Get to know Anna M. Caballero, Jennifer Hawks, Eleni Kounalakis and Tony Vazquez as we explore their backgrounds, their top priorities, and what is at stake for voters in this election.
As the state’s chief banker, the treasurer manages and invests unspent taxpayer money and oversees the state’s borrowing and debts. Though much of the work is technical, the official can make policy waves by launching new financial initiatives or influencing where the state invests its extra cash.
A longtime politician from Salinas, Caballero served as the city’s mayor, assemblymember and state senator before moving east to Fresno after the state’s electoralin 2021. Along the way she’s developed a legislative reputation as a leader on agriculture and housing policy, the latter of which she bolstered during her stint as the state’s top housing official under then-Gov. Jerry Brown.
A relative moderate in the Democratic caucus, she has occasionally bucked her party’s progressive wing on environmental regulation and criminal justice issues. In this campaign, she has vowed to simplify the application process for affordable housing subsidies and steer state resources away from federal immigration activities. Hawks doesn’t have experience in elected office, a fact she touts proudly.
Instead, the longtime Silicon Valley retiree most recently served on the executive team at Sacred Heart Schools, an Atherton Catholic school favored by the Bay Area’s venture capitalist elite. Hawks is also a local Republican Party activist. Both her career background and her politics make her an outlier for a job that has been exclusively held by Democratic career politicians going on three decades.
Hawks said that gives her the skills and independence to provide a check on the rest of the state. With two terms as lieutenant governor under her belt, Kounalakis has plenty of experience on state boards — a big feature of the treasurer post. On both the UC Board of Regents and the Board of Trustees for the California State University system, she has regularly voted down proposed tuition hikes. Kounalakis comes to politics by way of fundraising.
The daughter of Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopolous, Kounalakis was a big spender in Democratic Party politics in the early 2000s, which helped land her an ambassadorship to Hungary under President Barack Obama. Kounalakis originally ran for governor, but dropped her bid late last year. A former councilmember from Santa Monica, where he served as the city’s first Latino mayor, Vazquez is now coming off of eight years on California’s Board of Equalization.
That’s a frequent jumping off point for would-be treasurers , even if the elected tax commissioner job is light on responsibility. In his current campaign, Vazquez has stressed his Latino roots and his connection to storied California labor leader Dolores Huerta. KPBS keeps you informed with local stories you need to know about — with no paywall. Our news is free for everyone because people like you help fund it.
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