SAN DIEGO – AFSCME California PEOPLE hosted a political forum over the weekend featuring the leading candidates in California’s 2026 race for governor. They all promised to protect public services and fight for working families.
The candidates were:
- Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra
- Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter
- Former California State Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon
- California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond
- Former California State Controller Betty Yee
- Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
At the forum on Saturday, the candidates shared with AFSCME members their plans to protect working families and public services from funding cuts. They also discussed how they will work to make health care, groceries and rent more affordable.
The election will be held in November 2026. Gov. Gavin Newsom is in his second term and won’t be eligible for reelection.
The race to lead the nation’s most populous state comes at a time when working families across the country are facing nonstop attacks from an anti-worker administration in Washington, D.C., its yes-men and women in Congress, and billionaire extremists. These attacks are jeopardizing vital public services, threatening to worsen the affordability crisis, and will leave many working people without health care.
AFSCME PEOPLE is our union’s political action committee. It’s how we fight for candidates who will fight for us, whether at the federal, state, county or local levels. If you are an AFSCME member — or a family member in your household is an AFSCME member — find out more about PEOPLE and contribute here.