{"id":15244,"date":"2025-11-04T21:01:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/alex-padilla-passes-on-california-governor-run\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T21:01:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:01:37","slug":"alex-padilla-passes-on-california-governor-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/alex-padilla-passes-on-california-governor-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Padilla passes on California governor run"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced Tuesday he will not run for governor in 2026.<\/p>\n

Speaking from the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Padilla said it was \u201cwith a full heart\u201d and \u201cmore commitment than ever\u201d that he was choosing to remain in Congress rather than seek the governor\u2019s mansion.<\/p>\n

“I choose not just to stay in the Senate. I choose to stay in this fight because the Constitution is worth fighting for. Our fundamental rights are worth fighting for. Our core values are worth fighting for. The American dream is worth fighting for,\u201d Padilla said.<\/p>\n

As California\u2019s senior senator and a fixture in state politics, Padilla would have brought formidable assets to a governor race without a commanding front-runner. A concerted campaign to draft Padilla<\/a> spoke to the unsettled state of the field after former Vice President Kamala Harris took a pass earlier this year and interest groups and elected officials hunted for an alternative to poll-leader Katie Porter, who is facing fallout from videos<\/a> of her sparring with a reporter and berating a staffer.<\/p>\n

Padilla had the potential to loosen Porter\u2019s grip on the lead by entering a crowded field of contenders competing in the June primary for two general election spots, which go to the top vote-getters regardless of party.<\/p>\n

But with his decision to bow out, the hunt for a Porter alternative will likely continue. Other potential entrants include Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Bay Area Democrat, and billionaire donor Tom Steyer, who has dipped a toe into the water with an ad blitz for term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s gerrymandering ballot initiative. <\/p>\n

Sacramento\u2019s political class eagerly greeted the prospect of Padilla running, seeing him as a known quantity and a person with whom they could work. Many of the elected officials, interest groups and political operatives who steer money and endorsements are wary of Porter\u2019s progressive record, her inexperience with state politics and her reputation for abrasiveness \u2014 the last of which has dogged Porter\u2019s current campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Padilla has spent years climbing the ladder of California politics, ascending from the Los Angeles City Council to the Legislature to the secretary of state\u2019s office. Newsom, his longtime ally, appointed him to the Senate in late 2020 after Harris vacated her seat to become vice president.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced Tuesday he will not run for governor in 2026. Speaking from the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Padilla said it was \u201cwith a full heart\u201d and \u201cmore commitment than ever\u201d that he was choosing to remain in Congress rather than seek the governor\u2019s mansion. “I choose not just to stay in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}