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Insiders Want Padilla to Run for California Governor

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Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-CA) potential gubernatorial run has injected a new variable into the Golden State’s political equation, and has “quickly gained traction with one group in particular: Sacramento insiders who have known Padilla for years and see him as someone they can work with,” Politico reports.

“The 2026 contest is California’s most competitive governor’s race in decades, and many Democrats are still searching for an alternative to former Rep. Katie Porter, who rose to prominence with her sharp questioning of corporate executives and government officials in Washington and is viewed by some as too progressive.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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