A sheriff, a billionaire, a tinge of scandal. California governor's race packs drama, uncertainty

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The race for California governor features former presidential wannabes, a county sheriff, two women who could become the first female to hold the office, House members current and former, an ex-Cabinet secretary and at least one billionaire with another in the wings. The contest has been singed by scandal and witnessed one campaign nearly melt down.

And it hasn't officially started yet.

The pending exit of term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom has created the most wide-open and crowded field for the state's highest office in memory. The job pays $242,000 a year but provides an arguably more valuable national political platform and the ability to engage in trade, climate and other global affairs. By default the California governor, in a state of nearly 40 million people, is a national figure. Newsom is widely expected to launch a White House run after the Democrat's term ends in early January 2027.

The lure of the powerful job attracted its latest candidate Thursday — Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who served as a House manager in President Donald Trump’s 2021 impeachment trial and briefly sought his party's 2020 presidential nomination.

The eventual winner will also inherit a long list of problems, from an unchecked homeless crisis to multibillion-dollar projected future budget gaps.

The primary is June 2. Candidates can begin taking the first steps needed to qualify for the ballot next month. Newsom has not endorsed a successor.

Democrats are strongly favored to hold the seat in a liberal-leaning state where a Republican hasn’t won a statewide race in nearly two decades. Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by nearly 2-to-1 statewide, a staggering advantage.

One challenge for the growing list of Democratic candidates will be trying to stand out when they largely agree on most issues — dealing with the state's affordability crisis and countering Trump will top the agenda. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has positioned himself toward the center political lane and has been talking about his record of cutting taxes. He also boosted police force numbers and saw crime drop when he was LA's mayor.

Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer, a recent entrant into the contest who ran for president in 2020, says the state can “break up the monopolistic power of utilities” to reduce its second-highest-in-the-nation electricity rates.

Even in a field of recognized names, there is no dominant candidate.

“It’s a five-way, six-way jump ball and that ball could go in any direction,” Democratic consultant Michael Trujillo said. “Any one of these Democrats running currently could be our next governor.”

In California, the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election, regardless of party. With many candidates dividing up the electorate, that means the two candidates who advance could get to November with just over 20% of the vote — and maybe less. The winning advantage separating the top two finishers from the rest of the field could be a percentage point or two.

Along with Swalwell, Villaraigosa and Steyer, other Democrats in the contest include former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, former Biden administration health secretary Xavier Becerra, former state controller Betty Yee, schools superintendent Tony Thurmond and real estate developer Stephen Cloobeck. Attorney General Rob Bonta, who previously said he wasn't running, is now reconsidering a bid.

Porter — who in the House became a social media celebrity by brandishing a whiteboard at congressional hearings while grilling CEOs — joined the unfolding race in March and moved quickly to establish herself as a leading contender.

But her momentum collapsed in early October, after a snippet of a recent TV interview went viral showing her in an awkwardly tense back-and-forth with a reporter. At one point, she threatened to walk out. Shortly afterward, a video surfaced of a 2021 interview showing her loudly berating a staffer.

After a deluge of online mockery, rivals quickly questioned whether she was too unsteady for the job. But Porter's campaign lined up supporters to help her weather the fallout. It is unclear if the unflattering episode will influence voters.

Prosecutors allege longtime Becerra aide Sean McCluskie was at the center of a plan to steal money from one of Becerra’s dormant state campaign accounts to pad his salary after he accepted a job as Becerra’s chief of staff in Washington.

Becerra is a former House member and state attorney general.

Villaraigosa launched a digital ad spotlighting Becerra’s connection to the scandal. Becerra is not implicated in the indictment. But the ad attempts to raise doubts about his judgment and features clips from a TV interview in which Becerra said he knew payments were being made from his account but didn’t know they were being improperly used.

Even in a heavily Democratic state, Republicans can pull off surprises.

Last year, former baseball star Steve Garvey finished second in the U.S. Senate primary, besting Porter and then-Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee and advancing to the November election. He lost to now-Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff. The leading Republicans in the governor's race — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton — are hoping to slip through into November, given the large Democratic field dividing the vote.

There are other unknowns. Billionaire shopping mall developer Rick Caruso hasn't ruled out a run, after losing his bid to become Los Angeles mayor.

FILE - U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra speaks at the Linen Building in Boise, Idaho, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)

FILE - U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., waves at supporters at an election night party, March 5, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE - Antonio Villaraigosa receives an endorsement for governor of California by Mayor Karen Bass on Sept. 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE - Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., speaks to reporters after a campaign event on Proposition 50 in San Francisco, on Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones blasted apartment buildings and the power grid in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa in an overnight attack that injured six people, including a toddler and two other children, officials said Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence in his country's eventual victory in the nearly four-year war against its neighbor.

Four apartment buildings were damaged in the Odesa bombardment, according to regional military administration head Oleh Kiper. The DTEK power provider said two of its energy facilities had significant damage. The company said 10 substations that distribute electricity in the region have been damaged in December.

Russia has escalated attacks on urban areas of Ukraine. As its invasion approaches a four-year milestone in February, it has also intensified targeting of energy infrastructure, seeking to deny Ukrainians heat and running water in the bitter winter months.

Between January and November, more than 2,300 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 11,000 were injured, the United Nations said earlier in December. That was 26% higher than in the same period in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023, it said.

There are renewed diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday and announced that a settlement is “closer than ever before." The Ukrainian leader is due to hold talks next week with European leaders supporting his efforts to secure acceptable terms.

Despite progress in peace negotiations, which he didn't mention, Putin reaffirmed his belief in Russia’s eventual success in its invasion during his traditional New Year’s address.

He gave special praise to Russian troops deployed in Ukraine, describing them as heroes “fighting for your native land, truth and justice.”

“We believe in you and our victory,” Putin said, as cited by Russian state news agency Tass.

The Russian Defense Ministry said 86 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russian regions, the Black Sea and the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula.

Russia’s Defense Ministry released a video of a downed drone that it said was one of 91 Ukrainian drones involved in an alleged attack this week on a Putin residence in northwestern Russia, a claim Kyiv has denied as a “lie.”

The nighttime video showed a man in camouflage, a helmet and a Kevlar vest standing near a damaged drone lying in snow. The man, his face covered, talks about the drone. Neither the man nor the Defense Ministry provided any location or date.

The video and claims could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.

Ukrainian officials have denied the allegations of an attack on Putin’s lakeside country residence and called them a ruse to derail progress in peace negotiations.

Maj. Gen. Alexander Romanenkov of the Russian air force claimed that the drones took off from Ukraine’s Sumy and Chernihiv regions. At a briefing where no questions were allowed, he presented a map showing the drone flight routes before they allegedly were downed by Russian air defenses over the Bryansk, Tver, Smolensk and Novgorod regions.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, called the Russian allegations “a deliberate distraction” from peace talks.

Zelenskyy said Romania and Croatia are the latest countries to join a fund that buys weapons for Ukraine from the United States.

The financial arrangement, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, pools contributions from NATO members, except the United States, to purchase U.S. weapons, munitions and equipment.

Since it was established in August, 24 countries are now contributing to the fund, according to Zelenskyy. The fund has received $4.3 billion, with almost $1.5 billion coming in December, he said on social media.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Security Service carried out a drone strike on a major Russian fuel storage facility in the northwestern Yaroslavl region early Tuesday, according to a Ukrainian security official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Long-range drones struck the Temp oil depot in the city of Rybinsk, part of Russia’s state fuel reserve system, the official told The Associated Press. Rybinsk is about 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

A previous version of this story was corrected to give the timing of the alleged attack on Putin's residence as late Sunday and early Monday.

Katie Marie Davies in Leicester, England, contributed to this story.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This image made from undated video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, shows a downed drone at an undisclosed location that it said was one of the Ukrainian drones involved in an alleged attack on a residence of President Vladimir Putin this week – a claim Kyiv has denied as a "lie". (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

This image made from undated video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, shows a downed drone at an undisclosed location that it said was one of the Ukrainian drones involved in an alleged attack on a residence of President Vladimir Putin this week – a claim Kyiv has denied as a "lie". (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

This image made from undated video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, shows a man in camouflage standing by a downed drone at an undisclosed location that it said was one of the Ukrainian drones involved in an alleged attack on a residence of President Vladimir Putin this week – a claim Kyiv has denied as a "lie". (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this image made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, a Russian Army soldier fires from D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)