Your guide to California’s State Treasurer primary race
The state treasurer is one of eight statewide elected positions, all of which are on the ballot in 2026. The treasurer acts as California’s banker and chief financier, overseeing funding for infrastructure like schools, roads, housing, hospitals and other public facilities.
The state treasurer also oversees the state Pooled Money Investment Account, which invests funds on behalf of local governments and state agencies, and sits on the boards of the state’s two largest pension funds: the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.
State Treasurer Fiona Ma, who has served since 2018, is termed out of the position and is now running for lieutenant governor. Whoever succeeds her will have to work with the incoming governor and controller to rectify the state’s ongoing budget deficits. As of January, that gap was projected to be somewhere between $2.9 billion and $18 billion, according to estimates from outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
There are six candidates vying to be the next state treasurer on the primary ballot. The primary, set for June 2, will determine which two candidates go on to compete in the general election on November 3.
Who are the candidates?
Caballero has been a state Senator since 2018, and before that, an Assemblymember dating back to her first election in 2006. The former Salinas mayor won that year with help from now-Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and his lobbyist brother Rick Rivas, who served as campaign aides.
The Merced Democrat is now termed out of the Legislature, where she served as the chair of the chamber’s powerful appropriations committee. During her time in Sacramento, she has advocated for farmworkers’ rights, served as former Gov. Jerry Brown’s Secretary of State and Consumer Services, and spearheaded legislation that streamlined constructing affordable and multifamily housing in areas zoned for offices or retailers.
If elected treasurer, Caballero said on her website she would work to continue cutting red tape around housing finance, prioritize bond funding for cities to expedite housing for specific communities like veterans and farmworkers, and use existing state funds to further expand community health services as the federal government is poised to gut Medi-Cal funds.
Hawks is a Palo Alto conservative activist, retired educational executive assistant, and the current president of the Palo Alto Republican Women Federated. She is also involved with Intercessors For America, a Christian ministry that mobilizes people to engage in conservative politics.
In her candidate statement and on her campaign website, Hawks has described herself as a Sacramento outsider who would require every dollar in the state budget to be justified, with special scrutiny for Medi-Cal, High Speed Rail, CalFresh, and education, which the White House have claimed are all areas of California’s state government rife with rampant fraud.
“California’s fiscal challenges did not happen overnight. They are the result of years of decisions made without sufficient scrutiny or long-term discipline,” Hawks wrote in her candidate statement. “As Treasurer, I will prioritize thorough audits, clear reporting, and practical financial discipline to strengthen California’s fiscal foundation.”
Kounalakis is the current Lieutenant Governor under Gov. Gavin Newsom, a position she was first elected to in 2018 and reelected to in 2022. She previously served as former President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Hungary from 2010 to 2013.
The Sacramento native was the first to declare her intent to run for governor in 2023, before pivoting last summer following poor fundraising, saying she believed her experience would be put to better use in the state treasurer’s office.
Before entering politics, Kounalakis was president of AKT Development, a real estate firm started by her father, developer Angelo Tsakapoulos. Per her campaign website, she intends to use her private and public sector experience to manage the state’s finances, with an eye on “fiscal stewardship, a commitment to equity, and a vision for investments that reflect California’s values.”
Serpa is a Marine Corps veteran and real estate agent in Riverside County, according to his LinkedIn profile. He ran as a Republican against U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, for the 39th Congressional District in 2024, and previously started a campaign for lieutenant governor before switching to the state treasurer’s race.
The self-described Christian nationalist frequently criticizes mainstream Republicans from the right. On X, he called Texas Sen. Ted Cruz a “hoe” and blasted the California GOP’s endorsement of Hawks, which a Cruz spokesperson claimed was a rebuke of Serpa’s support for controversial far-right streamer Nick Fuentes.
On his campaign website, Serpa said if elected treasurer he would “cut down on unproductive debt” and return money to state coffers by pulling “money from risky or profiteering financial arrangements,” and redirect state dollars to “core” investments like infrastructure, water, and utilities.
Turner is a leftist Oakland activist who retired after running a metaphysical and pagan shop for 30 years. She advocates on behalf of unhoused people like her daughter, who died in 2019 while struggling with homelessness and a substance use disorder.
She currently serves on the board of Berkeley’s Mental Health Commission, and is a member of Families Advocating for the Seriously Mentally Ill, which advocates for local governments to invest in long-term mental health services.
Turner said on her campaign website she would tap her experience as a small business owner to redirect state investments towards worker-owned business and establishing public banks while divesting state workers’ pensions from funds with ties to defense contractors and fossil fuel companies. “California’s public wealth should protect the 99%, not bankroll violence or climate catastrophe,” she wrote.
Vazquez is a Democrat who has served as a member of California’s Board of Equalization since 2018, representing the third district. The BOE is the U.S.’s only publicly elected tax assessment agency.
Before his election to the BOE, Vazquez served as a Santa Monica city councilman starting in 1990. He served as Santa Monica’s first Latino Mayor Pro Tempore from 2015 to 2016. In addition to holding elected office, he worked as district director for former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and as Southern California Regional Director for California Futures Network.
Vazquez touted his public and private sector experience and said he would “champion smart investment in affordable housing, education and local infrastructure for every Californian” if elected treasurer.
Who is funding the campaigns?
Kounalakis leads the pack by far when it comes to fundraising. According to the latest reports, she had $4.1 million on hand, Caballero had $1 million, and Vazquez had about $65,000. Hawks’ campaign did not report how much cash it had on hand. Serpa and Turner have not opened campaign accounts.
Most of Kounalakis’ financial support has come from developers, organized labor and business titans like the California Teachers Association, David Dolby, the pro-housing California YIMBY Victory Fund, and Anheuser-Busch. Caballero has enjoyed support from utility companies like the San Gabriel Valley Water Company and Scudder Solar Energy, Ripple executive Chris Larsen, and the California Apartment Association. Vazquez lent his campaign $50,000, and has received major donations from the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Inglewood Councilman Alex Padilla, attorney Anthony Perez, and Ryan PAC, a Texas-based tax services company.
Hawks seeded her campaign with $30,000 of her own money, and received a $5,500 donation from Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-Valley Center.
Who has endorsed the candidates?
Kounalakis scored a major endorsement from Newsom, who has so far resisted weighing in the race to replace him as he terms out of office at the end of the year. She also has backing from Ma, State Controller Malia Cohen, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Sen. Barbara Boxer, and a handful of congressmembers including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
Caballero also has congressional endorsements from Democrats Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Mark DeSaulnier, and Jim Costa; and legislators like Rivas, Senate President pro Tem Monique Limon, and organized labor groups like the Fresno-area Plumpers and Pipefitters union, California Conference of Carpenters, and International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
In April, Hawks earned the state GOP’s endorsement, even as the party failed to reach a threshold for endorsing a gubernatorial candidate. She also has support from the California Republican Assembly.
Serpa earned an endorsement from the Nevada County Republican Party, which said he “brings the leadership and fiscal responsibility needed to protect taxpayers and restore confidence in how our state manages your money.”
Turner is aligned with the Green Party-backed Left Unity slate, which has also endorsed Marjorie Mikels for Attorney General, Eduardo ‘Lalo’ Vargas for insurance commissioner, Alice Stek for lieutenant governor, Meghann Adams for state controller, Gary Blenner for secretary of state and Frank Lara for state schools superintendent.
Vazquez has support from a host of Southern California Democrats including State Sens. Ben Allen and Bob Archuleta; Assemblymembers Rick Chavez Zbur, John Harabedian, Tina McKinnor, and Mike Gipson; Los Angeles County Assessor Jeff Prang, San Bernardino Supervisor Joe Baca Jr., and the Santa Monica Democratic Club.
