SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is making his pitch to voters in California’s 2026 governor’s race, launching his first prime-time television ad Thursday night with a focus on affordability and fiscal leadership.
“I don’t run from tough problems, I solve them,” Villaraigosa says in the ad, which highlights his record balancing budgets as Speaker of the California Assembly and leading Los Angeles through the 2008 recession.
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The Democratic hopeful is also drawing contrasts with two of his opponents – former Orange County Congresswoman Katie Porter and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra – over their support for single-payer healthcare.
Without naming them directly, Villaraigosa promises he would “veto any billion-dollar tax hike…like the one they’ll sign,” with photos of Becerra and Porter appearing in the ad.
“I’m not for a $1 billion tax hike,” Villaraigosa told ABC7 News when asked further about his reference to his opponents. “I’m focused on affordability. Well, the rest of them are just focused on Trump.”
A leading consultant for Becerra’s campaign dismissed the campaign attack in a statement to ABC7 News.
“It’s clear this is rapidly becoming a two-person race for Governor,” said Kyle Layman with the Becerra campaign. “Xavier Becerra is the only candidate who has taken on the Trump administration, and won repeatedly, and the only candidate with the experience to stand up for the millions of Californians losing their health insurance to pay for Donald Trump’s billionaire tax cuts.”
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Porter’s campaign pointed to her recent remarks at a POLITICO policy summit last week, where she said a state-level single-payer system is “not realistic” in the near term, despite expressing her support for it at the federal level.
“Single-payer is a great idea. That’s why I’ve always championed the idea at the federal level,” Porter said at the summit. “I don’t think it’s realistic in the next couple of years for the state to push forward on that.”
Villaraigosa’s ad will debut during Thursday Night Football, running in multiple markets across the state online and on television. According to his campaign, it will cost roughly $500,000.
“This was purposeful,” he told ABC7 News. “We did this with an intention. We’re trying to bring eyeballs and focus on the issue of affordability…people are struggling.”
The former LA mayor is not the only candidate hitting the airwaves early. Entrepreneur Stephen Cloobeck – former CEO of Diamond Resorts International – has been running provocative ads for weeks targeting President Donald Trump.
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Political experts say the early ad blitz reflects the wide-open nature of the race.
“This may be the most wide-open governor’s race that we’ve seen in California in half a century,” said Dan Schnur, a political professor with UC Berkeley and UCLA. “Candidates recognize they’re not nearly as well-known as they’d like to be. By investing in TV ads much sooner than normal, they’re hoping to jumpstart that process.”
While the gubernatorial race is slowly gaining traction, voters are expected to focus more immediately on the upcoming November special election – Proposition 50 – which could reshape California’s congressional map.
“You’ve got to get attention. You’ve got to get support for your own campaign. And right now, the proposition is a major obstacle for all of the candidates, particularly given that they lack the name ID,” Schnur said.
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