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Elections in California |
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The 2026 California gubernatorial election will take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the next governor of California. The statewide top-two primary election will take place on June 2, 2026. Incumbent Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom will be term-limited and ineligible to seek reelection.
Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, incumbent superintendent of public instruction Tony Thurmond, former California Senate president pro tempore Toni Atkins, former controller Betty Yee, and former mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa have declared their candidacies. The field of high-profile candidates is expected to expand in the coming years and become extremely competitive.
State officials
State senators
State assemblymembers
Labor unions
Organizations
Federal officials
U.S. senators
U.S. representatives
State senators
State assemblymembers
Local officials
Notable individuals
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size [a] | Margin of error | Chad Bianco (R) | Brian Dahle (R) | Steve Garvey (R) | Steve Hilton (R) | Rob Bonta (D) | Rick Caruso (D) | Eleni Kounalakis (D) | Katie Porter (D) | Antonio Villaraigosa (D) | Betty Yee (D) | Others | Undecided |
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Breakthrough Campaigns [29] | November 22–26, 2024 | 1,228 (LV) | ± 2.8% | 6% | 9% | 18% | – | 6% | 5% | 8% | 21% | 3% | 3% | 9% [b] | 12% |
14% | – | 21% | – | – | 6% | 9% | 24% | 3% | 6% | 6% [c] | 11% | ||||
California Elections and Policy Poll [30] | September 12–25, 2024 | 1,685 (LV) | ± 2.4% | 5% | 5% | – | 4% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 14% | 3% | 3% | 7% [d] | 50% |
Tulchin Research [31] [A] | August 8–12, 2024 | 800 (LV) | ± 3.5% | – | 13% | – | 10% | – | – | 10% | – | 13% | 7% | 8% [e] | 40% |
No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Link | Democratic | Democratic | Democratic | Democratic |
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Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn | ||||||||
Atkins | Kounalakis | Thurmond | Yee | |||||
1 | Sep. 29, 2024 | National Union of Healthcare Workers Los Angeles Times , The Associated Press, Politico | Laurel Rosenhall Lisa Matthews Melanie Mason | YouTube | P | P | P | P |
Partisan clients
Betty T. Yee is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as California State Controller from 2015 to 2023. She previously served as a member of the California Board of Equalization from 2004 to 2015. She won the open seat for Controller in the 2014 election, with 54% of the vote. Yee won reelection in 2018, defeating Republican Konstantinos Roditis in a landslide, and she served as Controller until January 2, 2023.
Eleni Kounalakis is an American politician, businesswoman, and diplomat serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman and the first Greek American elected to the office.
The 2016 United States Senate election in California was held on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of California, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Tony Krajewski Thurmond is an American politician and educator, serving as the 28th California State Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2019. Thurmond was narrowly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2018 over his opponent, Marshall Tuck, and reelected in 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the 15th Assembly district from 2014 to 2018, encompassing the northern East Bay.
The 2018 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor of California, concurrently with elections for the rest of California's executive branch, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic governor Jerry Brown was ineligible to run for re-election for a third consecutive term due to term limits from the Constitution of California. The race was between the incumbent Democratic lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom and businessman John H. Cox, a Republican, who qualified for the general election after placing first and second in the June 5, 2018, primary election.
The 2018 United States Senate election in California took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent California, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
The 2018 California lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the lieutenant governor of California. Incumbent Democratic lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom was ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits and ran for governor of California instead. Democrats Eleni Kounalakis and Ed Hernandez faced each other in the general election, as no Republican finished in the top two positions of the nonpartisan blanket primary that was held on June 5, 2018.
The 2018 California State Treasurer general election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the State Treasurer of California. Incumbent Democratic Treasurer John Chiang did not run for re-election to a second term and instead ran unsuccessfully for governor.
The 2018 California Attorney General election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Attorney General of California. The 2014 election winner Kamala Harris was elected to the United States Senate during the 2016 Senate election; incumbent Democratic Attorney General, Xavier Becerra won election to a full term.
The 2018 California Superintendent of Public Instruction primary election was held on June 5, 2018, to elect the Superintendent of Public Instruction of California. Unlike most other elections in California, the superintendent is not elected under the state's "top-two primary". Instead, the officially nonpartisan position is elected via a general election, with a runoff held on November 6, 2018, because no candidate received a majority of the vote.
The 2018 California Insurance Commissioner election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Insurance Commissioner of California. Under California's nonpartisan blanket primary law, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. The top two finishers — regardless of party — advance to the general election in November, even if a candidate manages to receive a majority of the votes cast in the primary election.
The 2019–2020 session was a session of the California State Legislature. The session first convened on December 3, 2018 and adjourned sine die on November 30, 2020.
The 2020 San Diego mayoral election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the mayor of San Diego. Incumbent Kevin Faulconer was ineligible to run for a third term due to term limits.
The 2021 California gubernatorial recall election was a special recall election that began in August 2021 and concluded on September 14, 2021, when California voters chose not to recall incumbent Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, elected for the term January 2019 to January 2023.
The 2022 California Insurance Commissioner election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Insurance Commissioner of California. Under California's nonpartisan blanket primary law, all candidates appeared on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. The top two finishers — regardless of party — advanced to the general election in November, even if a candidate managed to receive a majority of the votes cast in the primary election. Incumbent Democratic Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara won re-election to a second term.
The 2024 California State Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, with the primary election being held on March 5, 2024. Voters in the 20 odd-numbered districts of the California State Senate will elect their representatives. The elections coincided with the elections for other offices, including the state Assembly.
United States gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, in 36 states and three territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2022, except in New Hampshire and Vermont, where governors serve two-year terms and elected their governors in 2024. Many of the states with elections in this cycle have incumbents who are officially term-limited.
The 2024 California's 47th congressional district election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the United States representative for California's 47th congressional district, concurrently with elections for the other U.S. House districts in California and the rest of the country, as well as the 2024 U.S. Senate race in California, other elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections. The primary election was held on March 5, 2024, concurrently with the Super Tuesday presidential primaries. The Southern California-based 47th district is centered in Orange County and includes the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport Beach, and Seal Beach, as well as portions of Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, and Laguna Woods.
The 2026 California lieutenant gubernatorial election will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect the lieutenant governor of California. Incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third term in office; she is instead running for governor. Candidates must declare by March 6 with primaries being held on June 2.
The 2026 California State Treasurer election will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect the State Treasurer of California. Incumbent Democratic State Treasurer Fiona Ma is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third term in office; she is instead running for lieutenant governor. Candidates must declare by March 6 with primaries being held on June 2.
McCarthy dismissed a run for California governor in 2026
As for her own political future, Shanahan alluded to a potential 2026 campaign for governor in California.
Official campaign websites