STATE: Controller – 2026 Primary Election

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Controller – Vote for (1)

(Calmatters) “California’s controller serves as the state’s chief accountant, overseeing spending in a state that makes up one of the world’s largest economies. Whoever is elected will be in charge of auditing the state’s finances and paying government employees.” 

(LA Times) Your guide to the California state controller race: Democrat Malia Cohen faces challengers

ENDORSED Malia M. Cohen (D) – State Controller/Mother

RECOMMENDATION: YES

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(Calmatters) “Cohen has served as California’s controller since 2023 and is running for re-election. She’s campaigning on a promise to govern the state’s finances with “transparency, efficiency and fairness.” In recent months, as the governor and legislators hash out a budget deal, Cohen has been urging them to spend with caution.“

CADEM
fund her
equality CA
Adam
GAVIN NEWSOMEleni Kounalakis
Fiona Ma

(cahighways.org) Malia M. Cohen was elected in November 2022, following her service on the California State Board of Equalization (BOE), the nation’s only elected tax commission. She was elected to the BOE in November 2018 and was Chair in 2019 and 2022. As Controller, she continues to serve the Board as its fifth voting member. Prior to being elected to the BOE, Controller Cohen served as President of the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco. As a Supervisor, she served as Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and the Audit and Oversight Committee. During this time, she also served as President of the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS), which at the time was a $23 billion pension fund. Cohen was born and raised in San Francisco and attended public schools. She received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Fisk University and a master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University. She also worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
(Source: Controller Office Bio)

Cohen’s issues page shows a large number of issues. Reading through all the issues, they seem to conflate accomplishments from her time as San Francisco supervisor with what she can do as controller. There is precious little described on her pages about her acting in her role as fiscal watchdog.

The LA Times notes “The state’s fiscal watchdog oversees the intake and outtake of public funds and audits departments across the state. Unlike the state auditor, the controller has political independence and doesn’t answer to the state legislature. The controller uses audits and reports to hold entities and other governmental agencies accountable.” The Times notes that she has fallen quite a bit short from her campaign promises. When asked for her accomplishments, Cohen said her accomplishments include getting the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) published closer to its due date; for years, this report has been published months after it is due. A 2024 CalMatters report said it had been late for at least six years. Cohen said part of the issue is that departments are late in handing over their information. She also led a task force that was convened by court order following a massive fraud scheme involving charter schools in San Diego. However, she failed to audit homelessness programs and determine whether the billions of dollars the state is investing is addressing the crisis. She failed to investigate the Employment Development Department, the Department of Motor Vehicles and homelessness programs, claiming the state legislature already was reviewing the agency.  She also faces criticism over her handling of a controller-led program that returns uncashed checks, funds from old bank accounts and other money owed to state residents.

She has a large number of endorsements: primarily Democratic elected officials, unions, and associated progressive and Democratic PACs and organizations…

…CONCLUSION: Malia Cohen has been a disappointment. It is clear she has failed in her responsibility as a fiscal watchdog, and needs to do more audits and oversights as part of her role. This would have been an ideal time for a candidate with appropriate financial background to take over the role: for example, this would have been great for Fiona Ma given her CPA background. But, alas, we don’t have that good alternative…Given that there were only three candidates in the race, this leaves only one option. 

Meghan Adams (Peace & Freedom) – School Bus Driver – NOT GONNA HAPPEN

RECOMMENDATION: NO.

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(Calmatters) “A school bus driver who lives in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, Adams also is president of her union and manages its finances. She wants to expose corporate landlords that drive up rent prices, analyze the cost of imposing a single-payer Medi-Cal system and divest state investments from companies that support Israel’s war against Gaza.”

(cahighways.org) Meghann Adams is a school bus driver, community organizer, and union leader with nearly a decade of experience in the fiscal management of her union. Meghann has a 20 year history of organizing in the anti-war movement with the ANSWER Coalition, and has written about the need for a new political system that prioritizes people over profit through her contributions to the Breaking the Chains Magazine. She has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Beloit College in Wisconsin.

Her broad program is (1) Address the Affordability Crisis; (2) Crack Down on Corruption; (3) Medi-Cal For All; (4) Expand our Public Services; (5) Invest in California, Divest from Foreign Wars; and (6) Protect our Environment. As most of these are not within the purview of the Controller’s office, I drilled down into the one that was potentially related: corruption. There, she says that she will “audit every corporate tax incentive in California. Using city and county disclosure reports she will publish exactly who got what, how much it cost, and what was delivered. The report will show all of the missed promises, and what public money should be taken back from private hands. It will also name the biggest recipients and tally what these tax giveaways cost to each of our communities. As Controller, Meghann will also sit on the Board of Equalization, where she will expose corporate fraud in the housing market. The Board of Equalization oversees property taxes. Big corporations use shell companies to hide the extent of their property ownership, securing lower tax rates for their wealthy owners — communities lose millions in the cost to their public services like schools and infrastructure, and working class homeowners have to make up the difference. On the Board of Equalization, Meghann will target the underassessment of large corporate property, stop the shell company games, and close the tax loopholes so communities get what they’re owed.”

According to the LA Times, she proposes audits to target large corporations to reveal which “bulk buyers and corporate landlords” have bought properties and raised rents. She also would audit all corporate tax incentives and push for a statewide public utility to replace private monopolies. She also would seek to divest holdings such as fossil fuels, weapons manufacturers and surveillance technology from state employee pension funds. She wants more transparency around the state’s finances. If the public could see how its dollars are being spent, she argues, there would be more support for spending on healthcare and social services, for example.

She is endorsed by the “Vote Socialist” folks.

…CONCLUSION: Adams is a socialist who doesn’t really understand the Controller’s office and its responsibility; further, she just simply doesn’t have the finance or government background. 

Herb W Morgan (R) – Chief Investment Officer

RECOMMENDATION: NO.

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(Calmatters) “Morgan is running on the promise of exposing fraud in government at a time when the Trump administration also is leveling fraud accusations against California. Morgan founded an investment firm in San Diego that was later acquired by Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors.”

  • Age: Herb W Morgan
  • City of residence: 
  • Occupation:
  • Education: –
  • Funding:
  • Instagram: instagram.com/
  • Facebook: facebook.com/
  • Website: https://www.herbmorgan.com

Sample of Endorsements here:

(CAhighways.org) Morgan is an investment professional with nearly four decades of experience in financial markets. He founded Efficient Market Advisors (EMA), one of the nation’s earliest ETF-based investment firms, which grew to manage $1.5 billion in assets under his leadership. He was appointed by Mayor Jerry Sanders to the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System (SDCERS) Board, where he collaborated with fellow trustees to overhaul financial reporting and restore robust corporate governance. He was subsequently elected Board Chair twice by his peer trustees. He is a Board Member of The Private Shares Fund. His employment record is spotty, with lots of short stints at various investment firms. He has a BA in economics from UC Santa Cruz. The Anthem Financial Club describes his background as: “Prior to becoming CEO of EMA, Mr. Morgan held the post of Senior Vice President of Advisory at Linsco/Private Ledger Financial Services, Inc. Mr. Morgan was also Sr. Vice President with Dreyfus as well as Sr. Vice President with ING Funds group. (Then known as Pilgrim Funds) From 1990 to 1996 Herb held positions with J&W Seligman & Co. Herb Morgan graduated from The University of California, Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics. (Honors)”

Morgan wants to launch a Cal-DOGE to root out Fraud, Waste, and Abuse. We all saw how well that worked at the Federal Level. A central pillar of his plan is to implement a open ledger, blockchain-based public finance platform. Every state agency ledger would be published online and on-chain in real time, giving every Californian immediate access to spending data. He wants to implement meaningful, outcome-based audits, not years after losses occur, but while programs are operating. He wants to empower the public — journalists, watchdog organizations, academics, and everyday citizens — with direct access to financial data that has long been buried behind delays, bureaucracy, and technical barriers.

According to the LA Times, Morgan would use the controller’s office to develop a real-time reporting system that would use blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, allowing the public to review the price and recipients of contracts. He wants the Controller’s office to withhold funds from departments until there are improvements at the agencies. He also wants to be “far more aggressive” about issuing warnings to the governor and the state legislator when budgets are presented that rely on questionable financial assumptions and projections.

He has a large number of endorsements from Republican elected leaders, and Republican organizations..

…Conclusion: Morgan’s problems are in a different area [from the other candidates]. He does have economics experience, but only at the BA level. His experience is not in audits, but in investment management and banking. His notions about using blockchain to solve all problems are (1) idiotic, and (2) so five-years ago. Blockchain is a log of transactions; it doesn’t provide magic transparency. Further, his mention of a Cal-DOGE loses me immediately, as I think DOGE was a complete and utter mistake.

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