Josh FrydayJosh Fryday

We recommend voting for Josh Fryday for Lieutenant Governor.

The Lieutenant Governor sits on the State Lands Commission, holds voting seats on the UC Regents, CSU Trustees, and Community Colleges Board of Governors, and chairs the Commission for Economic Development. Most candidates treat this office as a stepping stone. Fryday treats it as a job — and he has a specific plan for every one of those tools.

His top priority is housing, and his plan is the most ambitious in this field. California's public universities and state agencies sit on vast amounts of developable land near jobs and transit. Fryday wants to use his board votes to push every UC, CSU, and community college campus to build student and workforce housing on that land — with a target of a million units committed or permitted on public and campus land, tracked and reported publicly. The model already exists: UC Irvine's University Hills provides below-market-rate housing for faculty and staff on university land through long-term leases with developers. Fryday wants to scale that across every campus in the state. He'd also use the State Lands Commission to unlock surplus state parcels near job centers and transit corridors for housing production.

"We have become the party of good intentions and I will make it my top priority to refocus us on the only thing that matters, which is results."
Josh Fryday, Candidate for Lieutenant Governor

The Lieutenant Governor also chairs the Commission for Economic Development — a body that hasn't met in over 15 years. Fryday plans to relaunch it, bringing together business, labor, and higher education leaders to coordinate on workforce needs, clean energy investment, and the business environment. It's exactly the kind of dormant tool a motivated Lieutenant Governor should be dusting off.

Fryday would use the State Lands Commission to fast-track permitting for offshore wind and solar on public lands. Interconnection wait times for new projects have ballooned from under two years to over five — and building at the sites of retiring fossil fuel infrastructure could cut those timelines to under a year. He also supported extending the Diablo Canyon nuclear lease, a pragmatic call that prioritizes carbon-neutral energy production over ideological purity.

California's construction workforce has been hollowed out, driving up labor costs and slowing down the housing production the state desperately needs. Fryday built CaliforniaVolunteers into the largest service corps in the country as California's Chief Service Officer, and he wants to expand apprenticeships, community college-to-career pipelines, and bring trade certifications into high schools through "credit for prior learning" programs — so students can earn credentials for real work experience before they graduate. His father worked in construction, and he's been blunt about the fact that California has valued four-year degrees over the trades for too long.

Source (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/san-francisco-voter-guide-june-2026-election/#lieutenant-governor)

2026 is a critical year. Public education is under attack, and we have the power at the ballot box to fight back and dedicate necessary resources to elect champions of public education and unions — from school board members all the way up to the California legislature and Congress.

At our CTA’s January State Council of Education, 800 delegates voted to recommend candidates for the upcoming June Primary.

Source (https://www.cta.org/educator/posts/state-council-weighs-in-on-june-primary)

I’m a Navy veteran, former mayor, and a Member of the Governor’s Cabinet. I’m a dad with three kids in public school, married to a second grade public school teacher—and proud to be the only candidate endorsed by both unions representing California’s teachers and educators. I’m running because we need a new generation of Democrats to be tougher and stronger—to stop Donald Trump and greedy corporations hurting Californians. As a JAG Officer in the Navy, I stood up for the Rule of Law, defended detainees, and testifed before Congress against human rights abuses at Guantanamo Bay. As the only veteran running, I have the experience to lead California’s fight against Trump’s misuse of our national guard and military—and protect our families, neighbors, and democracy from Trump’s ICE army. On the Coastal Commission and State Lands Commission, I will stop Trump and Big Oil from new of-shore oil drilling. By doubling our production of clean energy, we’ll cut pollution and reduce energy costs to save you money. Born and raised in California, my family moved 17 times before I graduated high school. Our housing and cost of living crisis is personal to me. I will take on the tough fights career politicians won’t—to protect our democracy and make California more affordable for working families like mine. I’d be honored to have your vote. Learn more about my housing, energy, and jobs plans for California at www.joshfryday.com.

Fryday heads Governor Gavin Newsom's volunteer office, a position he has held since 2019. Previously, he served as mayor of Novato in the Bay Area and was COO of NextGen America, a climate advocacy group founded by billionaire Tom Steyer. A former Naval officer.

Key endorsements: California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California School Employees Association.

VoteVets endorsed. U.S. Navy veteran.

In my view, the choice here is between Fryday and Fiona Ma. Fryday is a Navy vet, former COO of NextGen Climate, Mayor of Novato and currently CA Chief Service Officer. Citing Abundance, he wants to remove unnecessary constraints to accelerate the clean energy transition and build more housing. He proposes a CA universal service program leading to debt free college, job training or apprenticeships. His website includes specific ideas. Fiona Ma has a long history of local and state government jobs, and currently is Treasurer. While she would be fine, Fryday offers more of a break from the establishment job hopping and more creative ideas. I vote for Fryday.

There are only 3 candidates for Lieutenant Governor that have raised/spent enough money to be running a serious race. Of these, Josh Fryday has the most pro-housing / transit policy positions and support from younger Dem groups and GrowSF, and I’m supporting him. The Lieutenant Governor position is largely ceremonial and serves as a stepping stone to higher office; at least, it did for Gavin Newsom, so you should vote for whoever you would most like to see as Governor or Senator, not necessarily based on any specific campaign promises.

Regarding the other two serious candidates, Michael Tubbs, running farther left, is notable for piloting a universal basic income experiment as the Mayor of Stockton, and has support from some progressive politicians and the cursed SEIU union (the one pushing for the 5% one-time billionaire tax ballot prop). Fiona Ma seems mainly endorsed by labor groups.

VIG listing; Occupation: Governor's Cabinet Member

Dual endorsement