Alex Padilla, a favorite to succeed Gavin Newsom, won’t run for California governor

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California will not run for governor in next year’s highly watched race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, the senator unexpectedly announced in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday.

The decision comes after months of speculation that California’s senior senator, who Newsom appointed to succeed former Vice President Kamala Harris after she stepped down in 2020, could throw his hat in the ring and dominate an otherwise open field.

Padilla’s staff confirmed Tuesday that he would not be seeking the governorship.

“It is with a full heart and even more commitment than ever that I am choosing to not be running for governor of California next year,” Padilla told reporters in the U.S. Capitol. “I choose to stay in this fight because the Constitution is worth fighting for.”

Padilla, the first Latino to represent California in the Senate, gained national attention this summer after a video went viral of him being forced to the ground and detained at a press conference hosted by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

In his brief remarks, Padilla said he had received encouragement to run from people across the state, including business and labor leaders, people who approached him at his church, the grocery store and local parks.

“Californians have urged me to do everything I could to protect California and the American Dream from this vindictive president,” Padilla said. “I’ve been truly honored and humbled by their encouragement, and I’ve taken it to heart.”

The crowded Democratic field still includes prominent names like former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, who made headlines for threatening to leave a televised CBS interview after the reporter asked questions she didn’t like, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Former California State Controller Betty Yee, the only other female candidate still in the race, has called on Porter to drop out.

Other Democrats still in the mix include former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villairaigosa, who lost to Newsom in 2018; former Attorney General Xavier Becerra, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond; former state Controller Betty Yee; and former Assemblyman Ian Charles Calderon. Prominent Republican challengers include Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News contributor Steve Hilton.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.