Herb MorganHerb Morgan

Endorsed by CRA and Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

HJTA-PAC Endorsed