Lieutenant Governor
The lieutenant governor is next in line to the governor in case of an absence or vacancy, but much of the job is ceremonial. They stand in when the governor leaves California, serve as president of the state Senate with the ability to break a tie vote and sit on California’s higher education boards. The office has a budget of nearly $3 million.
Leading candidates
Josh Matthew Fryday
Fryday heads Gov. Gavin Newsom’s volunteer office, a role he’s held since 2019. He previously served as mayor of the Bay Area suburb Novato and, before that, was the COO of NextGen America, a climate advocacy organization founded by billionaire and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer. A former Naval officer, Fryday is endorsed by the powerful California Teachers Association.
Janelle Kellman
Kellman is an attorney and former Sausalito city councilmember. She worked in local government for 10 years before founding a climate nonprofit dedicated to studying sea-level rise. In Sausalito, she served as planning commissioner for four years before taking a seat on the city council in 2020. Kellman grew up in North Pennsylvania and earned her law degree from Stanford.
Fiona Ma
Ma is a longtime state official, having served in top elected roles at various executive agencies. Since 2019, she has been state treasurer, the state’s top asset manager and financier, where she oversees the world’s fourth-largest economy. She previously was on the Board of Equalization from 2014 to 2018 and was a San Francisco supervisor. A former assemblymember, Ma served four terms in the state Legislature and was second-in-line in Assembly leadership during her final term.
Gloria Romero
Romero, a former longtime Democratic lawmaker who served nearly 12 years in the state Legislature, became a registered Republican in 2024 after years of expressing discontent with the Democratic Party. She differs with Democrats on school choice, COVID-19 policies and gender identity. From 2005 to 2008, Romero was Senate majority leader, the first woman to serve in that role. Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, a political ally, asked her to be “on the ticket” with him.
Michael Tubbs
Tubbs leads a nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty in California. In 2016, he drew national media attention when he became the youngest and first Black mayor of Stockton at age 26 with a compelling life story: He was raised by a single mother in a poor neighborhood before receiving a scholarship to Stanford. As mayor, he piloted a universal basic income program. Tubbs served one term before he was ousted by a lesser-known Republican. He was appointed as a special economic adviser to the governor in 2021 to address the inequitable impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
