United States: Xavier Becerra, the erstwhile US Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden, has officially plunged into the increasingly competitive battle for California’s governorship—undeterred by the lingering question of whether Vice President Kamala Harris will enter the fray.
The former state attorney general, who has long entertained the prospect of vying for the Golden State’s highest office, unveiled his candidacy through a succinct, no-frills video released on Wednesday, first shared with POLITICO.
“I saw my parents—a laborer in construction and a clerical worker—seize the California dream,” Becerra stated in the stripped-down, direct-to-camera announcement. “Can that still be realized today amid this crippling affordability crisis? It’s incredibly challenging. But we’ve battled through tough fights before… We can do it again, but California needs a leader with grit.”
Becerra’s entrance infuses fresh energy into a gubernatorial contest that had remained largely stagnant as high-profile Democratic figures and affluent political financiers bided their time, awaiting clarity on Harris’s intentions. However, momentum has started to build. Former Representative Katie Porter officially entered the race last month, and other prospective candidates have begun sharpening their critiques of Harris’s protracted decision-making process, according to POLITICO.
Becerra’s campaign has unequivocally asserted that he will not withdraw from the race, even if Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential election, opts to pursue the governorship instead.
At 67, Becerra is not overtly championing a staunchly progressive agenda, nor is he branding himself as a centrist Democrat. Rather, he is anchoring his campaign in a narrative of seasoned governance, positioning himself as the most experienced contender capable of steering California’s vast bureaucracy and standing firm against former President Donald Trump, whom he legally challenged over 120 times during his tenure as state attorney general.
In a twist of political timing, Becerra’s campaign launch coincided with a sweeping purge within the US Department of Health and Human Services—the very agency he once helmed—under the Trump administration. He has spent recent days denouncing the dismissals as an orchestrated “man-made catastrophe.”
Becerra aims to highlight his stewardship of HHS, an institution employing over 85,000 individuals, as a core tenet of his gubernatorial pitch. Nevertheless, his tenure was marked by mixed reviews. His leadership faced intense scrutiny amid the administration’s mismanagement of sheltering an influx of unaccompanied migrant children, and he was criticized for having a marginal role in shaping federal COVID-19 policy.
Conversely, he found a stronger footing in reinforcing the Affordable Care Act and vociferously advocating for reproductive rights. Still, POLITICO previously reported that among Democratic circles, there was little anticipation that Biden would retain Becerra in a hypothetical second term, nor that Becerra himself harbored an interest in remaining in the position.
Before joining the Biden administration, Becerra spent over three decades entrenched in California politics—initially serving in the state Legislature before securing a long-standing congressional seat representing downtown Los Angeles. Rising within the Democratic ranks, he became a key player on the powerful Ways and Means Committee and later chaired the Democratic Caucus. During the Obama years, he played an instrumental role in the ultimately unsuccessful push for comprehensive immigration reform, as per POLITICO.
In 2017, then-Governor Jerry Brown appointed Becerra as California’s attorney general to fill the vacancy left by Harris following her election to the US Senate. This position elevated him to the forefront of California’s defiant legal resistance against the Trump administration—though his demeanor remained more reserved than combative.
Despite his extensive political career, Becerra is not a household name among California’s electorate. Public and private polling consistently places him in the mid-single digits in terms of voter recognition.
However, Becerra has demonstrated formidable electoral strength in past statewide races. In 2018, he garnered nearly 7.8 million votes in his bid for attorney general—outperforming Gavin Newsom’s vote tally in that year’s gubernatorial contest.
Should he succeed, Becerra would become California’s first Latino governor in over a century and a half. His candidacy has the potential to galvanize a substantial yet historically inconsistent voting bloc: California’s Latino population, which constitutes a majority of the state’s demographic landscape. However, he is not alone in vying for this distinction; two other Latino contenders—former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond—pose a formidable challenge, threatening to fragment the Latino electorate.
The dynamic between the Becerra and Villaraigosa campaigns will be particularly compelling, given their overlapping political trajectories. Both established their bases in Los Angeles—a city that has traditionally been a less advantageous springboard for statewide office. They previously faced off in the 2001 Los Angeles mayoral race, where Becerra secured a mere 5% of the vote and was eliminated in the initial round, while Villaraigosa advanced to the runoff but ultimately lost to James Hahn.
This time, Becerra is banking on his broader statewide and national experience to amplify his appeal beyond his fellow Angeleno, as reported by POLITICO.
Becerra’s campaign apparatus includes seasoned political operatives. Kyle Layman, a veteran strategist who previously spearheaded an independent expenditure committee backing Adam Schiff’s Senate bid, serves as the general consultant. Emma Harris, who managed freshman Representative George Whitesides’ victorious campaign in Northern Los Angeles County, takes on the role of campaign manager. Fundraising efforts will be led by Terri New and Elizabeth Tauro of Capital Strategies, alongside Sacramento-based fundraiser David Pruitt. Media strategy will be overseen by AL Media, with communications directed by Dan Gottlieb, a former operative at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
As the race unfolds, Becerra’s challenge will be to transform his deep-rooted political resume into tangible voter support, persuading Californians that his wealth of experience uniquely equips him to navigate the state’s complex challenges and seize its boundless opportunities.
