Big-Name Pols Running For Governor In 2026

 by Arjun Singh via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The United States will have many elections held on Nov. 3, 2026—for all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, one-third of seats in the U.S. Senate, and elections to dozens of state legislatures and local offices. Some of the biggest races will be for various states’ governor’s offices, which have attracted the candidacies of famous politicians in politically significant states.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz (L) and Gov. Tony Evers (D-Wis.) (R) listen to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) (C) speak at a rally in the KI Convention Center to kick off their “Driving Forward” Blue Wall Bus Tour in Green Bay, Wis., on Oct. 14, 2024. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

In every state of the union, the governor is the chief executive and vested with executive authority, although his or her exact powers vary and depend upon state constitutions. Usually, the governor directs state agencies, vetoes bills, and is the state’s leading political figure. Historically, many governors have used their public esteem to get elected to other high offices, such as the U.S. Senate or the presidency.

In 2026, 39 governor’s offices—36 in states and three in territories—will be up for statutory elections, with some incumbent officeholders being term-limited from running again. Given the prestige of serving as governor, several high-ranking political figures have announced their candidacies for these posts.

Here are the biggest gubernatorial races to watch in 2026.

Arizona

In the Grand Canyon State, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-Ariz.) is running for re-election and is likely to win the Democratic primary. Two potential rivals, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes—both Democrats—are running for re-election to their current offices.

However, the state is not heavily Democratic and, in the most recent statewide elections for the presidency and U.S. Senate in 2024, it voted for the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, and Democratic nominee Ruben Gallego, respectively. Most political observers consider the race a “toss-up.”

In the Republican primary, the two declared candidates are Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson, who ran for governor in 2022 but lost the Republican primary contest to Kari Lake. Biggs is a former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a right-wing faction of the House Republican Conference that regularly attracts notoriety. He also previously served as president of the Arizona Senate.

In Republican nomination contests, the endorsement of Trump is often the decisive factor, as many GOP voters have been following his directions on how to vote. In this case, the president has endorsed both Biggs and Robson for the nomination.

Statewide elections in Arizona are always closely watched, as the state is competitive during presidential elections and the results may indicate how voters there will vote for the next president. The primary will be held on Aug. 4, 2026.

California

The Golden State has the largest economy and population of any in the country, with nearly 40 million people. As a result, the governor of California is always a nationally recognized political figure. Because of the state’s heavy Democratic lean, the governor is often considered a potential candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. This is the case with incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, who is term-limited from running again.

Because the office is high-profile, many leading Democrats have joined the governor’s race, making it the most competitive across all 2026 gubernatorial elections. California uses a “jungle primary” system, in which all candidates of all parties run on the same ballot and the top two candidates (regardless of party) run in the general election.

The impressive roster of Democratic candidates includes Toni Atkins, former speaker of the California State Assembly and former president pro tempore of the California Senate—the first person in 150 years to have held both offices; Xavier Becerra, former U.S. secretary of health and human services and former attorney general of California; Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis; Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction; Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles and former assembly speaker; and former Rep. Katie Porter, who was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in California in 2024.

The race has been equally notable for the candidates who were considering running but either publicly declined or withdrew their candidacies. The most notable such person was former Vice President Kamala Harris, who previously served as a U.S. senator from California as well as the state’s attorney general, and whom many had predicted would be a clear frontrunner if she chose to run. Similarly, incumbent state Attorney General Rob Bonta, former Sen. Laphonza Butler, and California Treasurer Fiona Ma, all Democrats, also declined to run, with Ma suspending her gubernatorial candidacy.

The primary will be on June 2, 2026.

Florida

The Sunshine State has become the center of Republican politics following Trump’s emergence on the national political scene, being the site of his primary personal residence at Mar-a-Lago. Once a presidential battleground state, Florida is now considered safely Republican, with the governor of Florida attracting the same presidential speculation among Republicans that the governor of California receives among Democrats.

Florida’s incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who won a large re-election victory in 2022 and ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is term-limited from seeking re-election. Trump has endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who is currently the frontrunner among declared candidates in both polling and endorsements. He has also been endorsed by DeSantis’s predecessor as governor, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

However, Donalds could face a primary challenge from Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, who gained a big reputation among the state’s conservatives during her husband’s gubernatorial term. Casey DeSantis has not yet declared her candidacy, although she has publicly expressed interest. Many other prominent Republicans in Florida, such as former Rep. Matt Gaetz and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, have declined to run.

On the Democratic side, the likeliest candidate is former Rep. David Jolly, who served in Congress from 2014 to 2017 as a Republican but switched parties in 2018 and has since become a critic of Trump. The primary will be on Aug. 25, 2026.

Georgia

The Peach State is another battleground state in presidential elections, and its statewide races attract a great deal of attention. Although the statewide race for senator, in which incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) is running for re-election, is attracting a great deal of attention, the race for governor of Georgia is equally significant. Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, is term-limited.

For the Republican nomination, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and state Attorney General Chris Carr are running. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), one of the state’s most prominent and controversial politicians, has declined to run.

On the Democratic side, the former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, is seeking her party’s nomination, as are two Georgia state legislators, state Sen. Jason Esteves and state Rep. Derrick Jackson. Stacey Abrams—former minority leader of the state House who was the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in 2018 and 2022, both times being defeated by Kemp—has also suggested that she may run again. The primary will be on May 26, 2026.

Michigan

The Wolverine State is yet another presidentially competitive state holding a gubernatorial election in 2026. As with all such states, Trump won it in 2024’s presidential election. Incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) is term-limited and cannot run again.

The Democratic nomination contest has many high-profile elected officials in the state running: Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. State Attorney General Dana Nessel has suggested that she may run, as has former Rep. Andrew Levin. Several high-profile Democrats have also declined to run, such as former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who previously was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, but has since moved to Michigan.

Currently, polling shows that Benson leads the whole field by a wide margin, with the support of 65 percent of definite voters.

On the Republican side, the primary is a four-way contest between Rep. John James (R-Mich.), state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, former state Attorney General Mike Cox, and former state House Speaker Tom Leonard. Also running is William Null, a construction worker who was federally indicted for participating in a plot to kidnap Whitmer in 2020 but was later acquitted.

A potential candidate is Dick DeVos—former CEO of Amway, GOP nominee for governor in the 2006 election, and husband of former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos—who has not ruled out a bid. The primary will be on Aug. 4, 2026.

Wisconsin

In America’s Dairyland, also known as the Badger State, incumbent Gov. Tony Evers (D-Wis.) upset the race by announcing that he would not run for re-election to a third term. The state is presidentially competitive and, thus, its statewide races at all levels—most recently, for the U.S. Senate and for the state Supreme Court—have attracted nationwide attention.

So far, only Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez has announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination. Others who have expressed interest are former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, and state Attorney General Josh Kaul.

On the Republican side, no major candidate has yet to emerge, although Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) appears prepared to announce his candidacy. The primary election will be held on Aug. 11, 2026.

Pennsylvania

Finally, in the Keystone State—considered the most important state for presidential elections—incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, is running for re-election in 2026.

Shapiro is the heavy favorite to win the race, and no other Democrat has entered the contest. Neither has any Republican candidate, with several of the state’s political leaders expressly declining to run. These include Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), who was endorsed by Trump to run for governor but opted to run for re-election to the House instead, as well as state Attorney General Dave Sunday. Likely, the leading candidate for the party’s nomination will be Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity.

The primary in Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race will be held on May 19, 2026.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/big-name-politicians-are-running-governor-2026-heres-list

In Memoriam: Jams R. Doty

 Think happy thoughts!

Stanford neurosurgeon and neuroscientist Dr. James Doty is sharing his foolproof process for bringing ideas and intentions into actuality.

Appearing on Mel Robbins’ podcast, Doty explained that taking specific steps toward manifestation can hardwire the brain into believing that good things are not only possible but probable — making them more likely to actually happen.

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Something of a new age buzzword of late, “manifestation” is defined as the translation of an idea into something tangible.TikTok/melrobbins

Something of a new age buzzword of late, “manifestation” is the translation of an idea into something tangible by utilizing the law of attraction, the belief that positive thoughts give way to positive outcomes and negative thoughts pave the way to a dreary life condition.

Acolytes include celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, who claims that being cast in Steven Spielberg’s film “The Color Purple” was a direct result of constantly visualizing herself in the role, and Drake, who credits the power of “repetitive thought” and “extreme manifesting” for his success, including the specific house he lives in and the Rolls-Royce he drives.

Psychologically speaking, manifestation is the practice of concentrating thoughts, energy and emotion to bring something into being, from belief to reality and desire to definition.

For some, the concept seems too “woo-woo” — rooted in superstition rather than fact or science. But Doty, an actual brain scientist, insists there is something scientific to back it up.

To actually make manifesting work, though, you can’t just be satisfying with thinking your hopes and dreams into reality — you have to take specific actions to link your brain up with real-world results.

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Doty shared that using all of your sensory organs helps intentions ’embed’ in the brain.ANGEL LARA FOTO – stock.adobe.com
The first step is to write down the thing you want to happen in your life.

“If you have an intention, you take a pencil, you write it down. You’re actually doing something physical, tactile,” said Doty.

“Then you read it silently, then you read it aloud. Then you visualize that, and you do that over and over and over again.”

According to the doc, taking a thought from mind to page to mantra leads to activation and embedding.

“You want to use all of your sensory organs as much as possible to embed that intention. So by writing it down, reading it aloud, by reading it silently, by visualizing it, that creates the process where this gets embedded into your subconscious.

“And what happens is, once you get this embedded, it activates different parts of your brain.”

In terms of the specific parts of the brain that are activated by manifestation, Doty cites the default mode network. Responsible for daydreaming, this network is internally focused and self-referential.

“It’s where you create the narrative of who you are or what you want,” he said.

Robbins noted that habitual negative self-talk, limiting narratives and a lack of belief in the possibility of success can lead to rumination and create a defeatist streak in the default mode network. However, both maintained that we can reprogram that network through the power of the mind.

“It’s available 24/7, and it doesn’t matter what’s happened to you before. So many people get fixated on ‘well, I don’t deserve this because of.’ We all deserve it,” said Doty.

“Once this gets embedded, and you create the narrative of who you want to be or how you see yourself, what you’re doing is you’re creating salience. And once something is salient, what you’re basically saying is, this deserves my attention.”

He likens the relationship between the brain and salience to a filing cabinet and a file marked “important stuff.”

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Doty insists that despite the woo-woo reputation of manifestation, its efficacy is based on the very real science of brain power.Getty Images
“Once that is defined as something important to you, that activates your attention network so that you cognitively focus your attention on whatever that intention is,” he said.

Doty uses the analogy of a bloodhound to paint the picture of the role of the attention network.

“Once that attention is focused, it starts looking around through all the possibilities in your environment. And as soon as it identifies one, then your executive control network is activated, which, in some ways, is the thing that chases down what is in your subconscious.”

Doty insists that despite the woo-woo reputation of manifestation, its efficacy is based on the very real science of brain power.

“There is no magic here. This is fundamentally basic neuroscience, and it’s something that we all have the ability to master.”

https://nypost.com/2025/01/17/health/neurosurgeon-explains-how-to-manifest-your-goals-with-science/

The Rise of Luigism

 Wesley LePatner was a senior managing director at Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager. She was CEO of the firm’s Real Estate Income Trust—a $53 billion portfolio. She was also a mother of two, a philanthropist, and an engaged member of New York’s Jewish community. On Monday, she was shot and killed in the lobby of her midtown Manhattan workplace, one of four victims of Shane Tamura’s murder spree.

There’s some evidence that her killer was targeting the National Football League, which shares an office building with Blackstone. But within hours, it was clear that his motive was irrelevant to the hordes now celebrating LePatner’s execution online. Across Reddit, Facebook, X, and other social media platforms, users—many anonymous, and some displaying transgender or Palestinian flag emojis—seized on the executive’s death as symbolic retribution. Her position at the investment firm became a license for cruelty. Commenters mocked her success, dismissed her philanthropy as sinister, and portrayed her employer as an unmitigated force for evil. The message was unmistakable: her death was something to relish.

This grotesque display is part of a broader trend of class rage and Internet nihilism that justifies violence by turning innocent victims into scapegoats for moral fury. The permission structure for such ghoulishness is now fully operational. What were once the disturbing mutterings of the fringe are now public, performative, and proudly cruel.

A political movement is testing its power. Call it Luigism.

Invoking Luigi Mangione—the Ivy League–educated radical who allegedly assassinated UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December—Luigism is the idea that violence is a legitimate response to the perceived injustices of capitalism. If the victim represents wealth, whiteness, pro-Israel Judaism, or institutional power, the killing can be framed as justified, or even glamorous.

Mangione has yet to stand trial, but he’s already been canonized. Social media is awash in fan art. Influencers praise his good looks. Merch with the slogan “Mama, I’m in Love with a Criminal” is available for purchase. A “Free Luigi” community has tens of thousands of members. More than $1 million has been crowdsourced for his legal defense, and according to polling, more than 40 percent of voters under 30 say Thompson’s killing was “acceptable.”

What makes Luigism dangerous is its memeified brutality. Innocence doesn’t matter. Context doesn’t matter. What matters is what the victim represents, and whether their death can be hash-tagged as justice. It is a worldview built on scapegoats and sacrifices.

Luigism isn’t confined to digital cesspools like TikTok, Tumblr, or Twitch. Its logic is now creeping into mainstream institutions. Recall the words of Senator Elizabeth Warren following Thompson’s assassination: “Violence is never the answer,” she said, “but people can only be pushed so far.” That equivocation is a tell: when violence is seen as the inevitable outburst of legitimate grievance, condemnation becomes conditional.

The most prominent political figure to flirt with Luigism is arguably Zohran Mamdani, the man most likely to be New York City’s next mayor. One of Mamdani’s top aides lauded the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killer. And Mamdani himself has called the NYPD “wicked and corrupt,” argued that “queer liberation means defund the police,” and pledged to disband the department’s Strategic Response Group—the very unit that responded to Monday’s shooting.

Pair that with the millennial socialist’s position that billionaires should not exist and private property ought to be abolished, and his defense of chants to “globalize the Intifada.” It’s all rooted in the same moral arithmetic that for others justifies violence based on identity and class status. Mamdani doesn’t explicitly endorse murder, of course, and he condemned Monday’s killings. But the radical politics he champions seem to have made it thinkable to others.

Luigism’s hatred of institutions like Blackstone is also intellectually dishonest. Activists accuse the firm of driving evictions, inflating rents, and worsening racial inequality. But a recent study by UC Berkeley’s Konhee Chang found the opposite: when corporate landlords like Blackstone acquire homes in suburban neighborhoods, rents tend to fall and racial segregation declines. In many areas, Blackstone’s market activity has made once-white suburbs more accessible to minority renters. But none of that matters when the goal is symbolic revenge.

There’s an anti-Semitic throughline, too. The same online mobs that celebrated LePatner’s killing cheered the targeted firebombing of Jewish Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s home and the assassination of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C.

This tendency is rooted in the Left’s anti-whiteness. But explicit anti-whiteness would implicate the very people who subscribe to Luigism—demanding guilt, confession, and solidarity from within. Anti-Semitism, by contrast, points outward. It offers a ready-made villain: successful, visible, and linked to global institutions. And unlike whiteness, Jewishness can be conditionally forgiven—so long as the Jew disavows the Jewish state and tradition. It is a resentment that feels clarifying and righteous to those eager to collapse politics into vengeance.

Wesley LePatner wasn’t murdered for her politics, her work, her wealth, her ethnicity, or her philanthropy. But those things led a growing contingent of nihilists to celebrate her death. That’s the dark power of Luigism: it doesn’t need clear or coherent motives to inflict serious damage on the social fabric.

Jesse Arm is the vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/manhattan-shooting-wesley-lepatner-blackstone-luigi-mangione

Strategy stock falls despite raking in $10bn amid corporate treasury craze

 

Strategy’s stock fell in after-hours trading despite the company announcing a $10 billion profit in the second quarter.

Its total market capitalisation now stands at just under $113 billion, and shares of the company are up 34% this year.

The 11-figure profit comes on the heels of a near $6 billion loss in the first quarter of 2025, mounting pressure from circling short-sellers, and growing competition from other firms jumping on the latest crypto craze: corporate treasuries.

These are firms that accumulate Bitcoin — and more recently altcoins — to beef up their balance sheets, sometimes with no other business model in mind.

Those firms pose a significant threat to Strategy, which has seemingly foregone its commercial interests as a business software enterprise in favour of its endeavours as a Bitcoin treasury.

“Strategy’s results will be primarily on their Bitcoin strategy, as the legacy software business has been significantly outgrown by the treasury strategy and has little overall relevance,” Alexandre Schmidt, analyst at CoinShares, told DL News.

One example is Metaplanet, a former hotel budget operator-turned-Bitcoin treasury company that hails from Japan. The firm sold off the majority of its property and used the proceeds to buy Bitcoin in bulk. Now, Metaplanet sits in seventh place globally for most Bitcoin held by a corporation.

The trend, initiated by Strategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor back in August 2020, has now spilled into other cryptocurrencies. Ethereum treasury companies are cropping up, as are firms adding XRP to their balance sheets. Even Binance’s BNB is now held as a so-called strategic asset.

Strategy now holds more than 3% of Bitcoin’s total supply. That amounts to 628,791 Bitcoin, worth about $74 billion.

That staggering figure isn’t enough for Saylor, however. The firm plans on raising another $4.2 billion to buy more Bitcoin by way of their newly unveiled STRC offering.

Saylor’s strategy has spurred an entire industry of copycats looking to mirror the scheme — and the effect it’s had on the stock price.

Funding models

So how does Strategy fund its relentless Bitcoin buys?

First, convertible debt. The idea is simple: borrow now, buy Bitcoin, and let the rising value of both Bitcoin and the company’s shares do the rest. If the stock keeps climbing, the debt converts to equity — and the company never has to pay it back in cash.

Second, preferred shares. These are designed to attract yield-hungry investors without diluting existing shareholders too much.

Preferreds typically pay a fixed dividend and sit above common shares in the capital stack, giving investors a cushion if things go sideways.

Critics, such as legendary short-seller Jim Chanos, have called them “complete financial gibberish.”

Lastly, Strategy deploys at-the-market equity facilities, also known as ATMs. These allow Saylor to drip-feed small amounts of stock directly into the market, mostly when the price looks strong. Still, the model isn’t without risk.

Coinbase analysts have said the model presents systemic risk to the cryptocurrency market, while macro analyst Noelle Acheson dubbed it an “alarming” trend.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/strategy-stock-falls-despite-raking-082755649.html

Trump reaffirms support for Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara

 U.S. President Donald Trump has reaffirmed support for Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, saying a Moroccan autonomy plan for the territory was the sole solution to the disputed region, state news agency MAP said on Saturday.

The long-frozen conflict pits Morocco, which considers the territory as its own, against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks an independent state there.

Trump at the end of his first term in office recognised the Moroccan claims to Western Sahara, which has phosphate reserves and rich fishing grounds, as part of a deal under which Morocco agreed to normalise its relations with Israel.

His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, made clear in April that support for Morocco on the issue remained U.S. policy, but these were Trump's first quoted remarks on the dispute during his second term.

"I also reiterate that the United States recognises Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and supports Morocco's serious, credible and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute," MAP quoted Trump as saying in a message to Morocco's King Mohammed VI.

"Together we are advancing shared priorities for peace and security in the region, including by building on the Abraham Accords, combating terrorism and expanding commercial cooperation," Trump said.

As part of the Abraham Accords signed during Trump's first term, four Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel after U.S. mediation.

n June this year, Britain became the third permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to back an autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty for the territory after the U.S. and France.

Algeria, which has recognised the self-declared Sahrawi Republic, has refused to take part in roundtables convened by the U.N. envoy to Western Sahara and insists on holding a referendum with independence as an option.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/trump-reaffirms-support-moroccos-sovereignty-170223782.html