Gavin Newsom is on the ballot this June. Here’s your guide to California’s statewide election
The June primary election is almost here. County elections office will began mailing ballots on Monday.
Want to know who all those people and positions are on the state ballot? Here are all the races, as well as the major candidates, for state office.
The election will be held June 7.
Governor
Incumbent Gavin Newsom is running for his second and final term as California Governor. The Democrat handily won the job in November 2018, and defeated a recall effort last year led by conservatives incensed by his COVID-19 policies.
Newsom crushed the recall by the same margin he won election four years ago, with almost 62% of voters electing to keep him in office. He beat some high-profile challengers, such as conservative talk radio host Larry Elder and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
None of the major candidates who challenged Newsom during the recall are running this year.
This year, Brain Dahle, the Republican state Senator who represents the District 1 California’s northeastern corner, is Newsom’s most prominent challenger. Backed by the state Republican party, he’s raised more than $1.1 million so far this year.
While the odds of Newsom losing this year are slim, he still faces a slew of pressing issues: A spiraling home and rent prices, inflation, rising gas prices, increases in certain crimes, and the worsening humanitarian crisis of homelessness. A poll released in February found his approval rating was nearly split — 48% of voters approve of his record, while 47% disapprove.
Lieutenant Governor
Incumbent Eleni Kounalakis, a Democrat, is seeking reelection for the second-highest ranking state executive office. She won the position in 2018 after a tight intraparty race after her father, Sacramento real estate developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, poured millions into her campaign.
Last month she became the first woman to serve as head of state government since 1976, and the first woman in California to sign a bill into law, while Newsom was away on spring break with his family. Kounalakis has raised more than $778,000 so far this year.
Seven candidates are challenging Kounalakis, including two Democrats and three Republicans, none of whom have raised more than $25,000 for their respective campaigns. Angela Underwood Jacobs, deputy mayor of Lancaster, has been endorsed by the California Republican Party.
Attorney General
Incumbent Rob Bonta, a Democrat from Alameda, was appointed as the state’s top lawyer in March 2021, replacing Xavier Becerra who was named secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Now, Bonta is running to keep his job leading the state’s Department of Justice, ensuring laws are adequately and evenly enforced and overseeing law enforcement agencies such as county district attorney offices and sheriff departments.
The race is shaping up to be one of the most competitive this June. Bonta, a former assemblyman representing Oakland and advocate for criminal justice reform, is on the ballot amid rising public concern about crime.
Four candidates are challenging Bonta on the ballot, including two Republicans, an independent, and a Green Party candidate.
Among the top contenders is Nathan Hochman, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who served as U.S. assistant attorney general in the justice department’s tax division under President George W. Bush, has been endorsed by the state Republican party. He’s raised more than $435,000 so far this year.
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert is also running, a longtime Republican who formally changed her political affiliation to no party preference in 2018. Schubert, who rose to national prominence after the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, also known as the Golden State Killer, has been endorsed by dozens of law enforcement organizations and district attorneys, and has raised more than $545,000 this year so far.
In addition, Republican Eric Early, a Los Angeles-based attorney who served as lead counsel for the RecallGavin2020 campaign, is vying for the position and has raised more than $145,000 so far this year. Green Party candidate Dan Kapelovitz, a Los Angeles-based criminal defense and animal rights attorney, is also running for attorney general.
Secretary of State
Appointed by Newsom in January 2021, incumbent Shirley Weber, a Democrat, is running to maintain the office. She replaced Alex Padilla, who Newsom picked to replace Vice President Kamala Harris as U.S. Senator after the 2020 Presidential election.
The secretary of state manages all federal and state elections, and oversees the disclosure of campaign and lobbyist finance records. The position also oversees the state archives, and the registration of companies and businesses in the state.
Weber, previously an assemblywoman representing San Diego, is the state’s first Black top election administrator.
Six candidates are challenging Weber on the ballot, none of them Democrats. Rachel Hamm, a Republican author with a YouTube channel who falsely disputes the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential election, has raised more than $139,000. Robert Bernosky, a California Republican Party leader from San Benito, is also running for the seat.
State Controller
Incumbent Betty Yee has termed out. That leaves the top state financial officer up for grabs for the first time in eight years.
The position oversees the accounting and distribution of state and local government finances, and audits public spending, among other responsibilities.
Six candidates are running for state controller, including four Democrats, a Republican and a member of the Green Party, will some raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for their campaign.
Ron Galperin, the city controller of Los Angeles and a Democrat, is one of the leading candidates, having raised more than $916,000 this year so far and capturing the endorsement of Yee.
Meanwhile, Malia Cohen, a member of the California State Board of Equalization, has been endorsed by the California Democratic Party, and is another top contender. Cohen, who has raised more than $269,000 so far this year, would be the state’s first Black female controller.
Lanhee Chen, a Republican and financial adviser who served as policy director on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, has raised more than $687,000 thus far.
State Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, Monterey Park mayor and finance professional Yvonne Yiu, and political activist and financial analyst Laura Wells are also running for the job.
State Treasurer
Incumbent Fiona Ma, a Democrat, is running again to serve as the state’s chief banker, investor and financier.
Charged with managing the state’s financial portfolio, the state treasurer safeguards public funds held in the state treasury, issues bonds, coordinates banking services, administers state-facilitated tax-advantaged programs, among other responsibilities.
Ma has faced some recent controversies, including a lawsuit from a former employee who alleges Ma harassed her in an attempt to cover-up “unlawful conduct” and “improper gifts” from local businessmen. Ma has denied the allegations.
Three challengers are vying for the position, including two Republicans — Andrew Do, an Orange County supervisor, and Jack Guerrero, mayor of Cudahy. They have raised about $152,000 and $320, respectively, so far this year.
Insurance Commissioner
Incumbent Ricardo Lara, a Democrat, is running again to lead the California Department of Insurance. He made history in 2018 as the first openly LGBTQ statewide-elected official.
The state insurance commissioner regulates insurance companies and agents in the state, enforces consumer protection laws in California and works to maintain fair pricing of insurance plans and rates.
Lara faced a number of controversies in his first year of office. Despite a campaign pledge to reject money from the insurance industry, he took $54,000 in April 2019 from a group of industry executives and their wives, and attended a party with an insurance industry lobbyist.
He also used taxpayer funds to pay the rent of a second apartment in Sacramento while maintaining a primary residence in Los Angeles.
That may create an opening for the other eight candidates running against Lara, who has raised more than $128,000 so far this year for his re-election campaign.
Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) is the most prominent challenger, having raised more than $43,000 so far. Dr. Vinson Eugene Allen, a Democrat and medical doctor based in Los Angeles, has raised more than $301,000 so far.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Incumbent Tony Thurmond is running again for state superintendent, a non-partisan position charged overseeing and coordinating the state’s public elementary and secondary schools.
Elected in November 2018, he’s spent most of his term helping deliver aid to school districts struggling with distance learning and a troubled return to the classroom at the behest of Newsom and the state health department.
Thurmond, a former Democratic Assemblyman, is poised to win the majority of the vote during the June primary, having raised more than $115,000 so far for his re-election campaign this year. The California Democratic Party and the California Teachers Association have both endorsed Thurmond.
If he does so, he will be declared the winner and there will be no general election for the position. If no one gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in the November election.
Six other candidates will appear on the ballot for the position. George Yang, a Republican and software architect, has raised about $31,500; Lance Ray Christensen, an education policy executive and former chief of staftf to a Republican state senator, has raised about $21,500; Marco Amaral, a teacher and school board trustee, has raised about $12,000.
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Gavin Newsom is on the ballot this June. Here’s your guide to California’s statewide election."