We’re endorsing an underdog for California governor. Why she should get your vote

This year’s election for governor of California barely resembles any of those within living memory. In decades past, a favored candidate or two would have emerged long before ballots went to voters, as they will this week. Now, six Democrats and two Republicans continue to fight it out.

Without a clear frontrunner to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, California’s diverging Democratic factions are now split between too many candidates. The danger of that divide is clear: Under California law, the top two finishers in the June primary will advance to the general election in November regardless of party affiliation.

It would be a disaster for California if the final two left standing were the Republicans, former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. Neither is in any way qualified to be governor — and that’s as polite as we can be.

THE BEE’S VOTER GUIDE: Your guide to the California governor primary race

McClatchy Media’s California editorial board, which includes columnists and editors from The Sacramento Bee, The Modesto Bee, The Fresno Bee, Merced Sun-Star and The Tribune of San Luis Obispo, agrees unanimously on one thing:

The next governor of California must be a Democrat.

That means in the waning weeks of this election, Democrats and independents who care about competence, experience and ideas need to coalesce around a Democrat to lead California toward realizing its vast potential and addressing its considerable challenges.

For us, that person is former Rep. Katie Porter.

The majority of our board believes that Porter has the intellect, the understanding of the issues, the ability to communicate, see the big picture, and the boldness to fight the monied interests who need to be fought. She has the singular ability to uplift Californians struggling with how expensive and exclusive this state has become.

We also believe that it is time that California elects its first woman governor, after nearly 180 years of electing men.

Age is also a factor: In a political party desperately clinging to gerontocracy — and a regrettable history of protecting politicians who serve long enough to die in office — Porter, 52, represents the new guard.

We had one-on-one interviews with all the major Democrats in this race and Hilton. Bianco declined to meet with us. Porter’s interview was by far the most impressive.

She clearly grasps the issues that everyday Californians face because she lives them herself as a single mother of three. She can speak knowingly of the “kitchen table economics” that other candidates can only read about from cue cards.

However, we found Porter at her most compelling when she clearly identified and prioritized the loathsome income inequality that is rotting away at our economy — and indeed, at our nation’s democracy.

Porter’s campaign promise to eliminate the state income tax for Californians making under $100,000 is a necessary step toward both equality and equity; that alone ought to be a seriously persuasive argument in favor of her candidacy.

She would also push for legislation that lowers housing costs by stopping local delays, innovating construction techniques and making state investments in affordable housing by contributing land and infrastructure. By these means, our state might finally begin to chip away at the roughly 2.5 million new homes we must build over the next eight years to meet market demand.

Porter also understands that stopping the state’s homelessness crisis is rooted in prevention: First through emergency rental assistance, rapid re-housing and interim homes, then through addressing the state’s lack of affordable housing. In fact, Porter’s career in politics began with this very issue, by serving the state during the foreclosure crisis and helping to keep thousands of Californians in their homes.

She has also steadfastly refused to accept donations from corporate political action committees (PACs), federal lobbyists or executives from the banking, pharmaceutical or oil and gas industries.

The insidious role of big money in the governor’s race — and every race across the country — is crippling our democracy. We like and respect Xavier Becerra, the former state attorney general who is also in the race, but his acceptance of money from gas giant Chevron, for example, is disappointing in the extreme.

Porter’s distance from monied interests in California has undoubtedly cost her support she might have had by now if she played the same money game Becerra is.

But if two Democrats make it to the November general election, we sincerely hope it’s Porter and the 68-year-old Becerra. They stood out in the crowd of Democrats, and a Porter-Becerra matchup would offer Californians the most substantive race.

We do not and cannot endorse billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer in the June primary. It is clear he has bought his way into contention by spending more than $120 million of his own money. At a time when affordability in California is a top issue, we don’t believe electing a billionaire to govern us is the right decision.

We believe it’s time for something new in Sacramento.

Porter, who suffers only from the same, tired charge levied against every woman in politics — that she can be unlikable — is the right choice for this fraught moment. Her promise to push big money out of politics, and her base of support that comes mainly from small donors is the right path forward for all politics in this nation, not just in California.

She is a smart, driven candidate who would take on President Donald Trump, push back on federal incursions, and address the state’s triple, intersectional crises of affordability, homelessness and housing.

It’s hard for a candidate like Porter to break through in a state as large as California and in a race with too many candidates shouting to be heard.

But we sat down with Porter, talked to her, questioned her and heard what she is saying. We’re telling you: Porter was impressive in a way that the other candidates were not.

She’s also an underdog, dismissed on social media, interrupted and shouted over in candidate debates. Some Californians might even dismiss her because she is a woman and because a woman has never been elected governor in California.

Take another look at Porter. She’s not the status quo; she offers real solutions, knows who she is, and is unapologetically herself. She offers hope in a difficult political moment.

And we think “Madam Governor” has a nice ring to it, don’t you agree?

This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 4:30 AM.