Overview
- More than a dozen contenders are running for lieutenant governor, including State Treasurer Fiona Ma, former Stockton mayor Michael Tubbs, former Senate leader Gloria Romero, and Newsom cabinet member Josh Fryday.
- Though often called ceremonial, the lieutenant governorship can influence college costs and access because it seats the officeholder on the UC, CSU, and community college boards and places them next in line to the governor.
- Candidates are pitching tuition freezes, fewer noncredit remedial classes, and new student housing on public land, with Fryday prioritizing trade credentials and Tubbs calling for trims to campus administration.
- The open treasurer’s seat has six certified candidates — Democrats Eleni Kounalakis, Anna Caballero, and Tony Vazquez, Republicans Jennifer Hawks and David Serpa, and Green Party candidate Glenn Turner — for a post that manages state investments, bond financing, and seats on CalPERS and CalSTRS.
- Policy stakes include how public pensions invest and whether to move off fossil fuels, with Vazquez urging more in‑state investment, Kounalakis favoring clean‑energy bets balanced against pension returns, and Caballero pressing for a slower transition.