California Controller

Malia Cohen, California Controller (incumbent)

Malia Cohen will also win reelection as the only Democrat in the race. GrowSF approves of her job performance, too.

Cohen knows public finance, and she knows San Francisco.

Before becoming Controller, Cohen chaired the Budget and Finance Committee and the Audit and Oversight Committee on the SF Board of Supervisors. After that, she ran the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System (https://mysfers.org/about-sfers/investments/), a $35 billion pension fund. Now she sits on the boards of CalPERS and CalSTRS (https://sco.ca.gov/eo_investments_and_pensions.html), the two biggest public pension funds in the country, with almost $1T in assets, combined.

She also went after California's largest-ever charter school fraud (https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/task-force-releases-report-in-wake-of-states-largest-ever-charter-school-fraud/3632211/). Cohen led a task force that came up with 20 fixes (https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/california-controller-releases-recommendations-to-prevent-charter-school-fraud) for how the state checks school finances — tougher rules for auditors, faster reporting, and more disclosure. Her office also publishes pay data for over 2 million government workers (https://sco.ca.gov/eo_sco_data.html) across 5,000+ agencies.

We would like to see the Controller's Office return $15B in unclaimed property (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-unclaimed-property-state-owes-charities-money/) such as forgotten bank accounts and uncashed checks that belong to Californians. Other states send it back automatically — California still doesn't. Overall, Cohen has brought transparency and accountability to the state's spending.

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

Endorsed by CRA and Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

HJTA-PAC Endorsed

CRA endorsed

Part of Golden Ticket slate; plans to audit spending and expose waste

Incumbent

Incumbent

Statewide constitutional officer endorsement

On Monday, Harris endorsed Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis for treasurer, as well as incumbents Attorney General Rob Bonta, Controller Malia Cohen and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Nearly 4 decades financial markets experience; first candidate to publish campaign transactions on public blockchain with daily updates

She's been doing a solid job and is a badass woman. I've heard her speak at multiple Emerge CA events. Inspirational.

SD County GOP endorsed

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 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.

I will be voting for Meghann Adams. Her viability is low; however, she aligns with a lot of my views. She is pro universal healthcare, she wants to address climate change, she wants to expose corporate landlords driving up rent, and she wants to divest state investments into companies that supports Israel's genocide against Gaza. Malia Cohen will be my second choice.

Malia Cohen has the experience to run a $350B operation — she’s served as Controller since 2023, overseeing audits and spending for one of the world’s largest economies, after years on the Board of Equalization and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

She’s pitching fiscal discipline at the right moment — campaigning on transparency, efficiency, and fairness, and pushing the Legislature to spend cautiously amid tight budget negotiations.

The Controller job is about competence, not slogans. Her opponent’s “expose fraud” pitch echoes national talking points; Cohen offers a proven hand on the state’s books. Vote Malia Cohen for Controller.

Incumbent and SF native. Oversees $100 billion in annual state payments. Endorsed by law enforcement organizations.

BWOPA's State PAC proudly endorses the re-election of Malia Cohen for California State Controller. A lifetime BWOPA member, Malia has dedicated her career—from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the California Board of Equalization to her leadership as State Controller—to making public dollars work for the people who need them most. She is a proven champion for women, working families, and economic security, and understands that advancing economic justice for Black women—by closing wage and wealth gaps, supporting caregivers, and expanding access to capital and entrepreneurship—strengthens families and our entire state. As an independent budget hawk, Malia brings transparency, equity, and accountability to how California invests public resources. With a second term, BWOPA PAC is confident she will continue delivering results for the more than 40 million Californians who rely on responsible, people-centered leadership.

"Affordable housing is essential to California's economic strength and to the well-being of our communities. I'm honored to earn the support of the California Council for Affordable Housing and grateful for their leadership in bringing public and private partners together to deliver quality, affordable homes for Californians who need them most."

Malia Cohen

Source (https://californiacouncil.org/2026-voters-guide)

Re-elect Controller Malia Cohen to keep California on the right track for progress. Progressive endorsements: Cohen has the endorsement of many groups, including Equality California, California Environmental Voters, California Nurses Association, SEIU California, California Labor Federation, and several other labor unions. She is also supported by elected leaders, including Senator Adam Schiff, Governor Gavin Newsom, State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, and Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón. Governance experience: Cohen has been state controller since 2023, when she was elected with 55% of the vote. In her tenure as controller, she has prioritized fairness and equity, supporting gender equity, workforce training and development, affordable housing, affordable and quality health care, climate change, and corporate accountability in her duties. Controller Cohen previously served on the California State Board of Equalization and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. As chair of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System, she led the effort to divest from fossil fuels.

The DSA supports Herb Morgan in his race for State Controller. Click the button below to view our endorsement letter.

Democratic Party endorsed

California is a financial mess. In December, the state auditor released (https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2025-601/) his “Updated Assessment of Issues and Agencies That Pose a High Risk to the State,” reporting that “Late Financial Reporting Remains a High-Risk Issue.” 

The people who are supposed to be watching the risks are themselves a risk. “Financial Reporting” has been on the high-risk list since 2020.

State Controller Malia Cohen, seeking a second term in the office to which she was elected in 2022, told us that there has been “significant progress” to improve reporting and to file the state’s chronically late Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports closer to their deadlines.

“I’ve learned it takes a long time to get things done,” she told our editorial board, explaining that people “blow through deadlines” and departments don’t always have employees with the right skill sets to do the work. She similarly expressed concern about inadequate internal controls across state government. 

But asked how to fix these problems, whether it would require legislation or money, or if it was institutional inertia, Cohen basically said she didn’t know. 

The controller is the state’s chief fiscal officer, accountant and bookkeeper, and sits on dozens of boards including those of California’s largest employee pension funds. It’s a financial job. Malia Cohen, however, is not a financial professional. Her expertise is in politics. As the top official overseeing roughly 1,600 employees, she is heavily reliant on the judgment and performance of others.

As an example of how that can go wrong, the state auditor found that the “controller made material errors” totaling $11 billion in the reconciliation of education funding in the fiscal year 2022-23 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, as well as $6.1 billion in “material errors” the following year.

In November, California voters have a better option — a candidate with the relevant expertise and independence to cut through the inertia and restore accountability.

Herb Morgan, who grew up in Westminster and Oceanside and lives in San Diego, spent 40 years working in finance. He founded an investment firm, grew it to manage $1.5 billion in assets and later sold it to a large Wall Street company, where he served as their chief investment officer for about a decade. He retired earlier this year.

Morgan also has some experience with the challenges of public finance, having served on the board of the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System. He was appointed by Mayor Jerry Sanders in 2009 to help get the fund back on track after serious problems in the early 2000s. Morgan was twice elected board chair by his fellow trustees.

As a candidate for controller, Morgan has demonstrated that he can provide what he calls “radical transparency,” creating a website (https://californiaradicaltransparency.com/fiscal-data-warehouse/) that pulls California’s current spending data out of the balky FI$Cal financial system and makes it accessible to the public.

Morgan also created a campaign finance tracker (https://www.herbmorganonchain.com/) that shows every donation to his campaign, with verified transactions “recorded on the blockchain for immutable transparency.”

It’s a reminder that technology has provided tools for financial oversight that were not available even ten years ago. Much can be done to bring transparency and accountability to California’s finances, if the official in charge is knowledgeable and experienced. Herb Morgan is both.

Morgan told the editorial board the controller has the authority to mandate accounting methodology and reporting techniques. He said he could use the powers of the office to audit any entity that touches state funds. Homelessness spending and high-speed rail are two obvious candidates for an auditor’s scrutiny.

California’s annual budget has soared above $300 billion. The Legislative Analyst’s Office has warned of structural deficits as spending growth outpaces revenue growth. State taxes are among the highest in the nation, waste and fraud are rampant, and Sacramento’s answer has been to tap the rainy day reserves and use “budget borrowing” to kick the can down the road. 

If any state ever needed a financial watchdog, it’s this one.

Herb Morgan is a rare candidate with experience and ideas perfectly matched to the office he’s seeking, at a time when California is especially in need of his skills. He deserves your vote and we endorse him for controller.

Source (https://www.dailynews.com/2026/09/06/endorsement-herb-morgan-for-state-controller/)

MORGAN will be EXCELLENT! Has strong background in finance and public service, having nearly 4 decades of experience in financial markets, and a founder for Efficient Market Advisors, a notable investment firm. Morgan is running on the promise of exposing fraud in government at a time when the Trump administration also is leveling fraud accusations against California.

He is the first political candidate in U.S. history to publish every campaign financial transaction on a public blockchain - with daily verified updates that make each contribution and expense permanently visible to the public. “Politicians love to talk about transparency," said Morgan. “I'm actually doing it. Every dollar in and out of my campaign is recorded on-chain, permanently. This is the model for how I'll run the Controller's office." He plans to develop this same concept for the CONTROLLER’S office. (Exactly what CA needs!)

ENDORSEMENTS: CA Republican Party, CA Republican Assembly, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (protects Prop 13), Lincoln Clubs, CA Congress of Republicans, CA Rifle & Pistol Assoc, CA Unity Party, SD Young Republican, and a whole slew of known Elected and former Elected officials.

​ MORGAN’S OPPONENT: Please DO NOT VOTE for very liberal Democrat, MALIA COHEN. She is endorsed by lots of liberal groups/individuals, including Abortion Provider, Planned Parenthood.

yes to both.

Herb's plans are detailed on his website. The basics are:

• Audit Government Spending

• Expose Waste and Fraud

• Modernize Oversight

Herb's Endorsements include:

CA Republican Party and California Republican Assembly

Shasta Republican Party endorsed

Democratic Party endorsed (via Sutter VIG)

Chief Investment Officer - Spoke at TVR 9/2025 and CAGOP, COCO, HJTA, RC, CRA and HB endorsed, ACRP recommended - Roger Riffenburgh wrote: Investment professional Herb Morgan says, “My campaign puts every state dollar on a public, daily, blockchain ledger.” He plans to provide ledger software to every state agency and require them all to use it. Morgan has lengthy experience in investment management and financial operations. After several financial positions as a senior vice president, Morgan founded the investment company Efficient Market Advisors in 2004 and served as its CEO and chief investment officer. It was acquired in 2017 by Cantor Fitzgerald, a global financial services firm, where he now serves as chief investment officer of one of its divisions. His leadership and financial management experience qualifies him well to oversee the large sums of money in California’s enormous budget. Some key functions of the state controller are: 1) to maintain the accounting system of the state government, 2) serving as an internal auditor to audit funds spent by state agencies, and 3) to supervise local government finances.

SD & Imperial Counties Labor Council endorsed