Walters: Did state’s existential issues scare off potential candidates for governor?

California faces a half-dozen existential issues that threaten the state’s future economic and social wellbeing, and they have persistently defied attempts to resolve them over the last 25 years.

They are — in no particular order, and often intertwined — high living costs, high poverty levels, homelessness, a housing shortage, uncertain water supply and subpar public education outcomes. There are also a number of lesser issues, some being components of what I would consider the “Big 6,” such as a deficit-ridden state budget and a shaky and increasingly expensive power supply.

Gavin Newsom will vacate the office a year hence and probably run for president, leaving some issues slightly better, some slightly worse but all still unresolved.

Collectively, they should dominate the agenda of those we will be electing to office this year, particularly the man or woman who emerges as the next governor. However, they continue to threaten the future because, in a state as large and complex as California, forging a civic and political consensus to resolve them is numbingly difficult.

Could that be the reason why so many potentially viable candidates have decided not to make the run? Is this why the field remains so unsettled, even at such a relatively late point in the political cycle?

Could it be that those who dropped out or never dropped in looked at the daunting array of potentially intractable issues they would face and concluded that failure would be their most likely fate?

We’ll never know for certain what unmotivated them, but the intriguing fact is that several of those who decided not to run would have potentially led the pack, such as former Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Rob Bonta, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and Los Angeles businessman Rick Caruso.

Those still in the race are interesting in their own way, but none stands out as an obvious or natural frontrunner and their credentials tend to be on the thin side.

Caruso, who ran a credible campaign for Los Angeles mayor four years ago, was the latest to take himself out of not only a campaign for governor but also one for mayor. He said he was “deeply disappointed to step back from an election I believe is so critical to California’s future.”

“Though my name will not be on a ballot, my work continues,” Caruso said on X. “Public service does not require a title. It is, and always will be, my calling.”

Caruso’s announcement came just a few days after Bonta, who had initially shunned a campaign for governor before saying he was weighing a run, finally announced that he would seek another term as attorney general.

That seemingly leaves just a field of second-tier candidates, as measured by standard political odds-making. In true 2026 fashion, as some drop out, others emerge as potential gubernatorial candidates.

The latest to do so is San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a Democrat who has been a sharp critic of how Democrats in Sacramento, including Newsom, have been running things. On the day Bonta pulled the plug, Mahan let it be known that he was considering a run.

Mahan told the San Jose Mercury News that none of the remaining candidates had articulated a “clear and compelling” vision or the “bold and independent leadership” needed to tackle the state’s thorny problems, especially homelessness.

“I see business as usual in Sacramento,” said Mahan, who was at the Capitol advocating for reforms aimed at making housing more affordable. “I don’t see anyone acting like it’s a crisis.”

With backing from Silicon Valley, Mahan could become a formidable contender for the state’s top-two primary in June.

Dan Walters is a CalMatters columnist.