Crowded California governor race leaves Democrats without a clear front-runner

California Democrats are heading into their June 2 governor’s primary with a problem that reaches beyond one candidate: the party that dominates the state has not produced a clear successor to Gov. Gavin Newsom. More than 50 names are on the ballot, including eight established Democrats and two leading Republicans, but no one has broken away as the race’s defining figure.

That uncertainty matters in California more than almost anywhere else. The state is the nation’s most populous and the world’s fourth-largest economy, and its top-two primary system sends only the two highest vote-getters into November, regardless of party. Democrats have held every statewide office and enjoy roughly a 2-to-1 voter registration advantage over Republicans, yet the splintered field has revived an uncomfortable question for a party that has ruled Sacramento for years: has one-party dominance left the bench thinner, not stronger?

The warning signs were already visible before the filing deadline. Kamala Harris decided in July 2025 not to run. Sen. Alex Padilla also passed on the race. At the California Democratic Party convention in February, no candidate reached the 60% support needed for endorsement, a telling sign that the party’s leaders have not coalesced around a single standard-bearer.

Eric Swalwell briefly looked like a contender who could change that. He launched his campaign in November 2025 and moved into the top tier of a field that includes Katie Porter, Xavier Becerra, Antonio Villaraigosa, Betty Yee, Tom Steyer, Eleni Kounalakis, Toni Atkins and Tony Thurmond. Then his campaign unraveled in April after allegations surfaced accusing him of sexual misconduct. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that a former congressional aide accused Swalwell of sexual assault, and CNN later reported that four women alleged misconduct, including one former staffer who accused him of rape.

Swalwell denied the allegations and said they were false and politically motivated, but the damage spread quickly. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on him to withdraw. Other Democratic lawmakers and fellow candidates pressed him to leave the race, labor support began to fall away, and the PAC backing him, Californians for a Fighter, suspended its activities after raising $7.76 million, including $2 million from Uber.

The GOP remains a long shot in a state where Republicans have not won a statewide race since 2006 and have not held statewide office since 2011. Still, the Democratic field’s fragmentation has opened a rare risk for the party: in a system built to reward the top two vote-getters, a divided blue coalition could turn California’s safest political terrain into a scramble.