# Treasurer-Tax Collector — San Diego County Compare records and positions simply between Larry Cohen or Shirley Nakawatase for Treasurer-Tax Collector — San Diego County at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person manages the county's banking and investments. They also collect property taxes. - Jurisdiction: San Diego County - 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/san-diego-treasurer - 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: 85 out of 100 (Strong), across 9 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Larry Cohen** - **Shirley Nakawatase** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. 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 Larry Cohen has served as San Diego County's Treasurer-Tax Collector since the Board of Supervisors appointed him in November 2025 (County News Center). The board took four rounds of voting to fill the vacancy left by Dan McAllister's retirement (County News Center). Before the appointment, he spent more than five years as chief of staff to Congressman Juan Vargas (County News Center). In that role he advised on the House Financial Services Committee's work overseeing banks, pensions and federal securities law (County News Center). He earlier spent about 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry, including as a senior manager at MilliporeSigma (County News Center). He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from UC San Diego and an MBA from Strayer University (County News Center). "I think I'm doing exactly what the residents of this county expect of their treasurer-tax collector — not partisan, do your job," Cohen told the San Diego Union-Tribune (San Diego Union-Tribune). The documented fact worth knowing: under his tenure, paper checks mailed in by taxpayers can take up to 60 days to clear (San Diego Union-Tribune). He attributes the delay to understaffing in an office that has not grown in step with the county's tax base (San Diego Union-Tribune). He says adding staff is his top priority if elected to a full term (San Diego Union-Tribune). In his candidate questionnaire, he promises to keep the county's property-tax collection rate near 99 percent and expand online payment options (San Diego Union-Tribune). He also supports repealing San Diego's trash-collection fee and ending parking fees at Balboa Park and county beaches (San Diego Union-Tribune). **Strengths:** Already running the office for almost a year, with financial industry and congressional committee experience in banking policy. **Trade-offs:** Checks mailed in by taxpayers can take up to 60 days to clear on his watch, a delay he says is due to understaffing. **Keep in mind:** He was appointed, not elected, after Democratic supervisors chose him over other finalists. This is his first time facing voters for the job. ## Shirley Nakawatase Shirley Nakawatase is a certified public accountant based in Imperial Beach with more than 40 years in the field (San Diego Union-Tribune). She founded her own firm, HNK CPAs, and has served as treasurer for the San Diego County Capital Asset Leasing Corporation (San Diego Union-Tribune). She ran for mayor of Imperial Beach in 2022 and lost to Paloma Aguirre, who is now a county supervisor (San Diego Union-Tribune). She was also one of the applicants the Board of Supervisors considered when it filled the seat in November 2025 (La Prensa San Diego / OB Rag). Supervisors passed her over and appointed the current officeholder instead (La Prensa San Diego / OB Rag). She says she became interested in the office after Dan McAllister's retirement and believes it needs more public outreach (San Diego Union-Tribune). "There is no outlet to get that information out, but I'm going to be creating it," she told the Union-Tribune (San Diego Union-Tribune). In her candidate questionnaire, she said the office's "customer service and accountability lagged" under McAllister, with taxpayers hit by penalties when payments weren't deposited promptly (San Diego Union-Tribune). She promises to launch a proactive taxpayer-outreach program, hold town halls, and restore a policy requiring four of five supervisors' votes before tapping county reserves (San Diego Union-Tribune). "I'm not a career politician — I'm someone who understands budgets, investments and taxpayer trust from the ground up," she says (San Diego Union-Tribune). **Strengths:** More than 40 years as a CPA, including managing investments as treasurer of a county leasing agency. **Trade-offs:** No experience running a large public office. Her management background is her own accounting firm. **Keep in mind:** She was passed over for this same job by the Board of Supervisors in 2025 before deciding to run for it in the election. ## Review notes - Larry-Cohen.com and Shirley Nakawatase for San Diego may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [San Diego County elections office — certified June 2, 2026 primary results](https://www.livevoterturnout.com/ENR/sandiegocaenr/24/en/Index_24.html) 2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org) 3. [San Diego County News Center — County Supervisors Appoint New Treasurer-Tax Collector (official record of Larry Cohen's November 2025 appointment and prior career)](https://www.countynewscenter.com/county-supervisors-appoint-new-treasurer-tax-collector/) 4. [San Diego Union-Tribune — The job of San Diego County treasurer is a nonpartisan one, but in a four-way race political attacks are flying (reported profile of Cohen and Nakawatase with direct quotes)](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/05/08/the-job-of-san-diego-county-treasurer-is-a-nonpartisan-one-but-in-a-four-way-race-political-attacks-are-flying/) 5. [San Diego Union-Tribune — Q&A: Larry Cohen, county treasurer-tax collector candidate](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/04/29/qa-larry-cohen-county-treasurer-tax-collector-candidate/) 6. [San Diego Union-Tribune — Q&A: Shirley Nakawatase, county treasurer-tax collector candidate](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/05/06/qa-shirley-nakawatase-county-treasurer-tax-collector-candidate/) 7. [OB Rag, republishing La Prensa San Diego — A Sneaker Race for San Diego County Treasurer Breaks Out in the Open (reporting on the appointment process and both candidates' backgrounds)](https://obrag.org/2026/02/a-sneaker-race-for-san-diego-county-treasurer-breaks-out-in-the-open/) 8. [Larry-Cohen.com — campaign homepage (biography and priorities in his own words)](https://larry-cohen.com) 9. [Shirley Nakawatase for San Diego — campaign homepage (biography and priorities in her own words)](https://shirleyforsandiego.com) ## The rest of the ballot Treasurer-Tax Collector — San Diego County 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, "Treasurer-Tax Collector — San Diego County — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/san-diego-treasurer (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.