A new LA Times poll finds the job of succeeding Gavin Newsom as California Governor could easily be Kamala Harris’s if she wanted it, in large part because hardly anyone recognizes the names of the other people expected to run.

We have not heard much from Vice President Kamala Harris since her concession speech the day after the election. And she may not be very visible for the remaining two months of her vice presidency. But she’s got a political comeback path sitting there if she wants one, as the LA times did a poll with the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies that showed California voters would largely support Harris for governor once Gavin Newsom’s term ends in two years.

The poll found that 46% of California voters would be “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to support Harris for governor in 2026. Though 42% of voters said they would be “not too likely” or “not at all likely” to vote for her. Another 12% were undecided.

“Nearly all voters in this state have an opinion of her, and that’s really the big advantage that she brings to an early poll,” the Berkeley poll’s director Mark DiCamillo told the Times. “None of the other candidates are as well known to the voting public.”

The poll did not match Harris up head-to-head with other likely candidates, and we should point out that the poll was conducted before the November 5 election. But the poll did specifically ask respondents, “Suppose Vice President Kamala Harris is not elected President in November, and she decided to run for Governor in 2026. How likely would you be to vote for Harris for Governor of California?” So it did take her possible loss into account.

In terms of head-to-head matchups, Harris polls light years ahead of any other likely candidates. The poll found outgoing Rep. Katie Porter barely ahead of the pack at 13%, followed by Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 12%, Republican state Senator Brian Dahle at 11%, and current Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis and former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa both at 7%.

Surprisingly, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, who many expect to run, polled only at 5%.

Related: Nancy Pelosi Regrets There Was No Open Primary, Points Finger at Biden For Not Stepping Aside Earlier [SFist]

Image: WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 06: Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage as she concedes the election, at Howard University on November 06, 2024 in Washington, DC. After a contentious campaign focused on key battleground states, the Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump was projected to secure the majority of electoral votes, giving him a second term as U.S. President. Republicans also secured control of the Senate for the first time in four years. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

"If you can dream it, you can do it," people frequently claim Walt Disney famously said. And when it comes to allegedly aspiring baby blood consumer and Trump-loving billionaire Peter Thiel, his newest dream might be to run the state of California after Jerry Brown's final term ends.

Politico reports that the "diversity"-providing Facebook board member "is considering a 2018 bid for California governor, according to three Republicans familiar with his thinking."

They say he has been "discussing a prospective bid with a small circle of advisers, including Rob Morrow, who has emerged as his political consigliere."

Before you get as excited as I did, we're not talking about the star of Northern Exposure: This Rob Morrow is a one-time staffer at Thiel's Clarium Capital investment management and hedge fund company.

According to Politico, "Thiel has conspicuously yet to rule out a bid and that those around him continue to discuss it," citing his recent insane interview with Maureen Dowd as a sign he's readying himself for the public eye.

But just as Walt Disney didn't actually make that famous inspirational statement after all, Thiel's rumored run at Sacramento might be similarly poppycocked. Noting that "Those who have been in touch with the 49-year-old entrepreneur are skeptical that he’ll enter the race," Politico points out that in July of 2015 Thiel contributed over $56,000 to Gavin Newsom’s 2018 campaign for the seat.

Yes, the same Gavin Newsom who's vigorously opposed Thiel's President Elect bestie via the demagogue's platform of choice and who sent the donations his campaign got from Trump to immigration charities. (A call to the Newsom camp to see if he's kept Thiel's cash was not returned at publication time.)

Needless to say, Thiel wouldn't need any donations for his rumored campaign, as he's worth $2.7 billion and, like previous wannabe CA gov and Meg Whitman, could self-fund. Of course, we all know how things ended for Whitman, with a crushing defeat at the hands of Jerry Brown.

Would Thiel suffer a similar fate to his fellow tech billionaire Whitman? Perhaps she was just ahead of her time, as former Republican Governors Association executive director Phil Cox says that “With Trump's victory, we're going to see even more nontraditional candidates — with backgrounds in business, not politics — enter the political arena.” Then again, entering the arena and emerging triumphant are two very different things...and California might not be ready to be led by a guy who says, apparently sincerely, that "Mr. Trump seems fine."

Previously: In Bizzaro Interview With Maureen Dowd, Peter Thiel Says Fake Wrestling Is Real And No One Cares About The Supreme Court

On Saturday, state water regulators issued a revised plan based on Governor Jerry Brown's April 1 mandate that everyone statewide cut back on water usage by 25 percent. The new plan takes into account various factors among the hundreds of effected local water agencies, including those that are relatively water rich, those that are considered urban but still divert a large percentage of water to agriculture, and those that have already shown themselves to be better at conservation. In the new tier system, San Francisco's is among the 23 local agencies allowed the most lenient restriction goal of 8 percent.

Regulators have also added a "carrot" for agencies who continue to be good examples in terms of conservation: If an agency exceeds their conservation goal they could become eligible to graduate to a reserved 4-percent tier, with the least amount of restriction. Currently that tier is empty.

As KQED reports, regulators are also sensitive to the "distracting and incorrect soundbites" circulating in the media about agricultural water usage and the perception that the state was giving farmers a "free pass." Water board chair Felicia Marcus is defensive in saying that California's farm belt is facing tighter restrictions, but it's being done via other mechanisms. As she explained recently to the LA Times, the idea that farmers' are consistently taking more than their share is "more perception than reality" — though she does not address the problem raised by many critics that Central Valley agriculture has been over-tapping groundwater reserves and threatening the environment in that way. But this gets into the issue of "water rights," and what are known as junior and senior level rights to state-controlled water, when it comes to farming.

The reality is that entitlement to water is conditional. It depends on how much is flowing. When a river is running low, a farmer with junior rights is not going to be allowed to draw out much. But the water board soon will also begin crimping growers with senior and riparian rights.

"Water rights holders do understand," Marcus says, "although their understanding may be different than the rhetoric they put out there."

But getting back to the newly revised restriction tiers, which were based on several hundred comments, other communities that are facing fewer usage restrictions include some small towns on the North Coast that currently have no shortage of water reserves, and utilities that have fewer than 3,000 water connections/customers. The largest number of agencies statewide, 94, are assigned to the strictest tier, where a 36-percent cutback will be required.

The water board reminds us, too, "In many communities around the state, over half (and up to 80 percent) of total residential water use is for outdoor irrigation during the summer months." And that can not continue.

Compliance assessment (i.e. the crackdown on cities that are ignoring these rules) is going to begin on July 15.

Previously: Governor Explains Why Drought Order Won't Limit Farmers

For the second time in recent years, former San Francisco mayor and current Lieutenant Governor of California Gavin Newsom will run for Governor of California, he announced in a "personal" email sent to supporters (and others, like me) today.

Newsom, who dropped out of the Gov race in 2009 (reportedly, to give Jerry Brown a clear shot at the seat), said in his email that "I’ve never been a fan of pretense or procrastination...So today I’m announcing that I’m creating a committee to run for California Governor in 2018."

The Marin County resident says that "over the next four years, my advocacy and efforts on these issues as your Lieutenant Governor will continue unabated...But the reality of running for Governor - even four years from now - in America’s largest, most diverse state demands that I start raising resources now."

And just a few days after it was announced that his one-time consigliere/sock-puppet Peter Ragone was returning to California! What are the chances!?!

It's unclear if Newsom realizes that being governor would require him to regularly leave his nifty little co-working space in San Francisco for Sacramento, a city he famously referred to as "I just, ugh, God."

Guess he has a couple years to figure that one out. Anyway, here's the full text of his announcement note, including his campaign's nifty little logo.

See all of SFist's Gavin Newsom coverage here

As we mentioned last week, redevelopment funds looked to be on the chopping block in Jerry Brown's budget, and it was. The governor is looking to save $2.7 billion by cuttting off any tax revenue earmarked for redevelopment and not already promised or committed to a bond. Redevelopment agencies statewide are crying onto their spreadsheets today, and it remains unclear to many which projects will be impacted. The Chron mentions Oakland's hope for a new A's ballpark and the planned MacArthur BART transit village as possibly dead in the water, as well as affordable housing on former freeway parcels in S.F., which we assume are those narrow lots along Octavia. Any hope of reviving the the Mid-Market Redevelopment Plan also looks gone.

San Pablo City Councilman Leonard McNeil calls this the "cannibalizing [of] local government." Jerry argues that "the private development that has occurred in redevelopment areas would often have taken place even without the program." We would argue that the huge and economically iffy rental development now in Uptown, Oakland would NEVER have happened without redevelopment money, and it was Jerry himself who struck that deal back when he was mayor. [Chron]

According to a new Field Poll (pdf), California voter give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "the lowest rating for a sitting governor in more than 50 years," trumping Gray Davis as one of California's worst governors. A scant 22 percent of voters approve of Schwarzenegger's job performance, while 70 percent disapprove. Four out of five voters, it seems, say the state "is on the wrong track." But the onetime movie star turned politician isn't the only one with Death Valley-like low approval ratings. CBS 5 reports, "Just 16 percent of respondents approve of the way the Legislature is doing its job." Ouch.

After staying off the radar for months now, Jerry Brown has officially entered the California gubernatorial race. Ta-da. If elected to the position for a second time, Brown will, as SFist commenter MalcoveMagnesia pointed out, "will be older than Reagan was when he became President."

But does he stand a chance? Yes. Yes, he does. In addition to having arguably lackluster competition, Jerry Brown had his official (and controversial) gubernatorial portrait presented incomplete back in the 1970s. Why? So that he could return to finish the job.

You just can't argue with that kind of moonbeanian logic and whimsy.

Check out the big announcement at Jerry Brown's official site.

Attorney General and former Governor Jerry Brown is expected to toss his hat into the gubernatorial ring today, making his candidacy official. Brown had filed to form an exploratory committee in September of last year, but he "resisted making it official while two would-be Republican contenders have openly battled for their party's nod," reported the LA Times. "The winner of that primary contest in June, whether it be former EBay chief Meg Whitman or California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, will have substantial personal wealth with which Brown will have to contend in the general election." Other possible Democrats who either fizzled or never emerged were L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Senator Dianne Feinste.

Newsom's out. Here is the official press release.

It is with great regret I announce today that I am withdrawing from the race for governor of California. With a young family and responsibilities at city hall, I have found it impossible to commit the time required to complete this effort the way it needs to — and should be — done.

This is not an easy decision. But it is one made with the best intentions for my wife, my daughter, the residents of the city and county of San Francisco, and California Democrats.

When I embarked on this campaign in April, my goal was to engage thousands and thousands of Californians dedicated to reforming our broken system and bringing change to Sacramento.

I would like to thank those supporters, volunteers, and donors who have worked so hard on my behalf. I have been humbled by their support and am indebted to their efforts. They represent the spirit of change and determination essential to putting California back on the right track.

I will continue to fight for change and the causes and issues for which I care deeply — universal health care, a cleaner environment, and a green economy for our families, better education for our children, and, of course, equal rights under the law for all citizens.

Looks like Mayor Sam was right.

Also, we think the fact that Jerry Brown was annihilating him in the polls and in fundraising had something with his decision to withdraw from the race, in addition to the new little blessing in his life.

If elected, the former eBay CEO -- a bigot who, at best, considers the homosexuals second-class citizens, or at least that's what she would lead the public to believe -- will cut state spending "by another $15 billion," prune California's current state work force "by 17 percent," and further the stereotype that female Republicans must sport garish blonde hair in order to be successful. Welcome to the race, Meg!

Even with Newsom lapcat Bevan Duffy supporting part of Chris Daly's Renter Relief Package, the mayor still vetoed what might have provided a modicum of financial relief for SF renters. (As opposed to, say, homeowners who have seen some help from the government during the recession.) Ted Gullicksen of the San Francisco Tenant’s Union had this to say about Newsom's veto.

He’s more concerned about getting contributions from the real estate industry for his run for governor than he is about the people of San Francisco being hit by recession ... He has vetoed almost every piece of pro-tenant legislation as a mayor, and opposed every piece when he was a supervisor.

That sounds about right Or whatever.

In other news. Rosie O'Donnell, a New York / Florida lesbian, and Metallica's Lars Ulrich, noted hater or technology and the future, donated loads of money to Newsom's gubernatorial campaign.

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced today that "she is resigning from office at the end of the month, raising speculation that she would focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race," according to AP.

If you recall, Gov. Palin ran with Sen. John McCain during the 2008 election. She is most famous for having an underage daughter who was with-child, a signature updo hairstyle, and providing Tina Fey with choice material.

After the jump, Anderson Cooper 360 has video of Palin's big announcement.