Xavier Becerra running for California governor
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KTVU FOX 2) -- Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and former Attorney General of California, on Wednesday announced that he's running for California governor.
There are plenty of other Democrats hoping to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, including Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, state Controller Betty Yee, state schools chief Tony Thurmond, former Rep. Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and businessman Stephen Cloobeck.
On the GOP side, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco became the first major Republican to announce a bid to replace Newsom.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has not said whether she will run or not.
Newsom will finish his second term at the end of 2026 and can’t run again.
"California is at a crossroads," Becerra said in a statement. "From housing to healthcare, childcare to college, working families are facing an affordability crisis. The California Dream is slipping away. I’m running for Governor to fight for that dream, to build a stronger, affordable California for everyone, and to take on bullies who get in our way."
The 67-year-old Becerra, who graduated from Stanford Law School, has been in public office for 35 years.
He served in the state Assembly for two years before being elected in 1992 to Congress. He served 12 terms in the House. In 2016, he was nominated by then-Gov. Jerry Brown to become the state’s attorney general. He became Health and Human Services Secretary in 2021.
As Attorney General of California, Becerra said he led the charge to hold the first Trump administration accountable. He launched the California v. Texas case, where he defended the Affordable Care Act to the Supreme Court and won.
When Becerra was serving as California attorney general during Trump’s first term, he developed a reputation for suing the Republican administration more than anyone else on issues from health care to environmental policy.
His campaign announcement said he took the Trump administration to court over 120 times, winning cases protecting reproductive rights, millions in COPS funding, and DACA.
"Whether defending workers against wage theft or looking out for families in need of a hospital for their kids, standing up for DREAMers or fighting for clean air and water, I’ve always been driven by the California values instilled in me by my parents," he said in a statement.
As governor, Becerra said he would tackle California's"skyrocketing prices" and crime.
Becerra said as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, he negotiated historic reductions in prescription drug prices and expanded healthcare coverage to a record 300 million plus Americans.
He also said that his agency navigated the successful vaccination effort that pulled the nation out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Becerra and his wife, Dr. Carolina Reyes, are both children of working-class families and first-generation college graduates.
He frequently cites his working-class parents as inspiration. His mother was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and emigrated to the U.S. after marrying his father, a native of Sacramento, California, who had grown up in Mexico.
"My parents came to California with $12 in their pockets. They built a life they were proud of," Becerra said. "That’s the promise of California, and I will fight to ensure it’s still within reach for everyone."
Democrats are expected to hold the seat in a state where they outnumber registered Republicans by nearly 2 to 1. Republicans have not won a statewide election in California in nearly two decades.
