Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa introduced a 2026 run for California governor Tuesday morning, his second bid for the workplace after an unsuccessful run in 2018.
Villaraigosa, who has been out of elected workplace since leaving L.A. Metropolis Corridor in 2013, joins a crowded discipline of high-level Democratic candidates that features Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former state Controller Betty Yee, state Senate chief Toni Atkins, and state colleges superintendent Tony Thurmond. All are vying to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s serving his second and ultimate time period in workplace.
In his announcement, Villaraigosa emphasised his means to work with each Democrats and Republicans whereas mayor and when he served as speaker of the California Meeting, and on his file of balancing budgets and enhancing public security and training.
“California is the state the place something is feasible with laborious work and dedication,” Villaraigosa stated in a written assertion. “However our future is dependent upon our willingness to face our greatest challenges. I imagine we want an issue solver to guide our state.”
Villaraigosa served as mayor of Los Angeles from 2003 to 2013, navigating by means of the monetary upheaval attributable to the nation’s Nice Recession. He mounted a marketing campaign for governor in 2018, ending third within the main behind Newsom and Republican John Cox.
In 2022, Newsom selected Villaraigosa to be a prime advisor on infrastructure points, tasked with serving to to determine tasks that might reap federal funding from Biden’s infrastructure regulation. Villaraigosa has additionally labored as an advisor to Banc of California, the multilevel advertising firm Herbalife and the AltaMed chain of well being clinics.
In Could, the cryptocurrency buying and selling platform Coinbase introduced that Villaraigosa was taking a paid place with its world advisory council.
Villaraigosa is simply the newest prime state Democrat to announce a bid for governor, and extra might comply with. State Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has stated he’s contemplating a gubernatorial bid however hasn’t formally joined the race.
No high-profile Republicans have introduced a run for governor, though in June, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a conservative firebrand identified for espousing law-and-order views and fierce criticism of Newsom, stated he was contemplating a 2026 marketing campaign.
