In 362 days, give or take a few, California voters will choose a new governor. That’s just around the corner in political terms, given the expense and organizational lift a statewide campaign requires in the nation’s most populous state.

The winner almost certainly will be — as certain as anything in politics can be — a Democrat. If nothing else, the passage of Proposition 50, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mid-decade congressional district gerrymander, confirms anew that California is a one-party state.

But which Democrat?

As the 2026 election cycle gears up — candidates can start filing paperwork next month — the field of would-be successors to Newsom is becoming even cloudier.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, who political media had been portraying as leaning toward running for governor, abruptly dropp

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