Between threats to the state from President Donald Trump, redistricting battles and the focus on congressional seats, Californians can be forgiven if the 2026 governor’s race isn’t exactly top of mind.

Last month, former Vice President Kamala Harris announced she would take a pass on running for governor, a decision that seemed to signal the official start of the race to succeed Gavin Newsom. The biggest beneficiary appeared to be Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who had said she would run for another statewide office if her old friend Harris jumped in. Not to mention, she had just secured what appeared to be an endorsement from Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.

But then Kounalakis announced she too would skip the race, and run for state treasurer instead, which elicited a collective yawn since

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