Statewide Offices

Xavier Becerra is likable and has an impressive resume, including stints as a Congressman, CA Attorney General, and Secretary of Health and Human Services under Joe Biden. Furthermore, Becerra is the Democrat in the race and unquestionably the superior choice to Trump-endorsed Republican Steve Hilton.

We were disappointed in multiple aspects of Becerra’s primary campaign, which included walking back support for Medicare for All to win over a powerful lobbying group (California Medical Association), accepting a max-out contribution from Chevron, and benefitting from millions of dollars of Independent Expenditures from Big Oil, Airbnb, Meta, and other tech giants.

While Becerra hardly seems poised to challenge the broken status quo in our state’s capitol, he does want to fight the Trump administration’s cruelty, doing what he can to challenge ICE abductions, backfill healthcare cuts, and protect public education. On housing, he intends to declare a housing emergency on day 1, enforce state housing laws against cities that block housing, protect renters, and use state financing for more affordable housing. His campaign is also focused heavily on affordability, working to tackle price gouging and unjustified rate hikes, expanding state support for childcare, and “use the power of the state to lower prices where the market has failed.”

Becerra is sure to win – fingers crossed that he rises to the occasion.

The general election features a contest between Democrat Fiona Ma, who’s been California’s elected State Treasurer since 2019 and Republican Gloria Romero.

The most important job for the Lieutenant Governor is taking the Governor’s place if he steps (or if Prop 5 passes, is recalled). The real day-to-day power of the Lieutenant Governor of CA lies in the boards on which s/he has a reserved seat. Most of these are related to either higher education (UC Board of Regents, CSU Board of Trustees, CA Community College Board of Governors) or the environment (CA Coastal Commission, State Lands Commission, Ocean Protection Council).

Fiona Ma has specific policy priorities for the former, such as improving higher education affordability, expanding paid internships, and reducing student debt. For the latter, she has far fewer beyond vague support for a “healthy climate.” Her strongest proposals relate to her potential seat on the Commission for Economic Development (expanding Opportunity Zones, attracting investment, supporting small business).

While Ma is not especially progressive, the alternative is a Republican who is far worse.

The secretary of state is California's chief elections officer, overseeing all federal and state elections in California. The Secretary is also responsible for disclosure of campaign contributions and lobbyist information. This person also files and maintains records related to corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and other business entities conducting or planning to conduct business in California

LA Forward recommends Dr. Shirley Weber in re-election bid for California Secretary of State. In 2021 she was appointed by Governor Newsom to the position of Secretary of State to replace Alex Padilla. She won a statewide election in 2022 to continue in the role and is now up for re-election. She is formerly a professor of Africana studies at San Diego State University, a member of the San Diego Board of Education and served in the CA State Assembly from 2012 to 2020. During her time as Secretary of State Weber has prioritized expanding access to the ballot box for every voter and voter education and outreach.

In July 2025 The U.S. Department of Justice) demanded California’s full, unredacted statewide voter registration list in a lawsuit brought by the United States against Secretary of State Weber. After months of fighting the DOJ in court a federal judge granted a motion to dismiss the lawsuit affirming the state of California’s right to shield the personal identifiers of its electorate. Weber is supported by SEIU, Planned Parenthood of California, California Nurses Association, California Environmental Voters and others.

The Attorney General is the state's top lawyer and law enforcement official. The Attorney General's responsibilities include safeguarding Californians from harm and promoting community safety, preserving California's natural resources, enforcing civil rights laws, and helping victims of identity theft, mortgage-related fraud, illegal business practices, and other consumer crimes. The Attorney General oversees more than 5,400 lawyers, investigators, sworn peace officers, and other employees,

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued the Trump administration more than 50 times including challenging Trump on taking over control of the California National Guard and over his attempt to make mail-in voting illegal. He has also brought suit against Los Angeles County over inhumane conditions in its jail system, and earlier this year he filed a lawsuit against the state’s largest children’s health provider for taking steps to illegally terminate gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Bonta is also leading the effort (along with several other states) to make fossil fuel companies pay billions of dollars for the climate damage they are responsible for. Bonta is as hard working as any AG in the country and is a staunch defender of progressive values. Bonta has been endorsed by Courage California, SEIU, California Nurses Association, California Environmental Voters and others.

He filed an important lawsuit to block the Paramount-Warner Brothers merger but after winning initial victories, he sadly crumpled in the face of threats by Paramount to leave California and tremendous pressure from Gov. Newsom and Mayor Bass. The result was a settlement agreement that includes almost no real wins.

Bonta’s opponent is Republican Michael Gates. Gates is a Trump supporter who’s backed the White House on many MAGA issues. He would be a disaster as California Attorney General. Fortunately Bonta has this election in the bag.

Vote for Bonta and hope he can rediscover his backbone when it really counts.

The State Controller is California’s chief fiscal officer and accountant and is responsible for accountability and disbursement of California’s financial resources. This means, maintaining the statewide accounting system, issuing reports on the state’s financial standing, administering payroll to state employees, administering unclaimed property laws, overseeing audits of state agencies and supervising local government finances. Additionally, the Controller serves on over 70 boards and commissions.

LA Forward recommends incumbent Malia Cohen for a second four-year term. Cohen is backed by the California Labor Federation, California Environmental Voters, CA Council for Affordable Housing, California Nurses Association and more. Cohen has made addressing the housing crisis and expanding affordable housing priorities during her time in office. She used property tax abatements to stimulate affordable housing, backed AB 2353 which helps non-profit affordable housing developers secure the welfare property tax exemption and also approved $804 million in bond authority for affordable student housing. Cohen also led the way on property tax relief for those affected by the Palisades and Altadena fires. In addition to housing she has prioritized expanding health care, protecting the environment and equal rights as top issues of her campaign.

The State Treasurer is one of those offices that most voters skip past on the ballot, which is a shame because whoever holds it controls how California borrows money, issues bonds, and channels billions in financing toward housing, climate, and infrastructure.

There is one Democrat in the November 3 primary – Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis.

Kounalakis was the best-funded and highest-profile candidate in the primary and her priorities, including housing production and clean energy investment, are broadly in the right place. She has secured an impressive establishment coalition: the California Federation of Labor Unions, the South Bay AFL-CIO, Governor Newsom, and Nancy Pelosi are all in her corner, along with former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who dropped her own treasurer bid to endorse Kounalakis. The labor endorsements deserve acknowledgment; the California Federation of Labor Unions doesn’t back candidates casually, and workers have concrete stakes in how the Treasurer finances public infrastructure and allocates bonds for housing and economic development. But endorsements tell you who a candidate has built relationships with; they don’t resolve the underlying question of whose interests will shape her decision-making in office. On policy, she has named the right priorities without saying much about how she’d actually use the Treasurer’s financing powers to advance them.

The most substantive window into Kounalakis’s record comes from her role as an ex officio UC Regent. She was one of only three regents to vote against the UC tuition hike in November 2025, a meaningful stand on affordability. But in 2023, she voted to delay a 545-bed student housing project at UCLA over concerns about room size, a decision that slowed housing production in a city with a severe housing crisis. We leave it to readers to weigh that vote alongside the fact that she spent nearly two decades leading her family’s real estate and land development company. Her public record doesn’t show direct self-dealing, but voters deserve to ask whether someone whose family wealth was built on land development should be the one deciding who gets access to California’s public financing. Her entry into this race also came after her gubernatorial campaign stalled at 3% despite raising nearly $9 million, which raises fair questions about whether she can build a winning statewide coalition, and whether her commitment to the Treasurer’s office reflects genuine passion for the work or a search for a softer landing.

Her opponent is Republican retired businesswoman Jennifer Hawks. Hawks served as a signature gatherer for Prop 39, which threatens citizen access to voting.

Against a Republican, Kounalakis is the clear choice. Vote for her or leave it blank.

The Insurance Commissioner regulates all insurance products and services in California (except for the majority of health insurance plans), from auto and homeowner's policies to life insurance. This means the primary role of the Commissioner is to protect consumers and ensure insurance markets are stable. The Insurance Commissioner wields a great deal of power, for example, if an insurer wants to raise rates they must show there is cause for the increase and get approval from the Commissioner. The job of Insurance Commissioner is very complex and it’s only gotten more difficult over the last few years with devastating wildfires across the state driving up rates and contracting the market. The outgoing Commissioner cozied up to the insurance industry and approved rate hikes opposed by people impacted by the wildfires making it imperative the next commissioner maintains independence and puts consumers first.

Voters will have the option of two great but very different candidates in the upcoming election – former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim and CA State Senator Ben Allen. Both are Democrats. Kim is the more radical option, while Allen is the more incremental, moderate choice.

Kim served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2011 to 2019 and worked as the California Director of the Working Families Party from 2022 to 2025. She also worked as a California director for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. Some of Kim’s signature achievements during her tenure on the Board of Supervisors include, fighting for free community college tuition, brokering deals for an increase in affordable housing units and eviction protections for tenants.

Kim has proposed a natural disaster insurance policy for every Californian. Under the Natural Disaster Insurance for All model, homeowners would continue to purchase private coverage for routine claims such as theft or water damage, while paying a government-administered fee tied to income and property value to fund disaster protection. Other countries including New Zealand have similar models. She sees this as an option to move people away from the FAIR Plan which is administered by the state and considered the “insurer of last resort” for homeowners who, through no fault of their own, cannot acquire coverage on the open market. She has also advanced the idea of a state affordable auto insurance option open to everyone. Kim has won the endorsements of Senator Bernie Sanders, Dolores Huerta, the CA Working Families Party (which she led for four years), California Labor Federation, unions – SEIU California, CA Teachers Union, CNA, CFT, NUHW, Teamsters, UAW, UDW – and a whole bunch of Democratic clubs and movement organizations.

Allen has served in the CA Senate since 2014 representing the Westside and South Bay. He has been a champion for the environment leading the way on legislation committing California to 90% clean energy by 2035 and 100% carbon free electricity by 2045. He also authored the state’s $10 billion climate bond which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2024. During his time in the Senate he fought to expand access at the ballot box and to increase film and tax credits to help keep production in California. Allen’s district has been affected by devastating wildfires giving him first-hand experience dealing with homeowners and their difficulty getting the payouts they deserve from insurers. He has focused his campaign on stabilizing the insurance market, getting people off the FAIR plan and ensuring affordability.

Allen has been endorsed by California Environmental Voters, Sierra Club, Jane Fonda Climate PAC, CA Professional Firefighters, the California Democratic Party, California Democratic Renters Council, California Farm Bureau Federation, Equality California, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Former California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, and a whole bunch of Democratic clubs and editorial boards.

The biggest criticisms of Kim concern 1) her lack of experience in the insurance field and 2) the viability of her Natural Disaster Insurance for All model. Consumer Watchdog has pointed to the state’s earthquake insurance program as an example of a public model that became too expensive while offering limited coverage, failing to provide meaningful help to consumers. Kim counters that this is an elected position for a reason and that the system needs a systemic overhaul, not tweaking around the edges.

On the other hand, while Allen brings deep experience, we’re concerned by his hesitancy to take bold stands generally (which fits with his unfortunate cozying up with more conservative LA electeds such as westside councilmember Traci Park, whom he endorsed against progressive challenger Faizah Malik).

With Allen, we know what we’re getting – someone who will work diligently and intelligently within the present system to do what he can to support consumers and the environment. With Kim, we see someone willing to take bigger risks with bigger chance of reward through systemic change. At this juncture, we give the edge to Kim.

To hear from the candidates themselves, listen to excellent interviews with Kim and Allen on Mike Bonin’s podcast.

Governor Newsom and the State Legislature just stripped much of the power from the elected State Superintendent of Education. Whoever is elected as Superintendent won’t have the traditional job of running the state Education Department. Instead that job will be taken by a commissioner appointed by the next Governor. The Superintendent role will still exist and they’ll serve as one of 13 members of the state Board of Education, which will continue its role in setting state K-12 education policy. At the collegiate level, the superintendent will join California’s community college board and serve in existing roles as a California State University trustee and University of California regent.

The two candidates for this position are Democrat Richard Barrera and Republican Sonja Shaw. Barrera has been a member of the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education since 2008, where he currently is board president. Backed by teachers unions, Barrera has shepherded four school bonds and a new affordable housing initiative for educators.

Shaw is MAGA aligned. The president of the Chino Valley Unified school board, she has built her national profile in opposing protections for LGBTQ students.

Barrera is the clear choice. Vote for him.

The California State Board of Equalization is responsible for overseeing California's property tax system, as well as the Alcoholic Beverage Tax and Tax on Insurers.

The Board consists of five Members who serve concurrent four-year terms. One Member is elected from each of California's four Equalization districts. The State Controller, elected at large, serves as the Board's fifth Member.

Each of the four elected Board Members represents approximately 10 million constituents in their respective districts.

The frontrunner in this race is Assemblymember Mike Gipson who has taken over $180,0000 from the oil and gas industry during his time in public office.

Fortunately there is a progressive alternative, Sam Sukaton.

Sukaton is a California Working Families Party endorsed candidate.

Until recently, he worked as Lead Organizer for AFT Local 1521, the LA Community College Faculty Guild. He formerly directed Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2020 campaign in the Inland Empire and worked at California Environmental Voters.

Sukaton has made transparency, equity and fiscal responsibility the centerpiece of his campaign.