SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) — A familiar and prominent name could be entering the race for California governor.
According to Politico, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla is reportedly considering a run to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out at the end of 2026.
The speculation comes after former Vice President Kamala Harris announced last month she would not run, leaving the field without a clear front-runner.
“Everybody was searching for the front-runner,” said political consultant Jim Ross. “The field froze, right? Nobody was raising any money. There was no big endorsements happening.”
Ross noted that Gov. Newsom’s Proposition 50 – his push for voter-approved mid-decade redistricting – has dominated California politics in recent months, distracting from the governor’s race and creating room for a “bigger name” candidate like Padilla to step in.
New poll shows wide-open contest
A recent Berkeley IGS poll released last Friday found that 38% of California voters remain undecided about their top choice for governor. Among those with preferences, 17% support former Congresswoman Katie Porter, followed by Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (10%) and former U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra (9%).
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“The real issue over the next three months or so is who can start to consolidate a base of support where they can raise money from and really be set up to run for governor next year,” Ross said.
Padilla – who was appointed to the Senate in 2021 and later elected in 2022 – grabbed national headlines in June when he was handcuffed for interrupting a Department of Homeland Security press conference with Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles. At the time, Padilla told reporters that he’s been pushing for more information on the administration’s immigration enforcement actions, and his removal from the press conference quickly went viral.
“If that is what the administration is willing to do to a United States Senator for having the authority to simply ask a question, imagine what they’ll do to any American who dares to speak up,” Padilla said on the U.S. Senate floor afterward.
Ross believes that incident may have Padilla weighing whether he could make a greater impact as governor.
“I also think that getting roughed up by Homeland Security staff may have really had the senator look at where can I have more of an impact? Where am I going to really be able to push back on what is happening in the country?” he said.
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Still, Ross cautioned it’s far too early to make predictions.
“This is a race that’s really going to boil down and really become a really short sprint next year,” he said.
A spokesperson for Padilla would not confirm whether the senator is considering a run for governor. They said his focus right now is on passing Proposition 50 in November, the referendum on redistricting backed by Gov. Newsom.
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