San Diego County · Statewide General Election
Treasurer-Tax Collector — San Diego County
Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.
This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.
On the ballot
- Larry Cohen
- Shirley Nakawatase
Manages the county's banking, investments, and property-tax collection.
Larry Cohen led the June 2 primary with 47.4% and Shirley Nakawatase took 33.7%; neither cleared a majority, so the two meet again on November 3. This is a nonpartisan countywide office.
The Treasurer-Tax Collector handles San Diego County's banking, invests its pooled funds — money belonging to the county, its school districts and other local agencies — and collects property taxes. The investment role is the one voters rarely consider and the one with the most at stake: the office manages a multi-billion-dollar pool on behalf of public agencies that did not choose the manager.
This is an administrative and financial office rather than a policy-making one, so the question is competence and temperament with public money rather than direction. We could not find substantive coverage of either candidate, which limits what we can tell you — for an office of this kind, professional background is the whole basis for a judgment, and it is not in the public record available to us.
Larry Cohen
Nonpartisan, who led the June primary with 47.4% of the vote, just short of an outright win. No campaign-finance data or biographical coverage for this race is available in the sources we track.
Strengths
He came within three points of winning the office outright in June.
Trade-offs
No published record of his financial or professional background is available to us.
Keep in mind
Coverage surfaced no detail about him at all. That gap applies equally to his opponent and reflects what was available to us on 2026-08-10, not a comment on either candidacy.
Shirley Nakawatase
Nonpartisan, who advanced with 33.7% of the June vote. No campaign-finance data or biographical coverage for this race is available in the sources we track.
Strengths
She held the leading candidate under a majority and forced a November runoff.
Trade-offs
No published record of her financial or professional background is available to us.
Keep in mind
Coverage surfaced no detail about her at all. That gap applies equally to her opponent and reflects what was available to us on 2026-08-10, not a comment on either candidacy.
June 2 primary — how they advanced
Source review: Strong (86/100) · 2 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with a narrow source base.
- livevoterturnout.com (opens in a new tab)San Diego County elections office — certified June 2, 2026 primary results
- ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary
Last updated July 30, 2026.