2022 United States Senate elections in California

• Jerome Horton, former state assemblyman (2000–2006) and former member of the California State Board of Equalization (2009–2019)[5]
• Robert Lucero, political organizer[6]
• Alex Padilla, incumbent U.S. Senator (2021–present) and former Secretary of State of California (2015–2021)[7]
• Douglas Howard Pierce, candidate in 2018[8]

• 
  Former state assemblyman
  Jerome Horton
  from
  Inglewood
• 
  U.S. Senator
  Alex Padilla
  from
  Los Angeles

• Ro Khanna, U.S. Representative for California's 17th congressional district (2017–present) (endorsed Padilla)[9][10]

• James P. Bradley, candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 and for California's 33rd congressional district in 2020[11]
• Elizabeth Heng, candidate for California's 16th congressional district in 2018 and former U.S. House staffer[12][13]
• Mark Meuser, candidate for California Secretary of State in 2018[14]
• Cordie Williams, marine veteran and doctor[15]
• Lily Zhou, independent candidate for San Diego City Council in 2020[16]

• Mike Garcia, U.S. Representative for California's 25th congressional district (2020–present)[17]
• Darrell Issa, U.S. Representative for California's 50th congressional district (2021–present) and California's 49th congressional district (2001–2019)[17]

• Young Kim, U.S. Representative for California's 39th congressional district (2021–present) (running for re-election)[18]
• Michelle Steel, U.S. Representative for California's 48th congressional district (2021–present) (running for re-election)[19]

• James "Henk" Conn, candidate for mayor of Long Beach in 2018[20] [21]

• Daphne Bradford, entrepreneur, grassroots organizer[22]

Incumbent Senator Alex Padilla was appointed to the job in January of 2021 following Kamala Harris's election to the office of Vice President of the United States.[35] Following his appointment, Padilla quickly began to focus on his 2022 re-election campaign, as the fact that he was not been elected to the position means that he has a relatively low profile.[9] Padilla's re-election strategy focuses on advocating for progressive policies and building ties with left-wing organizations that have a poor relationship with California's other Senator, Dianne Feinstein.[9][36] The potential Democratic opponent to Padilla considered most likely to join the race was U.S. Representative Ro Khanna, a staunchly left-wing Democrat who rose to prominence as the co-chair of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign, and who had a loyal base of support from California's Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities.[9][10] On August 9, 2021, Khanna announced that he would be endorsing Padilla for re-election, which was viewed as likely ending any possibility that Padilla would face a serious Democratic opponent.[37] It was noted by the San Francisco Chronicle that it is considered unlikely that Padilla will face any serious Republican opponent, as California's heavily Democratic lean has caused potentially strong candidates, such as U.S. Representatives Mike Garcia and Young Kim, to prefer to remain in their positions rather than launch a long-shot Senate run.[17]