California’s governor’s race heads into Tuesday with voters angry about the cost of living, uneasy about whether the California Dream still exists and split over what the next governor should do first for the middle class and working class. The contest is wide open because undecided voters outnumber the support for any single candidate.
That is the backdrop for the primary and the debate scheduled for Tuesday, when candidates will be trying to break through in a state where more Californians now call the cost of living unmanageable than did five years ago. Younger people remain more optimistic than older Californians, but the mood is still tough enough that many voters say the dream is out of reach.
The clearest fault line runs through party loyalty and attitude toward the state itself. Democrats overwhelmingly want a candidate who would oppose President Trump, and they also favor someone with values and judgment, plus experience. Republicans are looking for change and paint a much bleaker picture of California, saying the state is not going well and that its economy is worse than the nation’s.
Those differences show up in how people see California’s future. Democrats have more confidence in the California Dream than Republicans do, and they are more likely to say California sets a good example for the rest of the nation. Republicans, by contrast, say the state sets a bad example. That split helps explain why the race has not settled around a single front-runner.
Among Democratic primary voters, the polling also points to a preference for a candidate whose policies are at least somewhat similar to Gavin Newsom’s. Supporters who want very similar policies lean a little more toward Xavier Becerra, while Democrats who want a different approach are a bit more likely to favor Tom Steyer.
The debate matters because many voters say it matters at least somewhat, and because there is no single issue that has displaced the larger frustrations around daily life in California. The fight is less about one policy announcement than about which candidate can convince voters they understand why so many Californians think the state is slipping out of reach.
CBS News updated its California governor poll coverage at 8:25 PM EDT on April 27, 2026. By then, the central question was already clear: in a race shaped by cost, identity and frustration, the candidate who can best match the mood of the state may be the one who lasts longest in the field.
