If you're tired of wondering who the next president will be, why not start wondering who the next governor of California will be?

With six weeks still until the 2024 election, California Democrats are preparing for the first major candidate debate in the crowded race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026.

Newsom is serving his second term and cannot run again. The candidates vying to replace him include five Democrats, four of whom will face off Sunday in San Francisco at a forum hosted by the National Union of Healthcare Workers.

The panel will include Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, state Sen. Toni Atkins and former state Auditor Betty Yee. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is also running for governor, declined an invitation to participate, according to the union.

The forum, which begins at 10 a.m. Sunday, is presented in partnership with the Los Angeles Times and will be streamed live on latimes.com.

The candidates will answer questions from The Times' California political editor Laurel Rosenhall, national planning editor Lisa Matthews of the Associated Press and senior reporter Melanie Mason of Politico.

The health care union has about 19,000 members in California, including psychologists, pharmacists, nurses, janitors and social workers, and hosted its first major candidate forums for California's 2024 Senate primary and 2018 gubernatorial elections.

Sal Rosselli, the union's director of political and legislative campaigns, said in a prepared statement that members want to know where they stand on health care, housing, transportation, education and workers' rights.

“We hope this year's forum will provide those answers for our members and other California voters,” Rosselli said.

The statewide election to replace Newsom in 2026 is expected to be dominated by Democrats, which could see even more candidates enter the race.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said:Seriously considering” is running for governor but has not declared her candidacy. Neither has Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), whose name has been floated as a possible candidate since losing her Senate race in the March primary.

Other contenders include Xavier Becerra, President Biden's Health and Human Services secretary, and Rick Caruso, a real estate developer who ran for Los Angeles mayor in 2022 and lost to Karen Bass.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco Conservative commentator Steve Hilton.

Every Democratic candidate in the race so far has a chance to make history: California has never elected a woman governor, and only once has a person of color held that office. Governor Romualdo Pacheco served for only a few months in 1875..

Atkins, 62, represents the San Diego region as a state senator and is serving her final term as a state representative. She is a former Senate president pro tempore and a former speaker of the House, the first lawmaker to hold both leadership positions since 1871. She is the first woman and the first openly LGBTQ+ senate leader in state history.

Kounalakis, 58, was first elected lieutenant governor in 2018 and is up for reelection in 2022. She has emphasized her work in the largely ceremonial role, including fighting college tuition hikes, tackling climate change and protecting women's rights. She lives in San Francisco.

Thurmond, 56, represented the East Bay district in the state Assembly before being elected to California's top education job in 2018 with strong backing from the California Teachers Association and other unions.

Yee, 66, was elected state comptroller in 2014. During his tenure, his agency uncovered tens of millions of dollars in misspending and questionable financial practices in local government. Yee was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents whose family lived behind a dry cleaners.