State of California · Statewide General Election
Treasurer
Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.
On the ballot
- Eleni Kounalakis — Democratic
- Jennifer Hawks — Republican
This person manages the state's investments and bond sales.
The Treasurer is California's banker — managing investments and selling the bonds that fund schools, housing, and infrastructure. Statewide, Eleni Kounalakis (D) and Jennifer Hawks (R) advance to November 3. (LA County had Anna Caballero second, but she finished third statewide.)
It's a four-year term with seats on the boards that direct state financing — including the pension funds and the committees that decide when California borrows. Mistimed bond sales or sloppy investment calls cost real money, quietly.
The job is more technical than political: bond timing, investment discipline, and honest bookkeeping. Relevant experience matters a lot here — as does whether a candidate's private interests could ever intersect with public financing decisions.
Eleni Kounalakis
Democrat; two-term Lieutenant Governor, former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, and former president of a major housing-development firm. She runs on affordable-housing finance and transparency. Development finance is both her expertise and her baggage.
Strengths
Executive and development-finance experience relevant to the bond desk; as a UC Regent she repeatedly voted against tuition hikes.
Trade-offs
She left the governor's race to run for this office — skeptics read the move as keeping a statewide seat warm.
Keep in mind
Her family's real-estate development wealth is a standing conflict-of-interest question for an office that touches housing finance; she has navigated disclosure rules throughout her career (per CalMatters).
Jennifer Hawks
Republican; retired businesswoman. She consolidated the Republican vote statewide to reach the runoff. Coverage of the race surfaced little detail about her background or platform.
Strengths
A private-sector outsider's frame for a financial office.
Trade-offs
A thin public record for a technical job — there is little to evaluate beyond her ballot statements.
Keep in mind
When information is this scarce, the burden is on the campaign to show its homework; check her official statements before deciding.
Financial info
- Small donors
- Individuals
- PACs & committees
- Businesses & other orgs
- Self-funding
Eleni Kounalakis
$9,009,210 raised
- Small donors$13,138<1%
- Individuals$5,576,62862%
- PACs & committees$1,731,40019%
- Businesses & other orgs$1,678,15119%
Jennifer Hawks
$77,307 raised
- Small donors$5571%
- Individuals$38,40055%
- Businesses & other orgs$100<1%
- Self-funding$30,50044%
1Figures 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 (97/100) · 3 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.
- 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
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State
Last updated August 3, 2026.