Newsom won't run for Calif. Senate seat; all eyes on Harris

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that he won’t run to succeed Barbara Boxer in the Senate, hinting instead that he is eyeing the governor’s office.

Newsom had been considered one of the top prospects to run in 2016 for the Senate seat that Boxer, a fellow Democrat, had held for more than 20 years. But, in a Facebook post, he said he saw his future, for now, in California.


“It’s always better to be candid than coy,” Newsom wrote. “While I am humbled by the widespread encouragement of so many and hold in the highest esteem those who serve us in federal office, I know that my head and my heart, my young family’s future, and our unfinished work all remain firmly in the State of California — not Washington D.C. Therefore I will not seek election to the U.S. Senate in 2016.”

Newsom’s decision not to run puts the focus now on the state’s attorney general, Kamala Harris, another Democrat.

So far, Harris has remained mum about her plans. “I am just enjoying this day, thank you,” Harris told The Los Angeles Times on Sunday when asked if she would run for the seat.

Both Harris and Newsom, who started their careers in northern California, have been waiting for a chance to run for higher office. But they have the same base of supporters and consultants, and operatives close to the two have said they expected Harris and Newsom to form a pact so that they wouldn’t have to run against each other.

For instance, one would run for Boxer’s seat while the other would agree to wait until 2018, when the California governor’s office opens up. If longtime Sen. Dianne Feinstein also retires, her seat would also be open that year.

Newsom, former San Francisco mayor, briefly ran for governor in 2009.

Boxer’s announcement last week that she would not run for reelection in 2016 has set up a wide-open primary, giving the state’s younger generation of officeholders a chance to finally run for higher office.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said he’s seriously considering running for Boxer’s seat, and Rep. Jackie Speier and Democratic mega-donor and environmental activist Tom Steyer are also considered possible candidates. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti took himself out of the race soon after Boxer’s announcement.

Although Democrats are expected to keep the seat, the race could be of the most expensive Senate contests in history. California has an expensive media market; it also has top-two primary system, which allows the top two candidates with the most votes in the open primary advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.