CaliforniaPeople.org

Statewide office

Controller

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The job
The state's chief accountant and bill-payer. Issues state payments and payroll, audits state and local spending, publishes the state's official financial reports, sits on dozens of boards including CalPERS and CalSTRS.
Your pick

Ballot designations below are as certified by the Secretary of State. [1]

Malia M. Cohen (D) — incumbent, "State Controller/Mother"

Key findings

  • Delivered on the core job: cleared the backlog of the state's chronically late annual financial report, releasing 4 reports in 2 years. [2]
  • Didn't deliver on her 2022 audit promises (homelessness, EDD, DMV), saying the State Auditor had covered them. A 2024 State Auditor report found the state had not consistently tracked and evaluated its homelessness efforts. [3][4]
  • Career path: SF supervisor, then Board of Equalization, then Controller. [5] Raised $1.2M+. [3]

Track record (sourced)

  • Cleared a years-long backlog of the state's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, which had been chronically late, releasing four reports in two years; says the next one will be about two months late. [2]
  • Working to modernize FI$Cal (the state accounting system) and state payroll. [2]
  • Urged the governor and Legislature to show "restraint" on spending in 2026 budget talks. [3]
Résumé
  • President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; Board of Equalization (elected 2018, chaired 2019 and 2022); elected Controller Nov 2022, in office since 2023. [5][3]
Concerns (sourced)
  • In 2022 she promised to scrutinize homelessness spending and take a hard look at EDD and DMV; CalMatters reports she did not follow through, saying the State Auditor had already covered them. A 2024 State Auditor report found California fails to adequately track homelessness spending (the audit's words: the state "has not consistently tracked and evaluated" its efforts to end homelessness). [2][4]
  • Raised $1.2M+. Endorsed by CA Democratic Party, California Labor Federation, Equality California. [3] Quoted (not a signer) in the Yes on Prop 37 ballot argument. [6]

Herb W. Morgan (R) — "Chief Investment Officer"

Key findings

  • Founded a San Diego investment firm later bought by Cantor Fitzgerald. No government experience listed in his CalMatters profile. [3]
  • Pitch: log every state-funded nonprofit payment in a public database and use AI to flag fraud. He posts his own donations in real time. Raised $367K by April. [3]

Job-applicant read

Cohen has delivered on the unglamorous core of the job (clearing the late financial-report backlog, systems modernization) but not on the high-profile audit promises she ran on. Morgan has real private investment-management experience, relevant to the pension boards, but no public-sector accounting or audit record.

Track record and platform (sourced)

  • Running on exposing fraud: would require every state-funded nonprofit payment to be logged in a state database and use AI to flag suspicious spending; promises to audit homelessness spending. Publishes his own campaign donations in real time on his website. Raised $367k by April. [2]
  • Endorsed by CA Republican Party, California Republican Assembly, Unity Party of California. [3]
Résumé
  • Founded a San Diego investment firm later acquired by Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors. No government experience listed there. [3]

Sources 6

4 official2 reporting
  1. ^ SoS, certified candidate list (Nov 3, 2026 general) elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov Official
  2. ^ a b c d e CalMatters (May 2026) CalMatters Reporting
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i CalMatters Controller guide CalMatters Reporting
  4. ^ a b State Auditor 2023-102.1, Homelessness in California (Apr 9, 2024) auditor.ca.gov Official
  5. ^ a b SCO bio, State Controller's Office official biography sco.ca.gov Official
  6. ^ Official Voter Guide, Prop 37 arguments (Nov 2026) vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov Official