Election 2026 · State of California

California Lieutenant Governor

Published September 29, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026

Fiona Ma and Gloria Romero are the candidates for California Lieutenant Governor on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

The Lieutenant Governor takes over as Governor if the Governor dies, resigns, is removed or is out of the state, and presides over the State Senate with a tie-breaking vote. The office chairs the Commission for Economic Development, sits on the State Lands Commission and the Ocean Protection Council, and has seats on the boards of the state's university systems.

Summary by CityHallPass, not the official text or legal advice. The official text controls: LA County's official election information.

What it means for the City of LA

The Lieutenant Governor is a member of the State Lands Commission. The State of California granted the City of Los Angeles tide and submerged lands in trust in the early 1900s, and part of that grant is the land within the Port of Los Angeles. The Commission's staff monitors those granted lands, and the City and Port must file an annual financial statement for the trust lands (Public Resources Code section 6306).

Primary results, June 2, 2026

16 candidates on the ballot plus two write-ins. Statewide offices always go to a November runoff between the top two. Total votes for Lieutenant Governor: 8,533,504. In Los Angeles County, Tubbs had 18.2%, Ma 17.8%, Romero 15.5%, Fryday 12.7% and Oliver Ma 12.0%. Certified by the Secretary of State in the Statement of Vote. Certified results

The candidates

The job

Powers. The Lieutenant Governor acts as Governor whenever the Governor is out of state and becomes Governor if the office falls vacant. The Lieutenant Governor is president of the state Senate and votes only to break a tie (2026-27 state budget, Office of the Lieutenant Governor). As acting governor, the officeholder can call the Legislature into extraordinary session, though acting governors rarely do (Mercury News).

Boards. The Lieutenant Governor is a voting member of the UC Board of Regents, the CSU Board of Trustees and the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, and sits on the Calbright College board (2026-27 state budget). The office rotates with the Controller as chair of the three-member State Lands Commission, which controls and leases millions of acres of state land, including offshore oil, and permits uses of navigable waters. In years when the Lieutenant Governor chairs that commission, the office also sits on the Ocean Protection Council and is a non-voting member of the Coastal Commission. The Lieutenant Governor chairs the Commission for Economic Development (2026-27 state budget).

Budget and staff. The office has $2.8 million from the General Fund and 15 positions in 2026-27 (2026-27 state budget).

Facts that shape the job now.

• Los Angeles. The Port of Los Angeles sits on tide and submerged lands the state granted to the City in trust. The State Lands Commission monitors those lands, and the City and Port file an annual financial statement for them (State Lands Commission).
• Tuition. The UC Regents approved a tuition increase last year that rises each year with inflation for incoming students, the Southern California News Group reported (Rafael Perez column, SCNG). Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis opposed it (SCNG questionnaire).
• Limits. The office does not set electricity rates, regulate utilities or control insurance premiums, the Mercury News noted (Mercury News).

Records

Fiona Ma

Offices. San Francisco Board of Supervisors (2002-2006), Assembly (2006-2012, including speaker pro tempore), Board of Equalization (2015-2019), Treasurer since January 2019 (Mercury News editorial; Mercury News).

Legislature. She says 60 of her bills became law (SCNG questionnaire). The LA Times reports she introduced bills banning toxic chemicals and strengthening protections for domestic violence victims (LA Times).

As Treasurer.

• She oversees an investment portfolio of more than $160 billion and chairs the state’s bond finance committees for housing, schools and environmental programs, the Mercury News editorial board wrote (Mercury News editorial).
• CalMatters reported in 2022 that her first term brought a revamp of programs that finance affordable housing and housing for homeless people, $500 million in low-income housing tax credits, the “Dream for All” down-payment program, the first bonds for community college student housing and the rollout of CalSavers (CalMatters).
• Her office used California School Finance Authority bond revenue to help fund more than 300 homes at Santa Rosa Junior College, she told the Mercury News (Mercury News).
• She set up the College Access Tax Credit Fund through the California Educational Facilities Authority. It gives grants of up to $5,000 to community college students transferring to historically Black colleges, and a 50% state tax credit to contributors (SCNG questionnaire).
• In 2021 she supported a bill that let a Santa Ana police union president’s union salary count toward his pension, CalMatters reported (CalMatters).

Ethics and enforcement records.

• FPPC fine, 2024. A Franchise Tax Board audit of her 2018 Treasurer campaign found, and FPPC staff confirmed, that the committee, Ma and its treasurer failed “to timely disclose subvendor payments,” failed “to maintain certain campaign records” and failed to timely disclose credit card charges. They agreed to an $11,500 penalty over three counts (FPPC stipulation, No. 22/195). The FPPC closed the case Jan. 23, 2024 (FPPC case search).
• FPPC warning letter, 2017. As a Board of Equalization member she reported a $2,366.70 travel gift as coming from the Canadian-American Business Council; its actual source was the Washington Office on Latin America. The FPPC found she did not break the gift limits but “failed to timely report accurate information” on her 2016 disclosure form, and closed the case with a warning (FPPC warning letter, No. 17/288).
• FPPC fine, 2010. As an Assembly member she paid a $200 penalty for not reporting a $110.95 Bank of America gift (a Women’s Legislative Caucus dinner) on her 2008 disclosure form (FPPC stipulation, No. 09/849).
• No other official findings: no Los Angeles City Ethics Commission or FEC enforcement records name her, and she is not a lawyer on the State Bar’s rolls (searched Sept. 30, 2026).

Gloria Romero

Offices. Los Angeles Community College District board; elected Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission; Assembly, including majority whip; state Senate from 2001, including majority leader from 2005 to 2008 and chair of the Senate Education Committee (campaign bio; LAist). She represented Los Angeles in the Legislature from 1998 to 2010 (Mercury News editorial).

Legislature. Her campaign says she wrote the Parent Trigger and Open Enrollment Act, which lets parents petition to change chronically failing schools (campaign bio). The Mercury News editorial board wrote that she “championed transparency in government and charter schools” (Mercury News editorial).

Career. Professor, later professor emeritus, at Cal State Los Angeles (campaign bio); adjunct professor at Pepperdine’s School of Public Policy (LA Times).

Party switch. She co-chaired President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign in California. She registered as a Republican in September 2024, endorsed Donald Trump and spoke at his rally near Coachella (LA Times).

Ethics and enforcement records.

• FPPC warning letter, 2011. After leaving the Senate she became California director of Democrats for Education Reform. The FPPC found that within a year of leaving office she contacted legislators to state her employer’s position on AB 203, SB 161 and SB 355, which violated the one-year ban on former legislators lobbying the Legislature. Because she stopped and reported it herself through her lawyer (the FPPC’s complaint log lists her as both complainant and respondent), the FPPC closed the case with a warning (FPPC warning letter, No. 11/462).
• No other official findings: no Los Angeles City Ethics Commission or FEC enforcement records name her, she is not on the State Bar’s rolls, and no federal court cases involving her were found (searched Sept. 30, 2026).

Where they stand

Issues come from the LA Times and Mercury News race guides and the Southern California News Group and Bay Area News Group questionnaires.

On the other ballot measures

City of Los Angeles and County measures on the same ballot are left out; no position on them by either candidate was found.

Source: Official Voter Information Guide (Prop 37 argument) and the LA Times voter guide (Prop 40). “No stated position” means none was found in the race guides, questionnaires and campaign sites linked above.

Endorsements

Fiona Ma

From her campaign’s endorsement page (fionama.com, checked Sept 30, 2026) unless another source is linked.

• Party: California Democratic Party (endorsement page; party’s Aug 2, 2026 list).
• Officials (endorsement page): U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla; Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Controller Malia Cohen; Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón. Los Angeles: Mayor Karen Bass; Councilmembers Heather Hutt and Traci Park; County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis; Sheriff Robert Luna; Assessor Jeff Prang.
• Unions (endorsement page): California Labor Federation, State Building and Construction Trades Council, Laborers’ International Union, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California Nurses Association, California Professional Firefighters, AFSCME, UNITE HERE Local 11, Los Angeles Police Protective League and the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, among others.
• Organizations (endorsement page): Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Equality California, California YIMBY, California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, California Medical Association and the National Women’s Political Caucus.
• Newspapers: The Mercury News and East Bay Times (Bay Area News Group) in the primary (Mercury News, May 10) and again on Sept 25, 2026 (Mercury News). Her endorsement page also lists the San Francisco Chronicle, the Bakersfield Californian, the Korea Times and Sing Tao Daily; those editorials were not opened, and the page does not say whether they are from the primary.

Gloria Romero

Her campaign website has no endorsement page.

• Party and groups: California Republican Party and Reform California, the group led by Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (LAist; Mercury News). The party’s current endorsement list still names her (California Republican Party, checked Sept 30, 2026).
• Officials and candidates: Republican nominee for Governor Steve Hilton, who picked her for his “golden ticket” (LA Times).
• Newspapers: None found.

Polls

No public poll of this race was found. Before the primary the Mercury News reported that no independent poll had been done (Mercury News).

Money

Source: Form 460 reports for Fiona Ma for Lieutenant Governor 2026 and Gloria Romero for Lt. Governor 2026, from the Cal-Access raw data export downloaded Sep 29, 2026. Independent spending: the committees linked under Outside spending. Ma’s committee spent $2.47 million from April 19 to May 16, 2026, before the primary (Cal-Access). The limit is $9,800 per election from a person and $19,600 from a small contributor committee (FPPC).

Who is giving

Method: itemized contributions since January 2025 (Schedules A and C) plus late-contribution reports, from Cal-Access (Ma; Romero). A donor is a normalized name plus ZIP code. “Maximum” means at least one gift at the $9,800 per-election limit. A ZIP counts as City of Los Angeles if at least half its area is inside the City. Lobbying employers are matched against the Secretary of State’s 2025-26 lobbying registrations (Cal-Access lobbying directory).

Source: itemized contributions on Cal-Access (Ma; Romero).

Fiona Ma

Unions gave 9.3% ($314,749 from 43 donors) (Cal-Access). The largest were the Northern California District Council of Laborers ($39,200), the United Domestic Workers Action Fund ($29,600), the Southern California Pipe Trades District Council ($28,700) and Operating Engineers Local 3 ($19,700). These gave for both the primary and the general election. Finance and investment donors gave 8.1%, real estate and development 7.7%, health care 5.6% and technology 4.1%. About 27% of itemized dollars could not be assigned an industry from the employer reported.

Fourteen organizations registered as lobbying employers gave $59,652 (Cal-Access; lobbying directory). Most came from tribal governments: the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the Pechanga Band ($9,800 each), Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation ($7,500) and the Morongo Band ($5,000).

Same-employer giving (Cal-Access): six employees of LA Downtown Medical Center gave $40,300. Five donors listing its abbreviation, LADMC, gave $6,000 on March 11-13, 2025. Fourteen donors listing the employer WUT gave $2,250 on Jan. 25-27, 2026.

Gloria Romero

People listing no employer or retired gave a third of itemized dollars (33.3%) (Cal-Access). Health care donors gave 14.1%. Political committees gave 14.0%: Carl DeMaio for State Assembly 2026 ($10,515), the Los Angeles County Lincoln Clubs PAC ($8,000) and Steve Hilton for Governor 2026 ($5,900). Real estate donors gave 6.2%. No unions gave. No group of five or more donors from one employer was found.

Outside spending

Source: Form 460 Schedule D and Form 496 reports on Cal-Access: Taxpayers Against Sexual Harassment by Government Officials; Golden State Leadership Fund PAC; Asian Americans for Representation; United Domestic Workers IE PAC; San Diego Labor Coalition; Reform Local Government PAC; Democratic Party of Orange County.

Who paid for the anti-Ma committee. It raised $776,307 in 2026 (Cal-Access): $750,000 from author Steve Phillips, $23,265 from the Friends of Tubbs committee (matching the $23,265 the committee reported for polling), $2,042 from Progressive Era PAC and $1,000 from a law firm. It paid Yosemite Consulting $350,000, MDW Communications $200,000 and the Sexton Group $179,554. Its ads ran in late May. Its last report, through July 10, 2026, shows a $7,916 refund to Phillips and no cash left.

Other funders. Asian Americans for Representation raised $275,000 in 2026 (Cal-Access); $265,000 came from Melissa Ma of Asia Alternatives Management. The Golden State Leadership Fund’s top donors since 2025 (Cal-Access) are Housing Providers for Responsible Solutions ($100,000), a second committee sponsored by the same housing providers ($45,000), Evan Low’s and Stephanie Nguyen’s campaign committees ($25,000 each), Oportun ($19,600) and East West Bank ($25,000 across two entries). Nearly all of the United Domestic Workers IE PAC’s money is unitemized member money (Cal-Access). Reform Local Government PAC raised $449,015 in itemized gifts (Cal-Access), led by La Playa LLC ($49,000).

Key moments

Debates and forums

No debate between Ma and Romero was found.

Events

• Romero joins Hilton’s ticket (January 12, 2026).

  • What happened: Romero announced her run as part of a “golden ticket” with Republican Steve Hilton (LA Times; Mercury News). California elects the two offices separately.
  • Romero: “It’s really about one-party rule in Sacramento. I’ve seen it. I left it” (LA Times).

• Romero’s comments on vaccines and climate (March to September 2026).

  • What happened: in a March interview with an SCNG columnist, Romero said Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was right to raise questions about vaccines and said of a link to autism, “There’s questions to the links” (Rafael Perez column, SCNG). The Mercury News reported she disputed that climate change is the main driver of worse wildfires (Mercury News). Its editorial board cited both points in endorsing Ma (Mercury News editorial).
  • Romero, in the same interview: “I’m not an expert on that, so I’m not even going to go ahead and address that. But I think it’s the principle of it overall” (Rafael Perez column, SCNG).