The candidates for California governor are a mystery

In conversations last week with nearly three dozen voters, from the outskirts of the San Francisco Bay Area through Sacramento to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, not a handful could name a single one of the declared candidates

- Mark Z. Barabak

Michael Duncan was adjusting the screen on his front door when he paused recently to consider what he wants from California's next governor. Duncan admittedly hadn't given the matter much thought. But when you get down to it, he said, the answer is fairly straightforward: Do the basics. Fight crime. Fix the state's washboard roads. Address the perennial homelessness problem. And do a better job, to the extent a governor can, preventing wildfires like the inferno that decimated wide swaths of Southern California.

“I just roll my eyes,” said Duncan, who logs about 120 miles round trip from his home in Fairfield to his environmental analyst job in Livermore—and who knows exactly where to swerve to avoid the worst potholes along the way. “Why does it take so long to do simple things?” The answer is complicated, but that won't necessarily mollify a California electorate that seems anxious, aggrieved and out of sorts— especially as regards the state's current chief executive.

More than a half-dozen candidates are bidding to succeed Gavin Newsom. Some have pursued the job for well over a year now, eyeing the day, in January 2027, when term limits force the Democrat from office. You wouldn't know that, however, talking to a wide assortment of Californians — many of whom hadn't the slightest clue who's running. In conversations last week with nearly three dozen voters, from the outskirts of the San Francisco Bay Area through Sacramento to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, not a handful could name a single one of the declared candidates.