The field is set: Meet the candidates officially running for California governor

It’s official: Eight Democrats and two Republicans say they have filed paperwork for the June 2 primary ballot in the California governor’s race, setting up a wide-open contest in which two Republicans who have consistently led in polls could shut out all other Democrats.

Here are the 10 candidates:

Xavier Becerra, Democrat, former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary and former California Attorney General

Chad Bianco, Republican, Riverside County Sheriff

Steve Hilton, Republican, Fox News contributor and former adviser to conservative British prime minister David Cameron

Matt Mahan, Democrat, mayor of San Jose

Katie Porter, Democrat, former U.S. representative representing Orange County

Tom Steyer, Democrat, billionaire entrepreneur and former presidential candidate

Eric Swalwell, Democrat, U.S. representative from the Bay Area

Tony Thurmond, Democrat, state superintendent of public instruction

Antonio Villaraigosa, Democrat, former mayor of Los Angeles and former Assembly Speaker

Betty Yee, Democrat, former state Controller

Steyer became the last to officially file on Friday, the deadline for submitting candidacy paperwork.

Former Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon exited the race earlier this week, endorsing Swalwell instead.

[I added the bolding to the names]

Source: https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/03/california-governor-candidates/