Toni Atkins Drops Out of California Governor’s Race Ahead of 2026 Primary

Toni Atkins, the former speaker of the California Assembly and president pro tem of the state Senate, ended her campaign for governor Monday.

Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, entered the race with years of Capitol experience and fundraising prowess, but admitted in a letter to supporters that “there is simply no viable path forward to victory.” Her move further solidifies the crowded field of candidates vying for the state’s top job in 2026.

“From my time on the San Diego City Council and as Acting Mayor, to serving as Speaker of the Assembly, and later leading the State Senate, we’ve gotten a lot done,” Atkins wrote. “My intention was to build on that progress, to bring real solutions from day one, and to do good work for the people.”

“That’s why it’s with such a heavy heart that I’m stepping aside today as a candidate for governor,” she added.

Atkins launched her campaign in early 2024, hoping her prolific legislative career and humble roots would appeal to Democrats searching for fixes to the state’s most intractable problems, such as housing affordability. But she struggled to gain traction in a governor’s race consumed by a focus on national politics.

Born in rural Virginia to a seamstress and a coal miner, Atkins told KQED’s Political Breakdown in 2018 that her early childhood home had no bathroom — just an outhouse.

“We had no running water,” she recalled. “My mom cooked on a wood stove.”

Atkins moved to California in the 1980s and was elected to two terms on the San Diego City Council. After two years as Assembly speaker, she became the first woman and first LGBTQ person to serve as Senate president pro tem when she ascended to the post in 2018.

During her six years as leader of the Senate, Atkins wrote bills to ease housing construction, ban state travel to states with anti-LGBT policies and enshrine abortion protections in the constitution — a measure that won wide approval from California voters.

In her campaign for governor, Atkins built up a hefty financial warchest of over $4 million. Her support of pro-housing bills in the Legislature won her the early support of the state’s carpenters union and San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener.

“I’m really sad that Toni dropped out, she’s fantastic. She’s a really great, smart, thoughtful leader for California and it would have been great to see her as governor,” Wiener told KQED. “But I understand you have to make assessments about the state of the campaign.”

In the months since former Vice President Kamala Harris passed on the race, many of the leading Democrats running for governor — including former Congresswoman Katie Porter and former Attorney General Xavier Becerra — have escalated their promises to spearhead a resistance to President Donald Trump if elected.

By contrast, Atkins ran on a platform of pragmatism and hoped to connect with residents of small towns and cities through a statewide listening tour. But her significant clout in the Capitol failed to gain her recognition among the wider electorate.

An August survey from the Berkeley Institute for Governmental Studies found Atkins near the bottom of the field, with just 1% of registered voters naming her as their first choice for governor.

Atkins’ departure from the race is the latest shakeup ahead of the June 2026 primary. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis bowed out of the race this summer to pursue a run for treasurer. And just last week Ian Calderon, a former Assembly member who was the first millennial elected to the Legislature, announced he is entering the race.

KQED’s Marisa Lagos contributed to this report.