The field of candidates for the Governor of California quickly developed this year while an increasing number of politicians entered the race to replace Governor Gavin Newsom, but now he is starting to shrink.
Lieutenant-Governor Eleni Kounalakis, a Democratic donor adult and the first candidate well known to officially launch a campaign for the governor in April 2023, said on Friday morning that she abandoned the government’s race and present herself to the state treasurer.
Its announcement is the second major development of the governor’s race in the past two weeks. Last Wednesday, former vice-president Kamala Harris said she would not run, creating a vacuum that other Democrats in the race rush to fill.
Kounalakis said in a press release only as a treasurer, she can “have the biggest impact by focusing on the financial future of California”.
The state treasurer manages the assets of California and sits on powerful advice that oversees the retirement systems of state employees and the financing of prices for affordable housing and infrastructure projects. This role, said Kounalakis, would allow it to focus on “budgetary responsibility, economic opportunities and strategic investments in the priorities of our State – affordable housing and energy specific to infrastructure and education”.
“This work is essential and I am ready for the challenge,” said Kounalakis.
Kounalakis is the former American ambassador to Hungary and the daughter of a rich real estate developer in Sacramento. In 2016, Kounalakis was co -president of California of the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, helping to collect funds and advise on foreign policy.
His family has deep ties to the well-adorned world of political donors in the Bay region and power brokers, including the American representative Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) who gave Kounalakis a sign of television last week after Harris decided not to go to the post of governor.
His release from the Governor’s race creates an opening so that other candidates establish relations and guarantee the contributions of these donors, some of whom were waiting to give until Harris make a decision.
The other Democrats of the race include Toni Atkins, former president of the Assembly and president of the Senate Pro Tem; Xavier Becerra, former California attorney general and secretary of the Biden cabinet; Stephen Cloobeck, philanthropic and businessman; Katie Porter, former MP for Orange County; Tony Thurmond, the superintendent of public education; Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles; And Betty Yee, the former state controller.
There are two eminent republicans in progress: the former commentator of Fox News Steve Hilton and the sheriff of the County of Riverside Chad Bianco.
The first surveys showed that Kounalakis in the upper half of the governor’s domain, but most of the voters also said that they had not yet made a decision and did not know the candidates.
Kounalakis had collected millions of dollars in his race for the post of governor, which his campaign said it would be able to transfer to his race for the treasurer.
She will face several other long-standing Californian politicians in this race, notably the state senator Anna Caballero (D-Salinas); The former mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf; And Tony Vazquez, member of the State Board of Equalization.
Kounalakis was elected Lieutenant-Governor for the first time in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022. The office is a largely ceremonial position which was a launch of the governor’s manor in the past: Newsom and former governor Gray Davis were previously the Lieutenant-Governor.
