Legislator announces bid to become California’s first woman governor

SAN DIEGO – California Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins announced her candidacy for governor at an event in Balboa Park on Friday.

Atkins would be the first woman and first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve in that role if elected.

“In 2026, we have the opportunity to elect a Governor who understands, and has lived, the challenges facing Californians struggling to get by and trying to get ahead,” Atkins said in her speech in the rotunda of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber gave remarks in support of Atkins.

California state Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Monday, July 10, 2023. On Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, Atkins announced she will run for governor in 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli,File)

“Many have said that in 2026, it’s time for California to finally elect a woman governor. As the most qualified candidate running for governor, who also happens to be a woman, I agree,” she said.

Atkins is the fourth Democrat to throw her hat into the ring for the state’s top job. The election is still more than two years away, but Gov. Gavin Newsom is ineligible to run again due to term limits.

In August 2023, Atkins announced she would step down as President Pro Tem – planned for early next month. She is the first person in more than 150 years to have held both that job and the position of Speaker of the California State Assembly – which she held from 2014-2016 before being elected to the Senate.

Atkins grew up in rural Appalachian Virginia and moved to California in 1985.

“At just 27, she was named the Director of Clinic Services at San Diego’s Womancare Health Center, where she helped low-income women access reproductive care — even when anti-abortion extremists tried to block access,” a statement on Atkins’ campaign website reads.

She was elected to the San Diego City Council in 2000 and was acting mayor for six months in 2005 following the resignation of Dick Murphy. She has also filled in for the Governor temporarily when he was out of state. Atkins was elected to the Assembly in 2010 and became Majority Leader less than two years later. She is termed out from running for the Senate again.

“[Atkins] has worked to create good-paying jobs and bolster worker protections, and she’s expanded educational opportunities so that nothing gets in the way of California’s children being able to learn,” her campaign website reads. “She’s a champion for affordable housing, the environment, health care, veterans, women and the LGBTQ+ community.

“She has led legislative efforts to protect victims of crime, including children being trafficked and women facing domestic violence. These are the people and causes she’s spent a lifetime fighting for, driven by the values that will continue to guide her campaign for Governor,” it reads.

Other candidates in the already crowded field include Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Controller Betty Yee. Attorney General Rob Bonta is also considering a run. (CNS)