Californians could do worse than electing veteran state Senate Majority Leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.

That doesn't necessarily mean you should. However, she is worth serious consideration. Voters will have two years to evaluate and decide on Newsom before her term ends at the end of 2026.

That is, if she can raise the millions of dollars she needs to last that long in competitive racing. Her bankroll starts at about $2.3 million, barely enough to qualify for this high-stakes contest.

That's why Atkins, 61, and other gubernatorial hopefuls have announced their candidacies so quickly. They need to raise enough money to gain attention and reach their message to 27 million potential voters in this remote and highly diverse state.

Atkins, unlike other candidates, has additional problems. She has never competed in a statewide race and is largely unknown north of San Diego.

she I officially entered the contest on Friday. At an election rally in my hometown.

This legislative leader told me that she jumped into the race because she decided she could do the job as well or better than anyone else.

Atkins is definitely not the type of person Californians are accustomed to electing as governor.

First of all, she's a woman. All California governors elected since the state's inception have been white men.

However, it is increasingly likely that this historical gender preference will change in 2026. The candidate is a woman: Deputy Governor Eleni Kounalakis With former state secretary Betty Yee.

This will be a very open competitive race, so there probably won't be a clear front runner for a while. There are no real high-profile figures who fit the definition of a political “heavyweight.”

Senior State Assistant Public Instruction tony thurmond running. He becomes California's first black governor.

State agent. Gen. Rob Bonta is still considering whether to jump into the gubernatorial race or run for re-election.

Atkins is different in another way, too. She's not a real telegenic. She's not a Hollywood hunk like Newsome. And, unfortunately, looks can influence voters' decisions. Nor is she a rock star, as former Gov. Jerry Brown was in his 70s. She is not a global celebrity like former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But Atkins can be a persuasive orator who speaks with restrained passion. She has a valuable political asset: authenticity.

Atkins will be California's first openly LGBTQ+ governor — just as she was the first lesbian Assembly Speaker and Senate President Pro Tem. In fact, she was the first female Senate Majority Leader and the first woman to lead both chambers in 146 years. This clearly shows how well-respected she is among the people who elected her to be their leader.

She is uniquely qualified to serve as governor based on her experience in immediately addressing virtually every issue California faced during her 14-year legislative career. She previously studied local issues as a member of the San Diego City Council.

“I’m ready to give it my all,” Atkins told me. “I'm not going to miss a beat. I don't need to explain CEQA [the California Environmental Quality Act] Me or the California transit system. ”

Now, what about those two issues?

When it comes to environmental regulation, California needs to continue to “break through bureaucratic red tape” and “relax zoning” to lower the cost of building homes, she says.

When it comes to homelessness, “we need to look deeper into what's working and what's not working.”

of bullet train: “Go ahead and get it done. Make sure you finish it while someone else is still alive.”

There's also an issue you don't hear about much from Democrats: crime. “We need to seriously consider how we can keep our neighborhoods safe and shop without fear for our safety, unlike the situations people are facing today.”

how? “Focus on the real culprits who commit most crimes,” she replies. “We don't want to fill our prisons with the wrong people again. But those who should be there should be incarcerated.”

Yes, more details are required.

What is her proudest accomplishment as a member of Congress?passing $7.5 billion in water bonds in 2014 Approved by voters.

“It allows us to provide clean drinking water,” she says. “That was especially important to this person who grew up drawing water from a spring.”

That's another Atkins difference. She grew up in what most of us would call poverty, in a small rented house with no running water or outside privacy in rural southern Virginia. Her father was a coal miner and her mother a seamstress, and she always struggled to make ends meet.

“I was not doing well in school until glasses donated by the local Lions Club allowed me to see the blackboard and teach,” she recalled in her candidacy. “When I was a kid, it was my dream to live in a double-wide trailer.”

“I don't fit the mold of most other candidates,” she said in an interview. “My story is very similar to the stories of many other Californians.”

Atkins' hard-won legislative agenda includes providing earned income tax credits to the poor and permanent state funding to help low-income families buy affordable housing. . She also Abortion rights campaigner.

She is ready to become governor. But her most difficult task will be running the race to win the presidency.