Former Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon announced on Monday that he is running for California governor, joining a crowded field of candidates vying to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Calderon, the first millennial elected to the Assembly and the youngest majority leader in state history, made his announcement in a video posted to social media. He said he wants to tackle rising housing costs, gas and food prices, and the high cost of childcare.
“My generation pays bills on our phones, we save in bitcoin, but the people in our government are trying to use yesterday’s ideas to solve today’s problems, and it isn’t working,” Calderon said in the video.
During his time in the Assembly, the Democrat helped pass measures that raised the state minimum wage to $15 by 2022 and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. He also authored legislation allowing terminally ill Californians to try experimental treatments.
Calderon, who stepped away from politics in 2020 to focus on raising his family, described himself as a Democrat who “doesn’t take marching orders from anybody” and emphasized his support for “working families, small businesses and common-sense solutions.”
The Democratic field already includes former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former State Controller Betty Yee, former Senate leader Toni Atkins, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
Businessman Stephen Cloobeck, the former CEO of Diamond Resorts, is also running.
Republican candidates include former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.
No Republican has won statewide office in California since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election in 2006.
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