Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis is the first candidate to enter the 2026 California gubernatorial election.
If elected, she would be the first female governor in the state’s history.
Despite the election still being over three and a half years away, Kounalakis felt it was the right time to announce and start working on her campaign.
Kounalakis joined “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen for another edition of “State of the State” to discuss her decision to run for the state’s highest office and the important issues she’s taken on.
“I ran for office the first time after Donald Trump and, you remember, Hillary Clinton called out and said more women should run, so I became the first woman lieutenant governor of California and now I have this opportunity to run for governor,” Kounalakis said
The race for governor is expected to be a crowded field as Gov. Gavin Newsom will be termed out. So far, former State Controller Betty Yee has also declared her candidacy and current Attorney General Rob Bonta has expressed serious interest in running.
Kounalakis believes it’s her experience in both the public and private sectors that makes her stand out.
“I am unique in that I’ve been a politician for five years, before that I was a diplomat… and before that, for 18 years, I worked in a family business started by my father,” she said.
Kounalakis has firsthand experienced, as the lieutenant governor, overseeing many initiatives throughout the state.
One of the biggest problems facing California as well as the entire world is the dangers of climate change. Kounalakis recently attended a climate leadership conference where she met and worked with other world leaders on the important topic.
“We have a lot to contend with and California really is leading the way,” Kounalakis said. “We are the global leader on aggressively combating climate change.”
She added that California has set ambitious goals to be net carbon-neutral by 2045, while also setting benchmark goals along the way such as having 90% of California’s energy grid be carbon-neutral by 2035.
This year, however, California faces a budget deficit of about $31.5 billion, Kounalakis says, but despite the shortfall, the historic investments in climate change and the critical issue of homelessness won’t be affected.
“We are also keeping an eye on budget resiliency and making sure that, if there are more jitters in this economy, we’re going to be prepared for the future as well,” she said.
Another initiative Kounalakis led was the creation of the Transgender Advisory Council, which was designed to create a space for transgender advocates and other stakeholders to meet with public officials.
“What I have found more than anything else is that this is an extremely vulnerable population. It is hard for [trans] kids and for families," she said. "My hope is that people will be very open-hearted for young people who are addressing transitions and being transgender because it is not easy."
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