Xavier Becerra, who served as Department of Health and Human Services secretary throughout most of former President Joe Biden’s White House tenure, has announced a California gubernatorial bid.

“From housing to healthcare, childcare to college, working families are facing an affordability crisis. The California Dream is slipping away. I’m running for Governor to fight for that dream, to build a stronger, affordable California for everyone, and to take on bullies who get in our way,” Becerra noted, according to his campaign website.

“We need a leader who will reward hard work, innovation, and endurance again. We need a leader who has rolled up his sleeves as a construction worker, an executive, and a lawmaker. I’m that leader, and as Governor I’ll be ready to build a California that’s rising again,” he asserted.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Nov. 20, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Prior to helming HHS, Becerra served as the Golden State’s attorney general, and before that he spent more than two decades serving as a lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Becerra joins the field of candidates vying to replace current California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is currently serving his second term and is not eligible to run again since the state’s constitution stipulates, “No Governor may serve more than 2 terms.”

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks onstage during the Vogue World: Hollywood Press Announcement at Chateau Marmont on March 26, 2025 in Los Angeles, Calif. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter and California’s current Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis are some of the other candidates jockeying for the job.

Politico reported that at a pre-Oscars party, Harris was asked by someone when she would decide about a gubernatorial bid. Her answer was the end of the summer, according to two people with knowledge of the talk, the outlet reported.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has told allies that she will decide by the end of the summer whether to mount a bid for the role, a source in her political orbit confirmed to Fox News Digital.

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Harris is mulling whether to seek the governorship next year, the presidency in 2028, or a position outside elected office, according to an individual with knowledge of her deliberations, the New York Times reported.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report