EDITORIAL: Endorsement: Elect Fiona Ma California's next lieutenant governor

May 10-Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

California's lieutenant governors shape higher education, economic development and environmental policies, albeit often behind the scenes.

As presidents of the Senate, they break ties. They frequently chair the State Lands Commission; and they serve on the boards governing public colleges and universities.

Also, they become acting governors whenever governors are absent from the state; and far more critically, they assume the office permanently if governors die, resign or are removed.

Which begs the question: Among 16 candidates on June 2's ballot, who can lead this state's 40 million people and $4 trillion economy?

Fiona Ma is the only capable option.

Ma, 60, has already had one of the most consequential, stressful jobs in California in what may well have been the most turbulent political and economic years the state has seen in recent decades.

Oversees $160 billion

Since January 2019, Ma as state treasurer has served as the state's primary banker and lead asset manager, overseeing an investment portfolio worth more than $160 billion and processing $3 trillion of banking transactions per year amid a pandemic, global supply disruptions, price spikes, trade wars and, now, energy shocks.

Money is the ultimate constraint on the aspirations of the Legislature, and it's fallen to her to assess what can be financed and how.

In an interview with this editorial board, the San Francisco-based CPA discussed her main priorities if elected: building more affordable housing units on and around state colleges; protecting coastlines and waterways from pollution; protecting and expanding access to health care.

That agenda does not set her apart in the least from her Democratic challengers. Nearly every Democrat running in California this year is reading from a similar script.

The differentiator here is the scope and scale of Ma's experience over the last seven years. While her Democratic competitors, such as Josh Fryday and Michael Tubbs, both say they'll use this position to build housing, protect the environment and safeguard health care, Ma has already been doing it as treasurer, albeit in a different, if not more challenging capacity.

And unlike Fryday and Tubbs, whose only prior experiences in elected office have been as mayors of Novato and Stockton, respectively, Ma has served in the state Assembly and on the Board of Equalization and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Why does that matter?

Because getting anything done successfully as lieutenant governor requires knowing how to navigate every lever and layer of the state.

Eleni Kounalakis, the current lieutenant governor now running for Ma's job, leveraged her partnership with Gov. Gavin Newsom to expand the office's relevance, particularly over economic policy. For example, Newsom made Lt. Gov. Kounalakis the state's top representative for international affairs and trade development.

Veteran lawmaker

Ma told this editorial board that she largely sees herself continuing the legacy laid by her ally, Kounalakis, but also said she would use the office's position as president of the Senate to exert greater influence over legislation.

That might be a hollow promise but for the fact Ma authored 60 bills signed into law when she served in the Legislature.

No other candidate's campaign promises can be taken as seriously.

Fryday, 45, brings an unrivaled personal commitment to affordable housing. A former officer in the U.S. Navy, who has been leading Gov. Newsom's Office of Service and Community Engagement since 2019, he told our editorial board how rising rent forced his family to move 17 times before he graduated high school. It would be hard to find a more passionate spokesperson anywhere for the urgency of creating housing security. But Fryday's leadership record, spanning local government and the governor's volunteer program, doesn't convince us that he can effectively achieve his core priorities if elected.

Michael Tubbs, 35, brings bold ideas, such as treating personal data as a public asset, to the race. The nonprofit director and adviser to Gov. Newsom was elected mayor of Stockton at 26 years old, and he pioneered the city's experiment with universal basic income. However, four years after winning 70 percent of the vote, Tubbs lost his reelection by 10 points in 2020. In an interview with our board, he did not persuade us that he could translate his limited local government experience into statewide policy success.

Gloria Romero, 70, is a different case. A lack of experience is not her problem.

From 1998 until 2010, Romero represented Los Angeles in the state Legislature, including as the Democrats' majority leader in the Senate. During her time there, she was a successful legislator who championed transparency in government and charter schools.

However, in recent years, she pivoted from moderate Democrat to a MAGA Republican. In 2024, she became a Republican, endorsed the president's reelection and called RFK Jr. her "personal hero." In her interview with this editorial board, Romero praised the president's performance, lauded RFK Jr.'s vaccine skepticism, minimized the seriousness of climate change and appeared woefully out of step with the environmental, academic and economic priorities of this state. Her election to this office would expose California's coasts to oil drilling and its universities to Trump's sweeping agenda to rewrite their curricula.

Ma's career is not without controversy. It includes a state-paid $350,000 harassment settlement with a former state employee as well as a scandal regarding a Chinese boarding school whose founder contributed to Ma's campaign. In the harassment case, a court dismissed most of the allegations, and Ma denied the allegations against her. In the school scandal, an audit found no misconduct by Ma.

While these issues should not be ignored, Ma remains the most qualified candidate for the post.

California is entering a period of constraint and uncertainty. Budget shortfalls. Federal tensions. Energy shocks. And who knows what else is next.

The next lieutenant governor must be as capable of navigating these uncharted waters as the governor whom she or he might need to replace at a moment's notice.

By that standard, no other challenger is remotely as qualified as Fiona Ma.

(Editor's note: You can read our extensive interviews with these candidates here.)

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.