can return by mail or drop off at a voting center or a drop box. Eligible Californians can still register to vote through Election Day.

Anyone returning a ballot by mail must have it postmarked no later than June 2.

Because of the state’s heavy use of mail-in ballots as well as other logistical factors, California elections often take longer to certify than elsewhere.

Who Is Running for Los Angeles Mayor?

Bass, who was politically vulnerable after last year’s devastating Palisades fire, has drawn serious challenges from a vocal Republican foil and a longtime ally.

Spencer Pratt, a former reality television villain whose family home burned in the Palisades blaze, has spent the past year using his podcast and social media to hammer Bass and Newsom for their handling of the disaster. In January he announced he would run for mayor, and his advertising has featured the Airstream trailer he keeps on his burned property.

Just hours before a March filing deadline, Nithya Raman, a progressive City Council member, said she would also enter the race. Raman said that under the mayor’s leadership, the city’s budget crisis had become untenable and that core services, like streetlight repair, were failing.

Both prominent challengers have gained traction, but they still have to overcome Bass’ support from major labor unions and business groups.

In the mayor’s race, a candidate can win outright in June with more than 50% of the vote; otherwise, the top two finishers go to a November runoff.

What Are the Other Big Races?

California redrew its House map last year as part of a redistricting effort favoring Democrats in response to a Republican gerrymander in Texas started by Trump. Competitive races in Democratic districts could indicate which direction Democratic voters want to take their party, including in the San Francisco contest to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker who is retiring at the end of this term.

San Francisco voters will also consider an “overpaid CEO tax,” which would increase taxes on large businesses in the city that pay their top executive 100 times as much as their median employee.

The San Francisco race is one of several contests this year expected to test how California voters feel about billionaires as living costs soar. Steyer’s performance could indicate whether they are willing to elect a billionaire to run the state. A union proposal to tax the wealth of billionaires to fund healthcare is likely to qualify for the November ballot.

Already, the billionaire fight has begun. A billionaire-backed group opposing the wealth tax measure plans to debut its first TV ad during the CNN debate Tuesday. The ad — funded by tech billionaire Chris Larsen and his company Ripple — argues that a wealth tax will harm Californians by reducing other tax streams that pay for schools and firefighters.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Jill Cowan/Gabriela Bhaskar
c. 2026 The New York Times Company

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