In the election for state treasurer, McClatchy endorses a Sacramento leader | Opinion

The California treasurer’s race comes down to two strong Democrats: state Sen. Anna Caballero and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis.

The four others on the ballot — Democrat Tony Vazquez, Republicans Jennifer Hawks and David Serpa, and Glenn Turner of the Green Party — do not come close to matching their qualifications.

Caballero, 71, has been an effective representative of the Central Valley, where she has focused on quality-of-life issues like housing, education and health care.

Kounalakis, 60, made history in 2018 by becoming the first woman elected lieutenant governor of California. She previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary during the Obama administration. She began her career at her father’s Sacramento firm, AKT Development.

Among the first Democrats to enter the 2026 governor’s race, Kounalakis ultimately decided to withdraw and run for treasurer.

“I believe I can make the greatest impact by focusing on California’s financial future,” she said at the time.

While the state treasurer’s position is often viewed as wonkish and low-profile, it comes with considerable authority.

A good treasurer safeguards the state’s financial health, which is critical to maintaining a high credit rating.

That, in turn, affects financing for housing and major infrastructure projects and can influence the level of financial support available for services like rural healthcare and higher education. The treasurer oversees the state Pooled Money Investment Account and the California Public Employee’s Retirement System.

While treasurers don’t control state budgets, they can shape decisions by encouraging a healthy reserve and discouraging taking on too much debt.

We endorse Kounalakis, who is especially well-suited to manage the portfolio of a state treasurer.

She’s hard-working, detail-oriented and as lieutenant governor, she’s been effective at working behind the scenes to build coalitions.

She isn’t a finance technocrat, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Nor is the fact that she began her career at her father’s company, where she rose to become president and worked on large-scale housing projects.

While virtually every candidate at every level of government vows to cut red tape, speed up projects and increase affordable housing revenue, Kounalakis has first-hand knowledge of what it takes to get projects built.

As a member of the UC Board of Regents and CSU Board of Trustees, Kounalakis helped push through major expansions of on-campus student housing, a benefit for students and college communities dealing with housing shortages.

She also lobbied to keep tuition as affordable as possible, though with less success. In November, she was one of just three CSU regents to vote against annual increases.

“Our students sleep in their cars. Our students go to food banks in order to be able to eat,” she said then. “I think that any time we raise tuition, we should be going back and understanding whether or not we’ve done every other possible thing to avoid raising tuition,” she said.

We appreciate that Kounalakis is open to exploring various ways to make California more affordable for low-wage earners.

Kounalakis.” points to the onerous fees struggling families must pay simply to have access to a bank account. A public bank - such as one the city of San Francisco is proposing - could bring relief to customers who can’t afford to keep their money in a private bank.

Clean energy is another of her goals; as a California lands commissioner, she advanced a state partnership with the Ports of Long Beach and Humboldt to build infrastructure for offshore wind.

She also cosponsored an Assembly bill directing the California Energy Commission to develop a plan for offshore wind development off the California coast.

Kounalakis has sponsored or supported several bills on a variety of issues, including housing and economic opportunity, mental health, higher education, energy and environment.

It’s unusual for a lieutenant governor to become so actively involved in legislation, and it points to Kounalakis’ ability to find ways to exert influence in a position often viewed as ceremonial.

It’s time she moved into an office where she has more power to effect change. We strongly endorse Eleni Kounalakis for state treasurer.