Of the six candidates competing to replace termed-out California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, only the top two will emerge from Tuesday's primary election to compete in the November general election.
While the final tally is weeks away, the
She is trailed by Republican Jennifer Hawks, who garnered 1,272,871 in early results, or 27%. California State Sen. Anna Caballero, a Democrat, trailed with 707,878 or 15% of the vote and David Sherpa, a Republican, garnered 681,724 votes for 14.5%.
In California's "top-two" system, the top two finishers in the primary for state office, regardless of party, advance to the November general election.
With most votes cast by mail, the state doesn't finalize election results, including bond measures, until 30 days after the election to ensure all the mail-in ballots have been counted and that election officials can follow up on any unsigned ballots.
Kounalakis, who announced her run for treasurer when she dropped out of the governor's race in August, has led the pack since she announced her run.
Ma, who is term-limited after two terms as treasurer, is
Kounalakis, finishing up eight years as lieutenant governor, holds a master's of business administration and formerly worked as the president of AKT Development, a housing company in California founded by her father, Angelo Tsakopoulos, a prominent developer and political donor. In 2010, President Obama appointed her as the U.S. ambassador to Hungary.
Kounalakis
"My top priorities would be to manage the state's finances with responsibility and experience," she said, "and to build more housing and the infrastructure to support it, to protect our pensions and manage our investment portfolio with transparency and accountability."
Hawks, a retired businesswoman, serves as president of Palo Alto Republican Women Federated, an organization that uses educational activities and community engagement to encourage women to participate in government.
Hawks has
"Public finance isn't just about numbers — it's about the schools our children attend, the roads we drive on, and the retirement security of our workers," her website says. "It deserves someone who leads with care."
Cabellero will term out after eight years in the Senate in December. Prior to being elected to the state Senate in 2018, she served as an Assembly member.
She also sat on the Salinas City Council for 15 years and was elected as the first woman mayor in 1998.
Serpa is a real estate agent and Marine Corps veteran, who has written plays and books discussing autism, spirituality and business, according to his professional website.
He would work to end inefficient programs and opaque financing, his campaign website states.
The governor's race
Democrat
Hilton was leading with 27.8% and 1,386,966 votes, trailed closely by Becerra with 25.4% and 1,267,070 votes.
A large field of Democrats struggled to stand out from each other, raising fears that the Democratic vote would be split so comprehensively that the GOP would land both spots in November, though registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by more than 4.6 million.
Many Democrats consolidated around Becerra after U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell left the race amid sexual assault allegations.
Billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democrat running in the progressive lane, was third in the early tallies with 19.6% of the vote and holding out hope that as-yet untallied mail ballots would drive him into the top two.
Katie Porter, who was initially the front runner among Democrats, only garnered 4.6% or 231,488 of the votes. Current San Jose mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had even fewer.
Los Angeles mayor
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appeared to have some heady competition headed into the election, following a raft of negative news stories related to her handling of the 2025 Palisades wildfire.
Bass appears to be leading the race with 34.78% and 172,720 votes, according to
