# State Board of Equalization, District 2 Compare records and positions simply between John Pimentel or Sally J. Lieber for State Board of Equalization, District 2 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person is one of four elected members on the board. It works to keep property tax assessments fair and equal. - Jurisdiction: State of California - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/boe-2 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 92 out of 100 (Very strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **John Pimentel** — Member, Board of Trustees, San Mateo County Community College District · Democratic - **Sally J. Lieber** — Incumbent · Democratic Both November candidates are Democrats: Sally J. Lieber took 56.8% of the June 2 vote and John Pimentel took 15.8%. The district covers the Bay Area and much of northern California. The Board of Equalization is much smaller than it used to be. Until 2017 it administered most of California's sales and excise taxes; the Legislature stripped those duties after audits found serious mismanagement, and moved them to two new departments. What remains is oversight of how counties assess property for tax purposes, plus assessment of certain utility and railroad property. It is a four-year term on a five-member board. With two Democrats on the ballot, party is not the axis here. The real split is what this board should be. Lieber wants to keep it as it is, a place taxpayers can bring problems. Pimentel thinks its work could be folded into other agencies. Both campaigns are mostly self-funded, so neither tells you much about who else is behind them. Weigh who you want reviewing county property assessment, and whether you want that body to stay. ## Sally J. Lieber Sally J. Lieber has held this seat since 2022 and chaired the board in 2024 and again in 2026. She came to it after a long run in elected office: the Mountain View council and mayor's chair, then six years in the state Assembly, where she rose to Speaker pro Tempore and, by the board's account of her record, worked on raising the state minimum wage, making human trafficking a felony and a sexual assault victims' bill of rights. A self-described "tax nerd," she says she feels "really passionate about everybody getting the tax help that they need," and describes her board work as helping nonprofits with property tax exemptions, educating constituents on Prop 19 and taking their questions to lawmakers (The Almanac). She wants the board kept as it is, "lean but not mean" and "the right size in the system right now," a forum taxpayers can come to (CalMatters). **Strengths:** Elected office at city, state and board level, an outright June majority, and a stated case for what the board should keep doing. **Trade-offs:** She is defending the institution as it is; if you think it should shrink or go, that is the decision this seat puts to you. **Keep in mind:** Her campaign is almost entirely self-funded, so there is little in the record about who else is behind it. ## John Pimentel John Pimentel is a trustee of the San Mateo County Community College District and a renewable energy developer who earlier served as a state deputy secretary for transportation. He was "the first generation in his family to go to college," and the achievement he puts first is the free community college program he helped create, which by his count produced a "24 percent rise in enrollment, with 35,000 students using the program"; he also says he "uncovered fraud" at the district and made it "radically transparent," rebuilt earthquake-damaged freeways in the transportation job, and developed "more than 1.5 billion dollars" in renewable energy projects (campaign site). He is running because "we have multiple bureaucracies collecting taxes, and it's confusing and stove-piped," and he is open to moving this board's duties to other agencies (The Almanac). **His promises:** close tax loopholes so "billionaires and corporations pay their fair share," strengthen oversight to "stop corruption and favoritism," and "fight to end sales tax on restaurant, prepared, and delivered food." **Strengths:** A concrete position on the board's future and executive experience in state government and energy. **Trade-offs:** Ending sales tax on prepared food would take the Legislature, not this board; his stated priorities reach past the seat's powers. **Keep in mind:** He finished 41 points behind in June. His campaign is mostly self-funded, so there is little in the record about who else is behind it. ## Financial info - **John Pimentel** - Primary: $325,250 raised (Small donors: $245; Individuals: $71,600; PACs & committees: $2,000; Businesses & other orgs: $1,100; Self-funding: $250,000) - November: $13,100 raised (Individuals: $12,100; Businesses & other orgs: $1,000) - **Sally J. Lieber** - Primary: $352,865 raised (Small donors: $813; Individuals: $5,300; PACs & committees: $46,502; Party: $250; Self-funding: $400,000) - November: $100 raised (Individuals: $100) Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026 by committees controlled by each candidate, and can include transfers from a candidate's earlier committees. Semi-annual reports covering January–June 2026 were due July 31, 2026, so some totals lag a period behind. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-09-21. Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 30, 2026 — small-dollar unitemized (under $100) contributions aren't independently dated in Cal-Access's raw export, so they aren't reflected here and this may undercount true small-donor activity since the primary. This also doesn't include money reported only on 24-hour late-contribution reports (Form 497) that haven't yet appeared in a periodic Form 460 filing. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-30. ## Review notes - John Pimentel for Board of Equalization may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote) 2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org) 3. [CalMatters — Why are so many people running for Board of Equalization in 2026? (Lieber's "right size" position and career)](https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/05/board-of-equalization-election/) 4. [The Almanac — Should the state's tax commission even exist? (Lieber and Pimentel in their own words on the board's future)](https://www.almanacnews.com/election/2026/05/14/should-the-states-tax-commission-even-exist/) 5. [California State Board of Equalization — About Sally J. Lieber (official member biography: 2022 election, Assembly and Speaker pro Tempore service, Mountain View council and mayor)](https://www.boe.ca.gov/lieber/about.htm) 6. [California State Board of Equalization — Board Members (official roster; Lieber served as Chair in 2024, Vice Chair in 2025 and Chair in 2026)](https://www.boe.ca.gov/members/board.htm) 7. [John Pimentel for Board of Equalization — campaign site (self-described career and accomplishments, reason for running, stated promises)](https://johnpimentel.com/) 8. [Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/helpful-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity) ## The rest of the ballot State Board of Equalization, District 2 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "State Board of Equalization, District 2 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/boe-2 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026). 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