State of California · Statewide General Election
Lieutenant Governor
Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.
On the ballot
- Fiona Ma — Democratic
- Gloria Romero — Republican
This person is first in line to succeed the Governor and sits on the UC and CSU governing boards.
First in line if the Governor can't serve, with real votes on the boards that run UC and CSU. Statewide, Fiona Ma (D) and Gloria Romero (R) advance to November 3. LA County's count looked different — Michael Tubbs led here but finished fourth statewide.
Day to day this office is quiet, but it casts real votes on university tuition and governance through the UC and CSU boards — and for four years it's the understudy for the state's top job.
Think about who you'd trust in an emergency promotion — and how they'd vote on the cost of a public college degree.
Fiona Ma
Democrat; two-term State Treasurer, termed out. She oversaw more than $65 billion in state bond sales and chairs the state's affordable-housing tax credit committee. Her pitch is steady financial competence applied to housing and campus costs.
Strengths
Deep finance experience across the Treasurer's office, the Board of Equalization, the Assembly, and SF government; financed student housing at UC and CSU campuses.
Trade-offs
A career insider's résumé; her platform is continuity more than change.
Keep in mind
The state paid $350,000 to settle a former employee's harassment lawsuit against her; Ma has called the claim frivolous. Opponents raised it during the primary (per CalMatters).
Gloria Romero
Republican; educator and former Democratic majority leader of the State Senate who re-registered as a Republican in 2024. She led all Republicans statewide in June. Her career focus is education, especially charter schools and parent choice.
Strengths
Real legislative experience plus an education focus that fits an office helping govern UC and CSU.
Trade-offs
Her recent party switch means her current positions matter more than her old voting record — read her platform, not just her history.
Keep in mind
She has long championed charter schools and parent-choice policies; if that's a priority for you (either way), this race is where it shows up.
Financial info
- Small donors
- Individuals
- PACs & committees
- Businesses & other orgs
Fiona Ma
$3,101,860 raised
- Small donors$8,503<1%
- Individuals$1,674,54858%
- PACs & committees$551,04019%
- Businesses & other orgs$675,33723%
1Gloria Romero has no contributions reported to Cal-Access for this race.
2Figures 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 2026-08-03.
June 2 primary — how they advanced
Source review: Very strong (98/100) · 4 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)
- calmatters.org (opens in a new tab)CalMatters — 2026 primary voter guide and statewide race coverage
- ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State
Last updated August 3, 2026.