#gubernatorial-bid

#gubernatorial-bid

Nithya Raman had a commanding lead in a field of five major candidates, with 33% of voters supporting her, while Bass trailed at 17%. Other polls have shown Bass in first place.

Raman described the city as rudderless and criticized the rebuilding effort as indefensibly slow, citing a lack of leadership on critical issues like insurance and health concerns.

The last three months have been tumultuous in the district. The community was divided by a surprise move in January to add ethnic studies to the high school curriculum, a class that Chinese and Jewish families felt was discriminatory. When new board member Rowena Chiu said publicly she felt bullied by other "woke" school board members for questioning the class, all hell broke loose.

ABC7 is partnering with the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future to host a gubernatorial debate featuring six candidates vying to become California's next governor. "Your Voice, Your Vote: Race for Governor 2026" will take place Tuesday, March 24, at 5 p.m. and will be moderated by ABC7 anchor Marc Brown.

In perhaps a vain attempt to prove themselves moderate, the Democratic lawmakers helped override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's vetoes. Voters responded with the kind of ballot-box fury that should serve as a lesson to other incumbents. It wasn't just a case that the incumbents lost. They were buried, with several of them getting trounced by margins of 40 points or more.

Though only 17 of the 47 presidents were governors, only four men (James Garfield, Warren Harding, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama) have gone directly from Congress to the White House. Among Democrats, however, the last sitting or former governor to win a presidential nomination was Bill Clinton. Indeed, the last governor to run a viable Democratic nomination contest was Howard Dean in 2004, and his signature issue was foreign policy (his opposition to the Iraq War).

The first 2028 presidential primaries are just two years away. And for the first time since 2016, both parties are expected to have serious competition for their nominations. While Vice-President J.D. Vance is likely to enter the cycle as a formidable front-runner for the GOP nod, recent history suggests there will be lots of other candidates. After all, Donald Trump drew 12 challengers in 2024.