At a time when California is the center of the liberal resistance to President Donald Trump, Democratic politicians looking to lead the state's 39 million residents are laying the groundwork for what could shape up to be the most contentious gubernatorial contest in the state in nearly a decade.
Voters won't cast ballots until 2018, but candidates are already raising millions of dollars, and courting donors, key political leaders and activists as they chart their paths for a shot at leading the state that boasts the sixth largest economy in the world.
The state's next governor will also have to grapple with an enormous set of challenges: dealing with a large population of residents in the U.S. illegally in the face of Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, fixing the state's crumbling infrastructure, managing a state budget that is vulnerable to wild gyrations because of its dependence on taxing the incomes of top earners, balancing the cities' and the farms' thirst for water, and many others.
Democrats are dominating the race to-date, no surprise given their 19-point edge in voter registration, supermajorities in both houses of the state Legislature and the fact they have held every statewide elected office since 2011.
