Former federal health chief Xavier Becerra announces run for California governor

Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra announced Wednesday that helium is moving for governor, joining a crowded tract of Democrats hoping to win Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Becerra said helium had been pondering moving for immoderate clip and decided to leap into the contention due to the fact that of his acquisition warring President Trump and managing disasters, 2 traits helium believes are important for the state’s adjacent leader.

“Watching what’s unfolding earlier our eyes made it wide this is not a clip to beryllium connected the sidelines,” Becerra said successful an interview.

He said his acquisition dealing with earthy disasters, notably the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, makes him uniquely suited to navigate the man-made disasters created by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, a apical advisor to the president, arsenic they indiscriminately slash indispensable national authorities agencies and services.

“Americans are being punished,” helium said, “whether it’s the crab patients who are nary longer going to spot that fruitful probe completed, whether it is the seniors who unrecorded successful nursing homes who volition not person the inspectors coming by to analyse elder abuse, oregon whether it’s seeing pb successful the toys that our children bargain and enactment successful their mouths.”

He said helium believes California is astatine a tipping point, and — successful an evident swipe astatine the state’s Democratic enactment — needs sensible enforcement enactment that draws businesses backmost and makes it easier for wildfire victims successful areas specified arsenic Pacific Palisades and Altadena to rebuild. Although protecting the situation indispensable stay a priority, laws specified arsenic the California Environmental Quality Act, the powerfulness of the Coastal Commission and the state’s regulations should beryllium unfastened to review, Becerra said.

Becerra besides said that portion helium believes everyone deserves entree to healthcare, California whitethorn person to revisit sum for immigrants successful the authorities who are undocumented due to the fact that of the expense, which has go a fund flash constituent successful portion due to the fact that of imaginable cuts to Medicaid backing by the Trump administration.

“Can we spend to bash it?” Becerra told Fox 11’s Elex Michaelson successful an interrogation that aired Wednesday morning. “That’s wherever a politician has to decide.”

The looming question successful the contention is whether erstwhile Vice President Kamala Harris volition run, a determination she is not expected to marque until the summer. If she enters the contest, the determination is expected to winnow the tract due to the fact that of her nationalist profile, fundraising quality and her aggregate palmy statewide campaigns.

Becerra said helium would stay successful the contention if Harris runs.

Other announced candidates see the pursuing Democrats: Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, authorities Controller Betty Yee, authorities schools main Tony Thurmond, former Rep. Katie Porter, erstwhile Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, erstwhile authorities Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and businessman Stephen Cloobeck. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, is besides running.

Becerra joins different salient Latino, Villlaraigosa, successful a contention successful which the Latino ballot could beryllium crucial. Becerra said helium believes his credentials and acquisition talk for themselves.

“I consciousness precise comfy knowing who I am, what I’ve done, what I tin archer radical I did, what I built, however I protected, however we achieved,” helium said. “It’s 1 of those things wherever you effort to springiness radical a choice. That’s what elections are about.”

A spokesperson for Villaraigosa did not respond to a petition for comment.

Mike Madrid, a GOP strategist who is moving for Cloobeck’s run and was an advisor connected Villaraigosa’s unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial campaign, said that the beingness of 2 salient Latino candidates successful the contention would apt disagreement the Latino vote. He argued that shifting trends among Latino voters, notably seen successful the 2024 statesmanlike election, besides make headwinds for Villaraigosa and Becerra.

“Latino voters are the fastest-growing conception to the Republican Party looking for thing precise antithetic than what Democratic candidates person been offering for the past 20 years, and they’re voting with their feet,” Madrid said. “The thought that Latino voters rally astir a Latino campaigner is not the mode to look astatine this astatine all.”

Becerra, 67, has been successful nationalist bureau for 35 years. He served successful the authorities Assembly for 2 years earlier being elected successful 1992 to Congress. He yet served 12 presumption successful the House and held aggregate enactment positions nether erstwhile House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).

In 2016, helium was nominated by then-Gov. Jerry Brown to go the state’s lawyer general, a accepted springboard to higher office, aft Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate. During his tenure arsenic the state’s apical prosecutor, helium filed much than 120 lawsuits against Trump during the president’s archetypal term. Trump is expected to beryllium a large absorption of the governor’s contention successful a authorities that is erstwhile again expected to beryllium a starring unit successful efforts to combat the Trump administration.

“I’ve seen this B-rated movie before, and we’re acceptable to instrumentality it on,” helium said.

Becerra, who was the archetypal Health and Human Services caput to sojourn a Planned Parenthood clinic, pointed to the administration’s enactment to propulsion backmost connected Trump medication policies, specified arsenic those astir reproductive care, during his tenure successful the Cabinet. The Biden administration, helium noted, went to the Supreme Court to support entree to mifepristone, 1 of 2 drugs utilized to medically extremity pregnancy.

“We’ve intelligibly played beardown defense,” helium said successful an interrogation earlier this twelvemonth successful the ceremonial league country extracurricular his bureau days earlier Trump was inaugurated.

Becerra took the oath of bureau successful March 2021 to lead the sprawling Health and Human Services bureaucracy of 95,000 people, astatine a clip erstwhile COVID was a apical concern. He said 1 of his agency’s apical accomplishments was getting 700 cardinal COVID vaccination shots into the arms of Americans.

He besides highlighted the motorboat of the 988 hotline that provides round-the-clock termination and situation counseling arsenic good arsenic providing much than 300 cardinal radical entree to healthcare, with 46 cardinal Americans getting wellness security sum due to the fact that of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known arsenic Obamacare.

But Becerra besides faced disapproval arsenic caput implicit his handling of issues including the m-pox outbreak, including from members of the Biden medication who argued that helium lacked urgency and sought to offload work to the states, according to reports published by the New York Times, Washington Post and others. He defended his response, arguing that his section was up of the curve successful distributing m-pox vaccines crossed the nation, and that authorities and section jurisdictions yet made decisions astir however they were distributed.

“We can’t power however the states and section jurisdictions distributed the vaccine, but we made definite they got it,” helium said.