Butch Ware
Butch Ware (Green Party) ran for election for Governor of California. He lost as a write-in in the primary on June 2, 2026.
Ware ran for vice president on a ticket with presidential candidate Jill Stein (G) in the 2024 presidential election. Stein selected Ware as her running mate on August 16, 2024.[1] To read more about Stein's campaign, click here.
Ware is a professor and activist. As of August 2024, he taught History, Black Studies, and Islamic Studies at U.C. Santa Barbara.[2][3]
Biography
Ware was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota, and a doctorate degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.[3][2]
Ware has worked as a professor at Northwestern University and Michigan University. As of August 2024, he worked as an associate professor teaching History, Black Studies, and Islamic Studies at the University of Santa Barbara.[3][2] Ware said his, "teaching focuses on Islamic thought, anti-slavery movements in West Africa and the African Diaspora, and the broader intersection of Race, Religion, and Revolutionary Thought."[2] He is the author of two books: Jihad of the Pen: The Sufi Literature of West Africa (2018) and The Walking Qur'an: Islamic Education, Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa (2014).[4][5]
Elections
2026
See also: California gubernatorial election, 2026
California gubernatorial election, 2026 (June 2 top-two primary)
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Governor of California
Xavier Becerra (D) and Steve Hilton (R) are running in the general election for Governor of California on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Xavier Becerra (D) | |
 | Steve Hilton (R) | |
| ||||
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Nonpartisan primary
Nonpartisan primary election for Governor of California
The following candidates ran in the primary for Governor of California on June 2, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Xavier Becerra (D) | 28.0 | 2,591,857 |
| ✔ | | Steve Hilton (R) | 24.6 | 2,277,318 |
 | Tom Steyer (D) | 22.8 | 2,110,707 | |
 | Chad Bianco (R) | 10.2 | 941,708 | |
 | Katie Porter (D) | 4.4 | 403,908 | |
 | Matt Mahan (D) | 3.5 | 327,537 | |
 | Antonio Villaraigosa (D) | 1.1 | 104,107 | |
 | Tony Thurmond (D) | 0.7 | 63,762 | |
 | Ramsey Robinson (Peace and Freedom Party) | 0.6 | 51,803 | |
 | Betty Yee (D) (Withdrew, still on ballot) | 0.4 | 40,873 | |
 | Eric Swalwell (D) (Withdrew, still on ballot) | 0.3 | 28,164 | |
 | Tim Nelson (R) | 0.3 | 23,712 | |
 | Butch Ware (G) (Write-in) | 0.2 | 22,493 | |
| Randeep Dhillon (R) | 0.2 | 21,937 | ||
 | Barack D. Obama Shaw (D) | 0.2 | 16,716 | |
 | Carolina Buhler (D) | 0.2 | 15,013 | |
 | Leo Zacky (R) | 0.2 | 14,708 | |
| Gretha Solórzano (R) | 0.1 | 12,563 | ||
 | Matthew Levy (D) | 0.1 | 11,059 | |
 | Tom Woodard (L) | 0.1 | 9,328 | |
| Erin Zezulak (D) | 0.1 | 9,251 | ||
 | Louis De Barraicua (D) | 0.1 | 8,851 | |
 | Mohammad Arif (D) | 0.1 | 8,458 | |
| Leo Naranjo IV (R) | 0.1 | 8,099 | ||
 | Nancy Young (No party preference) | 0.1 | 7,012 | |
| James Athans Jr. (R) | 0.1 | 6,633 | ||
| Joseph Cabrera (No party preference) | 0.1 | 6,196 | ||
| David Zickefoose (R) | 0.1 | 5,882 | ||
| Satish Rao (D) | 0.1 | 5,668 | ||
 | Christine Sarmiento (No party preference) | 0.1 | 5,643 | |
| Jon Henderson (No party preference) | 0.1 | 5,589 | ||
| Alicia Lapp (R) | 0.1 | 5,370 | ||
 | Amanda Martin (No party preference) | 0.1 | 5,234 | |
 | Frederic Schultz (No party preference) | 0.1 | 5,230 | |
| Rafael Hernandez (R) | 0.1 | 5,223 | ||
| Scott Shields (D) | 0.1 | 5,043 | ||
 | Derek Grasty (D) | 0.1 | 4,994 | |
| Larry D. Azevedo (D) | 0.1 | 4,675 | ||
| Elaine Culotti (No party preference) | 0.0 | 4,483 | ||
 | Patricia De Luca Basualdo (R) | 0.0 | 4,064 | |
 | Mauro Alberto Orozco (No party preference) | 0.0 | 4,052 | |
 | Raji Rab (D) | 0.0 | 3,606 | |
| Sophia Edum-a-Sam (D) | 0.0 | 3,550 | ||
 | Brent Maupin (No party preference) | 0.0 | 3,132 | |
 | Akinyemi Agbede (D) | 0.0 | 3,037 | |
 | Lewis Herms (No party preference) | 0.0 | 2,995 | |
| Naomi Bar-Lev (No party preference) | 0.0 | 2,744 | ||
 | Daniel Mercuri (No party preference) | 0.0 | 2,667 | |
 | Ché Ahn (R) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 2,419 | |
| Gary Kidgell (D) | 0.0 | 2,415 | ||
 | Joel Jacob (D) | 0.0 | 2,350 | |
 | Thunder Parley (D) | 0.0 | 2,320 | |
| Margaret Trowe (No party preference) | 0.0 | 2,286 | ||
 | LivingForGod DeMott (No party preference) | 0.0 | 2,206 | |
 | Reza Safarnejad (No party preference) | 0.0 | 1,990 | |
| Duane Loynes Jr. (No party preference) | 0.0 | 1,905 | ||
 | Don Grundmann (No party preference) | 0.0 | 1,903 | |
 | Anne Komarovsk (No party preference) | 0.0 | 1,535 | |
| Dawit Kellel (No party preference) | 0.0 | 1,360 | ||
| Sam Sandak (No party preference) | 0.0 | 1,222 | ||
 | Max Fomin (No party preference) | 0.0 | 842 | |
| Lukasz Filinski (No party preference) | 0.0 | 527 | ||
 | Serge Fiankan (No party preference) | 0.0 | 488 | |
| Sean Forbes (No party preference) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 22 | ||
 | Jibri Peavy (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 10 | |
| Dirk Langer (No party preference) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 8 | ||
| Kalid Meky (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 5 | ||
 | Michael Dilger (No party preference) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 1 | |
| Total votes: 9,262,468 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ethan Agarwal (D)
- Toni Atkins (D)
- Ian Charles Calderon (D)
- Sebastian de Warren (D)
- Eleni Kounalakis (D)
- George Slivka (D)
- Michael Younger (D)
- Dylan Colbert (R)
- Sharifah Hardie (R)
- Brandon Jones (R)
- Kyle Langford (R)
- Jon Slavet (R)
- Ebony Taylor (R)
- Nicholas Thompson (L)
- Jesse Alberti (No party preference)
- Javen Allen (No party preference)
- Tony Fitzpatrick (No party preference)
- Leonard Jackson (No party preference)
- Liam Keel (No party preference)
- Belinda Yung (No party preference)
Endorsements
- See also: Our approach to covering endorsements
Butch Ware received the following endorsements and voter guide recommendations. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
2024
Jill Stein (G) selected Ware as her running mate on August 16, 2024. Stein began her campaign for the 2024 presidential election on November 9, 2023. The Green Party selected Stein as its presidential nominee on August 17, 2024, at the Green National Convention. Click the links below to read more about the 2024 presidential election:
- Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2024
- Presidential candidates, 2024
- Green Party presidential nomination, 2024
- Libertarian Party presidential nomination, 2024
- Democratic presidential nomination, 2024
- Republican presidential nomination, 2024
Presidential election, 2024
Candidate/Running mate |
% |
Popular votes |
Electoral votes |
||
| ✔ |
 
| Donald Trump/J.D. Vance (R) |
49.8
|
77,303,568 | 312 |
 
| Kamala D. Harris/Tim Walz (D) |
48.3
|
75,019,230 | 226 | |
 | Jill Stein (multiple running mates) (G) |
0.6
|
861,164 | 0 | |
 
| Robert F. Kennedy Jr./Nicole Shanahan (Independent) |
0.5
|
756,393 | 0 | |
 
| Chase Oliver/Mike ter Maat (L) |
0.4
|
650,138 | 0 | |
 
| Claudia De La Cruz/Karina Garcia (Party for Socialism and Liberation) |
0.1
|
165,191 | 0 | |
 
| Cornel West/Melina Abdullah (Independent) |
0.1
|
79,535 | 0 | |
 
| Peter Sonski/Lauren Onak (American Solidarity Party) |
0.0
|
41,853 | 0 | |
 
| Randall Terry/Stephen E. Broden (Constitution Party) |
0.0
|
41,290 | 0 | |
 
| Shiva Ayyadurai/Crystal Ellis (Independent) |
0.0
|
28,399 | 0 | |
 
| Richard Duncan/Mitchell Preston Bupp (Independent) |
0.0
|
12,805 | 0 | |
 
| Joel Skousen/Rik Combs (Constitution Party) |
0.0
|
12,786 | 0 | |
 
| Jay Bowman/De Bowman (Independent) |
0.0
|
5,971 | 0 | |
| Christopher Garrity/Cody Ballard (Independent) |
0.0
|
5,294 | 0 | |
 
| Joseph Kishore/Jerry White (Socialist Equality Party) |
0.0
|
4,650 | 0 | |
|
| Rachele Fruit (multiple running mates) (Socialist Workers Party) |
0.0
|
4,118 | 0 | |
| Mattie Preston/Shannel Conner (Godliness, Truth, Justice) |
0.0
|
2,857 | 0 | |
 | Lucifer Everylove (no running mate) (Unaffiliated) |
0.0
|
2,653 | 0 | |
 
| Blake Huber/Andrea Denault (Approval Voting Party) |
0.0
|
2,196 | 0 | |
 
| Michael Wood/John G. Pietrowski (Prohibition Party) |
0.0
|
1,144 | 0 | |
 
| Vermin Supreme/Jonathan Realz (Independent) |
0.0
|
914 | 0 | |
 
| Laura Ebke/Trisha Butler (Liberal Party) |
0.0
|
859 | 0 | |
 
| William P. Stodden/Stephanie H. Cholensky (Socialist Party) |
0.0
|
364 | 0 | |
 
| Robert Wells Jr./Tony Jones (Independent) |
0.0
|
359 | 0 | |
| Other write-in votes |
0.2
|
235,673 | 0 | ||
 |
Total votes: 155,239,404
0 states have not been called. |
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Butch Ware did not complete Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Governor of California |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC 3340, "Dr. Jill Stein announces Butch Ware as VP running mate," August 16, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 UC Santa Barbara, "Butch Ware," accessed August 20, 2024
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Stein's campaign website, "Meet Butch," accessed August 20, 2024
- ↑ ProQuest, "Jihad of the Pen: The Sufi Literature of West Africa," May 2020
- ↑ AJIS, "The Walking Qur’an," accessed August 20, 2024
