Bio
- The Secretary of State's certified list prints her party preference as Democratic and her ballot designation as Lieutenant Governor of California, and does not mark her as an incumbent.S1
- In the Southern California News Group questionnaire she gave her age as 60, said she lives in San Francisco, listed her current job title as Lieutenant Governor of California, recorded United States Ambassador to Hungary as the only other political position she has held, and gave eleniforca.com as her campaign website.S9
- The Los Angeles Times reports she was elected lieutenant governor in 2018 and reelected in 2022 and is serving her final term in an office that it describes as largely ceremonial and that includes seats on the University of California Board of Regents and the California State University Board of Trustees. It reports she holds a master's degree in business administration from UC Berkeley, spent 18 years working for AKT Development, the business her father founded, and eventually became its president, and that she was appointed United States ambassador to Hungary in 2009.S5
- Her campaign says she is a native Californian and a mother of two and the first woman elected lieutenant governor of California, that she led AKT Development through its largest period of growth and that the affordable middle class communities it developed house more than 200,000 families in the Sacramento region, that she was appointed ambassador to Hungary in 2010, and that she chairs the State Lands Commission while serving as a voting member of the UC Board of Regents and the CSU Board of Trustees. These are the campaign's own claims.S15
- CalMatters and LAist report that she came to politics by way of fundraising, that she was a major spender in Democratic politics in the early 2000s, that she is the daughter of Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopolous, and that as a regent and a trustee she has regularly voted against proposed tuition increases.S4S3S6
Record in office
- She has held the lieutenant governor's office since 2019 after winning in 2018 and being reelected in 2022. The office presides over the Senate, and by virtue of it she holds seats on the University of California Board of Regents and the California State University Board of Trustees and chairs the State Lands Commission. She has not served in the Legislature, so there is no legislative voting record for her.S5S3S15
- On tuition: CalMatters, LAist and the Press Democrat editorial all report that she regularly voted against proposed tuition increases as a regent and as a trustee.S3S6S10
- On lands and energy: CalMatters reports that she is an advocate for offshore wind development as a member of the State Lands Commission, and the Press Democrat credits her with advancing environmental priorities that included banning offshore oil drilling.S4S10
- Business record: the Los Angeles Times reports she spent 18 years at AKT Development and became its president. Her campaign says she led the company through its largest period of growth and that its communities house more than 200,000 families in the Sacramento region. CalMatters reports she entered Democratic politics as a major donor and that her fundraising connections helped secure the ambassadorship to Hungary, and that Phil Angelides, a treasurer from 1999 to 2007, also came out of AKT.S5S15S4
- Ambassadorship: her campaign says President Obama appointed her United States Ambassador to Hungary in 2010. The Los Angeles Times reports the appointment was in 2009. The two accounts differ on the year.S15S5
- In 2023 she launched a campaign for governor, dropped out, and announced in August 2025 that she would run for treasurer instead. CalMatters reports she has since argued that her experience as a developer and her technical orientation make the treasurer's office a better fit than a diplomatic role, and that her campaign did not respond to its requests for an interview for its May 2026 article.S5S4
Positions
Taxes
-
The treasurer does not write the budget or set tax rates, and she proposes no tax changes. In her questionnaire she says she would use the office as a bully pulpit, as she says she has as lieutenant governor, to speak out for fiscal discipline and responsible budgeting, and names the structural budget gap, the debt service to revenue ratio, reserve levels, revenue volatility and credit rating outlooks as the indicators she would monitor. Her one numeric target is to keep the state's debt service to general fund revenue ratio at or below 6 percent while preserving and improving California's credit rating.S9
Housing
-
She says nearly two decades as a housing developer gave her a practical understanding of how capital markets, public financing tools and local land use policies affect housing delivery, and that as lieutenant governor she supported policies that expand housing supply. She says she would oversee CDLAC and CTCAC and direct billions of dollars toward building, preserving and financing affordable housing and homeownership programs, and that the treasurer's office could partner directly with local governments to move projects from approval to construction faster, because in her words nothing drives up the cost of housing construction more than red tape and time delays. She also says that as a member of all three higher education boards she spearheaded approval of more than 60,000 new college housing beds. The Press Democrat editorial reports her stated agenda also includes maintaining conservative debt ratios, streamlining bond financing and revising the state's low income housing tax credits.S9S7S15S10
Cost of living
-
She links housing supply, transportation costs and savings programs to household budgets, saying bond financing for transit, rail and active transportation would connect communities to jobs and schools, reduce household transportation costs and advance the state's climate goals. Her voter guide statement says she would invest in the financial future of children and families.S7S2
Transportation
-
She calls high speed rail an investment in the future of California but says it will only get done if the numbers add up, and that she would work with all stakeholders to push costs down and speed up the timeline. She says she would prioritize bond financing for public transit, rail, clean transportation and active transportation projects.S9S7
Water
-
Her campaign website and questionnaire answers set out no water policy position. The treasurer sits on financing authorities that fund water projects, and her published platform does not address water supply, storage or conveyance.S15S9
Education
-
She says the treasurer's office administers some of the state's most important programs for long term financial security and that she would raise awareness of CalSavers, CalKIDS, ScholarShare 529 and CalABLE, particularly for working families, people with disabilities and communities she says have been historically excluded from wealth building. She points to the more than 60,000 college housing beds she says were approved while she sat on the higher education boards and to regularly voting against proposed tuition increases.S9S3S6
Health care
-
Her voter guide statement says she would defend health care. Her campaign materials set out no health care proposal, and the treasurer does not set health policy. The office's connection to health care runs through bond and infrastructure financing, through programs such as CalABLE for people with disabilities, and through the pension and investment boards she would join.S2S9S15
Homelessness
-
Her campaign materials and questionnaire answers set out no homelessness proposal. The treasurer chairs or sits on boards that finance housing, including CDLAC and CTCAC, so the office's connection to homelessness spending is indirect. CalMatters reported in May 2026 that both leading Democratic candidates wanted the state to simplify the application process for affordable housing subsidies.S9S15S4
Environment and energy
-
She told the Los Angeles Times she would favor greater investment in clean energy while balancing that against the need to protect investment returns for public employees' retirement funds. The Press Democrat reports that as lieutenant governor she used her seats on state lands and university bodies to advance environmental and education priorities including banning offshore oil drilling, and CalMatters reports she advocates offshore wind development as a member of the State Lands Commission. On divestment she told the Press Democrat that if an investment poses clear long term financial and systemic risk it may be appropriate to reduce exposure or divest, but only when grounded in rigorous financial analysis and aligned with fiduciary duty, and that she does not support sacrificing returns for purely symbolic purposes.S5S10S4
Public safety
-
Her published materials set out no public safety proposal. Public safety is not among the treasurer's duties, and the office's touchpoints are bond financing for local facilities and the state's fiscal capacity.S15S2
Immigration
-
Her voter guide statement says she would defend immigrant communities and describes her as the daughter of Greek immigrants who grew up believing in the California dream, and says she would stand up to what she calls Donald Trump's attacks on the state. She sets out no immigration policy proposal, which is not an area the treasurer administers.S2S15
Other
-
Transparency: she says she would treat transparency as a core management function and build a public facing California Balance Sheet dashboard showing cash holdings in the Pooled Money Investment Account, bond debt, pension assets and major investments, with metrics for cost of borrowing, debt per capita, investment returns against benchmarks and fees, plus short quarterly updates in plain language and regular public briefings. Digital assets: she says her priorities would be protecting consumers and public funds and maintaining the fiscal discipline that keeps the state's credit rating strong, that she would work with regulators and industry on clear rules of the road, and that she will not put public funds at risk chasing novelty but will not let California miss out on new types of investment if they are sound, secure and legal. Timing of state payments: she says she would invest in systems to streamline disbursement of bond funded and state allocated dollars administered through the financing authority the office chairs, push for standardized timelines and clear public benchmarks for fund releases so local governments can plan, and strengthen coordination between the treasurer's office, state agencies and local partners to catch delays before they stall projects. CalMatters reports she also supports recent treasurer initiatives that direct state funds toward renewable energy projects and administer the CalSavers retirement savings program for workers whose employers offer no pension or retirement account, and that she expressed enthusiasm for a 2026 bill that would require state banks and other financial institutions to lend more in lower income neighborhoods and communities of color.S9S7S4
Endorsements
- The CalMatters and LAist voter guides list the California Labor Federation, Teamsters California and the National Union of Healthcare Workers as her key endorsements.S3S6
- Her campaign endorsement page lists national leaders including Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer, Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla and Pete Buttigieg, and state leaders including Governor Gavin Newsom, Treasurer Fiona Ma, Controller Malia Cohen, Attorney General Rob Bonta and former Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins.S16
- The same page lists labor organizations including the California Labor Federation, Teamsters California, Unite Here Local 11 and Unite Here California, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, UAW Region 6, the International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 8, the California Federation of Teachers, the California Teachers Association, the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians, the UFCW Western States Council, CWA District 9, SEIU Local 87, the California School Employees Association, the California Professional Firefighters, UA Local 250, the California State Association of Electrical Workers, the San Mateo Labor Council and the Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers.S16
- It also lists members of Congress, current and retired state legislators, Democratic clubs, community leaders and local officials, and organizations including Equality California, the Sierra Club, Reproductive Freedom for All, California YIMBY, California Environmental Voters and the California Council for Affordable Housing.S16
- The Press Democrat printed an endorsement editorial from the Mercury News and East Bay Times editorial boards on October 2, 2026 that supported Kounalakis, saying her background across state politics, international affairs and private industry suits the office and that she has already operated at the highest levels of state government. The editorial says she is backed by the California Democratic Party. It is an editorial board endorsement and not a finding of fact about the candidates.S10
Funding
Total raised:
$4,836,798 S3S11S13
Cash on hand:
$2,049,283
As of:
September 19, 2026
Top funders
-
Eleni Kounalakis
$572,142
Cycle total of personal contributions and loans from the candidate to her committees, reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA, which records these transactions as originating from a personal rather than a campaign account
-
California Professional Firefighters Ballot Issues Committee
$39,200
Cycle total of contributions to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
California Teachers Association / Association for Better Citizenship
$39,200
Cycle total of contributions to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Professional Engineers in California Government PECG PAC
$39,200
Cycle total of contributions to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Ronald Conway
$39,200
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Association of California School Administrators PAC
$38,800
Cycle total of contributions to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Richard J Saker
$37,800
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Raise the Wage California Sponsored by the California State Council of Service Employees and Its Affiliates
$34,400
Cycle total of contributions to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
California Association of Highway Patrolmen PAC
$32,400
Cycle total of contributions to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Cal Fire Local 2881 Small Contributor PAC
$32,400
Cycle total of contributions to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
The total raised and the cash on hand here are the totals the candidate's own committee, KOUNALAKIS FOR TREASURER 2026; ELENI (Cal-Access filer ID 1483008), reported for January 1 through September 19, 2026, with the last report filed September 24, 2026. The committee reported $78,700.58 in contributions and $118,841.71 in expenditures in the July 1 to September 19, 2026 period, and $6,966,996.42 in total expenditures for January 1 through September 19, 2026. The donor amounts are cycle totals for the 2025 to 2026 election cycle republished by Transparency USA from Cal-Access filings, so their window is longer than the committee totals above and a donor total can exceed the period total; the largest entry is the candidate's own money, which Transparency USA records as personal contributions and loans rather than campaign contributions. Transparency USA's cycle totals for the same committee are larger than the period figures above because they cover the whole 2025 to 2026 cycle: $9,006,210 in total contributions and $2,098,350 in cash on hand. Nothing in these donor entries is an independent expenditure. The Secretary of State's contributor data as published by CalMatters and updated October 9, 2026 shows about $813,000 in large donor contributions to this committee for the general election period, excluding donors whose contributions total less than $100, and about $79,900 in outside spending supporting her, made up of $75,000 from Advance California, sponsored by the California Apartment Association, and $4,890 from GrowSF Voter Guide. CalMatters reports no outside spending against her. Spending by separate committees that support or oppose candidates is reported on a different schedule and is not included in the committee totals above.
Statement summary
In her statement in the official voter guide, Kounalakis says that as the daughter of Greek immigrants she grew up believing in the California dream, that she is a businesswoman, a financial expert and the Lieutenant Governor, and that she is running for treasurer to responsibly manage California's finances, strengthen the economy and make smart investments that create opportunity. She says that as treasurer she will build more affordable housing through public finance, invest in the financial future of children and families, defend health care and immigrant communities and protect pensions for working Californians. She says that before running for office she spent nearly two decades as a builder, developing housing communities and financing infrastructure in the private sector, and that as lieutenant governor she helped create clean energy jobs, managed public lands and voted to deliver more than 60,000 new college housing beds. She says she is the only Democrat in the race and will stand up to what she calls Donald Trump's attacks on the state, and says she is supported by Governor Gavin Newsom, Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and, in her words, hundreds of thousands of teachers, firefighters, first responders, health care workers and union members across California.S2
What this could mean for your household
- Renters and first time buyers: she says she would oversee CDLAC and CTCAC and direct billions of dollars toward building, preserving and financing affordable housing and homeownership programs, and that the treasurer's office could partner with local governments to move projects from approval to construction faster to cut the red tape and delays she says drive up construction costs.S9
- Workers whose employer offers no retirement plan: the treasurer's office administers CalSavers. She says she would raise awareness of CalSavers alongside CalKIDS, ScholarShare 529 and CalABLE, particularly for working families and people with disabilities.S9
- Public employees and retirees: the treasurer sits on the CalPERS and CalSTRS boards. She says she is running to protect pensions for working Californians and describes pension and investment oversight as part of the job.S2S9S5
- Households paying for state debt: she says one measurable target is to hold the state's debt service to general fund revenue ratio at or below 6 percent, which she frames as keeping California's credit rating strong and its borrowing costs low. Debt service is paid from the same General Fund that pays for schools, health care and public safety.S9
- Transit riders and drivers: she says she would prioritize bond financing for public transit, rail and active transportation projects to reduce household transportation costs.S7S9
Campaign website
Bio
- The Secretary of State's certified list prints her party preference as Republican and her ballot designation as Retired Business Executive, and does not mark her as an incumbent.S1
- In the Southern California News Group questionnaire she gave her age as 66, said she lives in Los Altos, listed her current job title as Retired, recorded no other political positions held, and gave Hawksforus.com as her campaign website.S8
- LAist and CalMatters report that she has no experience in elected office, which they say she touts, and describe her as a Silicon Valley retiree who most recently served on the executive team at Sacred Heart Schools, an Atherton Catholic school, and as a local Republican Party activist. They report that she says that background and her politics give her the skills and independence to provide a check on state government.S6S3
- The Los Angeles Times reports she is a retired businesswoman and a Republican activist who has served as president of Palo Alto Republican Women Federated, has been involved with the California Federation of Republican Women and gathered signatures for the Republican led voter identification measure, Proposition 39, and that she spent two decades as an executive assistant at Sacred Hearts School in Atherton before retiring in 2021, after earlier work in human resources and office manager roles. The Los Angeles Times description of the school role as an executive assistant differs from LAist's description of an executive team role. Her campaign website describes her only as a retired business executive and a budget and operations leader and does not describe the position, employer dates or titles; the Press Democrat reports the campaign declined its requests for her resume.S5S6S17S10
- Her campaign says she is a mother and not a career politician, that she has spent her working life managing budgets, fixing broken operations and answering for results, and that the treasurer's office manages roughly $3 trillion in annual banking transactions, oversees the state investment pool, issues and services bond debt and chairs the boards that finance housing and infrastructure. These are the campaign's own claims.S17
Record in office
- She has not held elected office. Her questionnaire records no other political positions held, the certified list does not mark her as an incumbent, and CalMatters describes her lack of elected experience as something she touts proudly. There is no legislative, council or board voting record for her.S8S1S3
- Political activity: the Los Angeles Times reports she has served as president of Palo Alto Republican Women Federated, has been involved with the California Federation of Republican Women and gathered signatures for Proposition 39, the voter identification measure. CalMatters describes her as a Bay Area party activist and reports that the California Republican Party formally endorsed her over the other Republican in the race, David Serpa, and that Reform California also endorsed her.S5S3S4
- Activity in this race: she qualified for the general election by finishing second in the June 2, 2026 primary with 2,063,253 votes, 24.0 percent, in her first run for office, and her campaign home page says she and the controller candidate Herb Morgan run two separate campaigns under one shared message.S23S22
- Career, as reported: the Los Angeles Times reports she retired in 2021 after two decades at Sacred Hearts School in Atherton and worked earlier in human resources and office manager roles, while LAist describes her as having most recently served on the executive team at Sacred Heart Schools. Her campaign website gives no employers, dates or job titles beyond describing her as a retired business executive and a budget and operations leader, and the Press Democrat reports the campaign declined requests for her resume in May and September 2026, saying her business background is not listed on her website or easily identifiable from media reports. CalMatters describes her as a former private school administrator.S5S6S17S10S3
- Access to the candidate: the Los Angeles Times reports she did not make herself available for an interview for its voter guide. She answered the Southern California News Group candidate questionnaire published October 5, 2026 and updated October 14, 2026, and a Southern California News Group article on October 7, 2026 reported her answers alongside Kounalakis' answers.S5S8S7
- Her own campaign finance record: her committee reported loans from the candidate of $30,000 and $500, alongside $114,562.58 in total contributions for January 1 through September 19, 2026 and $22,919.56 in ending cash.S14S12
Positions
Taxes
-
She proposes no tax changes and says the treasurer does not control the entire state budget. She frames her campaign around asking where the money goes, who receives it, how much is spent and whether taxpayers got what they were promised. Her issues page criticizes a proposal her campaign says would extend sales tax to cloud software and software as a service, which she says would be a penalty on every small business, and she says California levies the highest gas tax in the country. On her campaign's about page she says California spends more per person than almost any state and gets less for it, that she would score programs on outcomes rather than press releases, and that a disciplined debt strategy and strong credit ratings would mean schools, cities and water projects cost taxpayers less.S8S19S17
Housing
-
She says California can spend enormous amounts of public money and tax benefits on affordable housing and still struggle to build enough at a reasonable cost, and that for projects seeking financing or tax credits through committees chaired by the treasurer she would push for easy to understand comparisons of cost per unit, developer fees, construction costs and previous performance. She says approval should not end the oversight, that she would follow up on whether a project came in on budget, finished on time and delivered the housing promised, and that financing awards should reward developers who deliver more homes per dollar.S8S20
Cost of living
-
She frames affordability as a math problem, saying the treasurer can put permits, fees, delays and mandates on the record so the public can see what government adds to the price of a home. Her campaign says some state financed affordable units now cost more than a market rate home, and highlights homelessness spending it puts at $24 billion or more since 2018 with what it calls no audited outcomes.S20S19
Transportation
-
She says the state should stop writing checks for high speed rail, comparing it to a household budget: when something costs far more than you were told, takes far longer than promised and still is not finished, there comes a point to say enough. She says California has already spent billions, that this does not mean it should spend billions more, and that the state should instead focus on fixing roads, improving water infrastructure, meeting public safety needs and addressing what she calls enormous debt and pension obligations. Her issues page says California ranks 49th in road quality nationwide and criticizes state spending of $92 million on a single wildlife crossing.S8S7S19
Water
-
She names water infrastructure among the priorities she would rather the state fund than high speed rail. Her published materials set out no further water policy, and do not address water supply, storage or conveyance.S8S7S19
Education
-
On CalKIDS she says her first priority would be making sure the program works as intended before expanding it, with clear reporting on how much has been deposited, how many families have claimed or accessed accounts, administrative costs and how much remains unused, and simple low cost communication through schools and existing state systems rather than a new outreach program. Her campaign's press list includes a statement criticizing state education results as test scores lag pandemic levels.S8S22
Health care
-
Her published materials set out no health care position. She lists debt, bonds, housing finance and transparency as her focus areas, and she is cautious about committing public money to new or speculative investments.S17S19S8
Homelessness
-
She says billions of dollars in homelessness spending since 2018 have gone out without audited outcomes and that no one has been required to show how many people were actually housed per dollar spent. She links the issue to the treasurer's chairmanship of the housing finance boards and says those dollars should build homes rather than bureaucracy, and that housing finance decisions should be searchable.S19S20S18
Environment and energy
-
Her published materials set out no climate or energy position. On the board seats that the treasurer holds she says pension and investment decisions should be made for the beneficiaries who earned them and never as political statements, and she calls protecting retirements one of her priorities.S17S19
Public safety
-
She names public safety needs among the priorities the state should fund instead of continuing to spend on high speed rail. Her published materials set out no further public safety policy.S8S7
Immigration
-
Her published materials set out no immigration position. The campaign's endorsement list includes the United Vietnamese American Community of Northern California, which her campaign lists as an endorsing organization.S17S22
Other
-
Transparency and oversight: she says she would open the office with a comprehensive review of its divisions, internal controls, contracts, consultants, fees and financial processes and publish the findings and corrective actions; review the Pooled Money Investment Account holding by holding by issuer, counterparty, maturity, risk, yield and policy compliance; publish the full debt picture, including outstanding bonds, newly issued and authorized but unissued debt, annual debt service, interest costs, maturities and upcoming bond sales, on one public dashboard; press for searchable disclosure of housing project costs, recipients and results through the treasurer's chairmanships and board roles; bring investments, bond transactions, board actions, contracts and meeting materials into one searchable portal; and require measurable performance standards. Bonds: she says her opinion changed as she learned how taxpayers repay them, that the price on the ballot is not the final price once decades of interest are added, that borrowing for long term infrastructure can make sense but should be the exception rather than the easy answer, and that she now asks whether the state needs it, can afford it and gets good value. Digital assets: she says she would be extremely cautious about putting state funds, pension assets or other public money into speculative digital assets, that government should not pick winners and losers in the industry but should set clear rules and enforce them fairly, and that the basic principles of managing public money do not change: protect the principal, understand the risk, demand transparency and never gamble with taxpayer dollars. Timing of state payments: she says her approach would be to verify first and then pay promptly, with clear documentation of who receives funds, what they will be used for and whether required milestones have been met, and with better tracking so the public can see when money was authorized, when it was distributed, who received it and whether the project delivered what was promised.S18S21S8S19S17S7
Endorsements
- The CalMatters and LAist voter guides list the California Republican Party, the California Republican Assembly and Reform California as her key endorsements.S3S6
- Her campaign home page shows the California Republican Party as a primary endorsement, alongside the California Republican Assembly, the California Rifle and Pistol Association and the California Women's Leadership Association PAC.S22
- The campaign's endorsement list also names Carl DeMaio, Reform California, the American Independent Party, the Santa Barbara County Republican Party, the United Vietnamese American Community of Northern California and the Capital Lincoln Club, and county Republican parties in Nevada, San Joaquin, Tulare, Orange, San Diego, Placer, Fresno, Contra Costa, Shasta, Marin, Madera, San Mateo, Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz and Napa counties. The same endorsement section also lists the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association PAC, California Young Republicans, California College Republicans, Republican Conservative Coalition, Temecula Valley Republican Women, Tri-Valley Republicans, Pasadena Republican Club, and the conservative voter guides of Robyn Nordell and Nancy Sandoval. The page carries a link to show all 30 endorsements.S22
- The Los Angeles Times reports she is endorsed by conservative political groups including the California Republican Assembly, Reform California, gun rights groups and Republican women's groups, according to her campaign website.S5
- Her campaign says she won the June 2026 primary and is the Republican nominee, and describes her as endorsed by the California Republican Party and by Republican, taxpayer and county organizations statewide.S17S22
Funding
Total raised:
$114,563 S3S12S14
Cash on hand:
$22,920
As of:
September 19, 2026
Top funders
-
Joy Craft
$7,500
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Carl DeMaio
$5,500
Cycle total of contributions reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA, listed there as an entity contribution
-
Thomas Gutshall
$5,000
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Jennifer Hawks
$2,250
Cycle total of contributions from the candidate to her own committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA, separate from the candidate loans listed in the note below
-
Debbie Brookfield
$2,000
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Robert Varich
$1,500
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Alexandra Mayer
$1,000
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Anna Kramer
$1,000
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Carol Ann Petty
$1,000
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
-
Cynthia Varich
$1,000
Cycle total of contributions from an individual to the committee reported to Cal-Access and republished by Transparency USA
The total raised and the cash on hand here are the totals the candidate's own committee, HAWKS FOR CA STATE TREASURER 2026; JENNIFER (Cal-Access filer ID 1488439), reported for January 1 through September 19, 2026, with the last report filed September 24, 2026. The committee reported $37,255.21 in contributions and $29,230.34 in expenditures in the July 1 to September 19, 2026 period, and $91,643.02 in total expenditures for January 1 through September 19, 2026. The donor amounts are cycle totals republished by Transparency USA from Cal-Access filings, so their window is longer than the committee totals above and a donor total can exceed the period total. The same source records $30,000 and $500 in loans from the candidate to her committee, which are separate from contributions and are not included in the total above. Transparency USA's cycle totals for the same committee are larger than the period figures above because they cover the whole 2025 to 2026 cycle: $46,807 in total contributions and $14,895 in cash on hand. The Secretary of State's contributor data as published by CalMatters and updated October 9, 2026 shows about $121,000 in large donor contributions to this committee, a figure that excludes donors whose contributions total less than $100 and includes the candidate's own money, listed there as $42,750 from Jennifer Hawks with an asterisk marking loans. CalMatters also reports about $30,000 in outside spending supporting her, in three items of $10,000 each from David L. Horowitz, Joseph Yossie Hollander and Reform Local Government PAC, and no outside spending against her. Spending by separate committees that support or oppose candidates is reported on a different schedule and is not included in the committee totals above.
Statement summary
In her statement in the official voter guide, Hawks says she is running because taxpayers deserve someone who will protect every dollar as if it were their own and help bring change to Sacramento. She says she is not a career politician but a business professional who has spent her career managing budgets, improving operations and demanding accountability, that she is not part of the Sacramento political establishment and that her loyalty is to California taxpayers rather than political insiders or special interests. She says the treasurer cannot rewrite the state budget or create new laws, but that the office can demand transparency, strengthen oversight and shine a light on how taxpayer dollars are managed. She says that as treasurer she will ask tough questions, insist on measurable results and work to expose waste, fraud and mismanagement, and will advocate for responsible investing, greater accountability and what she calls honest stewardship of the public's money. She says California needs a financial watchdog rather than another politician. She closes by saying the money is the voters' and that they deserve to know where it goes, how it is spent and whether it is working for California.S2
What this could mean for your household
- Renters and first time buyers: she says she would push for cost per unit, developer fee, construction cost and prior performance comparisons for projects seeking financing or tax credits through committees chaired by the treasurer, and would follow up on whether projects came in on budget, finished on time and delivered the promised housing.S8S20
- Households paying for state debt: her bonds page states that California had $72.2 billion of non self liquidating general obligation bonds outstanding as of May 1, 2026, $37.9 billion authorized but not yet borrowed, $9.1 billion of lease revenue bonds outstanding as of April 1, 2026, and roughly $6 billion a year in debt service paid from the General Fund. She says the price on the ballot is not the final price once interest is included, and that she asks whether the state needs a bond, can afford it and gets good value.S21S8
- Small business owners: her issues page criticizes a proposal her campaign says would extend sales tax to cloud software and software as a service, and she says government should not pick winners and losers in the digital assets industry but should set clear rules and enforce them fairly.S19S8
- Public employees and retirees: she says pension and investment decisions should be made for the beneficiaries who earned them and never as political statements, and that she would be extremely cautious about putting state funds, pension assets or other public money into speculative digital assets.S17S8
- Households that depend on roads and water systems: she says the state should focus on fixing roads, improving water infrastructure and meeting public safety needs rather than continuing to fund high speed rail.S8S7
Campaign website