Election 2026: Open governor’s race, billionaire tax top California ballot
Ballots arriving in peninsula mailboxes this week carry an open governor’s race, 14 statewide propositions — among them a one-time 5% tax on billionaires and two competing measures that would cancel it — and an Assembly seat that two Democrats are vying to fill.
Marin County elections officials began mailing ballots to every active registered voter by Oct. 5. The last day to register is Oct. 19, though voters can still register and vote at a vote center or the county elections office through Election Day, Nov. 3, when polls are open 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
The Ark has covered the local races and measures on peninsula ballots in separate stories. This roundup covers the state and federal contests: the offices first, then the propositions. Each of the 14 propositions needs a simple majority to pass.
Election 2026: Read complete coverage at thearknewspaper.com/election2026
Governor: Becerra vs. Hilton
State official, all voters
Gov. Gavin Newsom is termed out, and the race to succeed him pits Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, California attorney general and longtime Los Angeles-area congressman, against Republican Steve Hilton of Atherton, a former Fox News host and onetime senior adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Becerra led the June 2 primary statewide with 28%, ahead of Hilton’s 24.6%. In Marin, Becerra ran second to Democrat Tom Steyer, who did not advance, while Hilton drew 14.2%. A Republican hasn’t won the governor’s office since 2006.
Becerra has pledged to declare a state of emergency to fund 40,000 already-approved affordable homes and to fully fund the court-ordered drug treatment created by Proposition 36, the 2024 measure that stiffened penalties for some drug and theft crimes. He would also use emergency powers to freeze utility rates and crack down on price gouging. Hilton, endorsed by President Donald Trump, would eliminate state income tax on the first $150,000 of earnings and set a flat rate above that, halve the gas tax, roll back greenhouse gas and renewable-energy mandates, ban street camping outright and repeal the state’s sanctuary law.
Lieutenant governor: Ma vs. Romero
State official, all voters
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis is termed out and running for treasurer. Vying to replace her are Democrat Fiona Ma, state treasurer since 2019 and a former Board of Equalization member, assemblymember and San Francisco supervisor, and Republican Gloria Romero, a former Democratic state Senate majority leader — the first woman in that job — who registered as a Republican in 2024.
The lieutenant governor steps in when the governor is out of state or the office is vacant, presides over the state Senate and sits on the University of California and California State University governing boards. Ma pledges to make higher education more affordable, expand paid internships and cut red tape for housing and small businesses. Romero backs school choice and tougher academic standards and has pledged to fight antisemitism on college campuses. Democrat Josh Fryday carried Marin in June but finished third statewide.
Secretary of state: Incumbent Shirley Weber
State official, all voters
Democrat Shirley Weber, who served eight years in the Assembly before her 2021 appointment as secretary of state and won a full term in 2022, faces Republican Don Wagner, an Orange County supervisor and former Irvine mayor and assemblymember. The secretary of state runs California’s elections and business filings. Weber pledges to expand voting access and bolster election cybersecurity. Wagner wants photo identification at the polls, faster vote counts and cleaner voter rolls.
Controller: Incumbent Malia Cohen
State official, all voters
Democrat Malia Cohen, controller since 2023 and seeking a second term, faces Republican Herb Morgan, who founded a San Diego investment firm later acquired by Cantor Fitzgerald. The controller is the state’s chief fiscal officer, paying its bills and auditing its spending. Cohen cites wider public access to state payroll and financial data and progress on modernizing the payroll system. Morgan wants an online database showing every state expenditure.
Treasurer: Kounalakis vs. Hawks
State official, all voters
With Ma termed out, Kounalakis — a two-term lieutenant governor, former U.S. ambassador to Hungary and, by her own account, a builder for nearly two decades — faces Republican Jennifer Hawks, a retired business executive who most recently served on the executive team of Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton and has never held elected office. The treasurer manages the state’s investments and sells its bonds. Kounalakis says she would use the office to finance affordable housing and protect public pensions. Hawks pitches herself as a financial watchdog who would expose waste and fraud.
Attorney general: Incumbent Rob Bonta
State official, all voters
Democrat Rob Bonta, a former East Bay assemblymember appointed in 2021 and elected in 2022, faces Republican Michael Gates, who spent a decade as Huntington Beach city attorney fighting state housing mandates, served in 2025 as a deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and returned to the Huntington Beach city attorney’s office last November.
Bonta has enforced state housing laws against cities that resisted them and has filed or joined more than 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration. Gates pledges to fully enforce Proposition 36 and to go after fentanyl traffickers and retail theft.
Insurance commissioner: Allen vs. Kim
State official, all voters
Two Democrats are running to succeed Commissioner Ricardo Lara after the top Republican finished third in June. Jane Kim, a consumer attorney and former San Francisco supervisor, led statewide with 27.4%. State Sen. Ben Allen, first elected in 2014 and author of the state’s law restricting single-use plastics, was second at 19.4% but carried Marin with 32.7%.
The commissioner regulates insurers and approves or rejects their rate requests. Kim proposes a state-run natural-disaster insurance program funded by premiums and a cap on excessive insurer profits. Allen wants more competition to lower rates, more staff to handle consumer complaints and tighter oversight of the California FAIR Plan, the insurer of last resort for homeowners who can’t find coverage. Both say they won’t take insurance-industry money.
Board of Equalization: Incumbent Sally Lieber
State official, District 2 voters
Another two-Democrat runoff pits incumbent Sally Lieber, the board’s 2026 chair, against John Pimentel, a San Mateo County Community College District board member and former state deputy transportation secretary. The District 2 seat covers the coast from Del Norte to Ventura counties, including Marin, San Francisco and much of the Bay Area.
The board oversees how counties assess property, administers the state’s alcoholic-beverage tax and helps administer the tax on insurers. Lieber wants to expand property-tax relief for veterans and low-income homeowners. Pimentel, endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and Ma, wants to end sales tax on restaurant and delivered food and to close tax loopholes for billionaires and corporations.
California Supreme Court: Two justices
State judicial retention, all voters
Voters decide whether to keep appellate justices on the bench rather than choose among candidates. Each justice faces a yes-or-no vote at the first governor’s election after appointment and again at the end of each 12-year term. If a majority votes no, the governor appoints a replacement. Voters have removed Supreme Court justices only once, in 1986, when they unseated three justices over their death-penalty rulings.
Associate Justice Kelli Evans, a former Alameda County Superior Court judge and civil-rights lawyer appointed by Newsom in 2022, and Associate Justice Joshua Groban, a senior adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown whom Brown appointed in 2018, are both up for full 12-year terms.
Court of Appeal: 11 justices
State judicial retention, 1st Appellate District voters
Eleven justices of the 1st District Court of Appeal, which hears appeals from Marin and 11 other Bay Area and North Coast counties, are also on the ballot: Division One’s Monique Langhorne Wilson, Charles A. Smiley and Kathleen M. Banke; Division Two Presiding Justice Therese M. Stewart and Tara M. Desautels; Division Three’s Ioana Petrou and Victor A. Rodríguez; Division Four Presiding Justice Tracie L. Brown; and Division Five’s Danny Y. Chou, Mark B. Simons and Gordon B. Burns.
Langhorne Wilson, Smiley, Desautels and Chou, all appointed by Newsom since 2023, are up to finish their predecessors’ terms. The rest are up for full terms. Stewart, as San Francisco’s chief deputy city attorney, litigated for the city in the cases that led to same-sex marriage in California.
Superintendent of public instruction: Barrera vs. Shaw
Nonpartisan state official, all voters
With Superintendent Tony Thurmond not on the ballot, the nonpartisan race matches Chino Valley Unified School District board President Sonja Shaw with San Diego Unified board President Richard Barrera, a senior policy adviser in the state Department of Education. Shaw is endorsed by the California Republican Party and Moms for Liberty, Barrera by the California Teachers Association. Shaw led statewide in June with 22.6%. Barrera, second at 20.3%, carried Marin with 30.9%.
Shaw pledges to restore standards in reading, writing and math, to cut bureaucracy and to protect Title IX, which she says ensures fairness and safety for girls. Barrera wants more school funding, expanded early-childhood education and an easier path into teaching.
The job itself is changing. Starting in January, the superintendent will no longer run the state Department of Education but will remain the state’s chief advocate for public schools, according to EdSource, which hosts a virtual debate between the two 7-8 today, Oct. 7. A registration link is at edsource.org.
U.S. representative: Incumbent Jared Huffman
Federal official, 2nd Congressional District voters
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, a former assemblymember and longtime Marin Municipal Water District board member first elected to Congress in 2012, faces Republican Robin Littau of Redding, a Coast Guard veteran, small-business owner and Enterprise Elementary School District board member.
It’s the first general election under the map voters approved last November in Proposition 50, which kept the Tiburon Peninsula in the district but stretched it from Marin to the Oregon and Nevada borders, adding Shasta, Siskiyou and Modoc counties. Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, took 56.5% in the June primary to Littau’s 11.4%, though Littau outpolled him in Shasta County.
Both name affordability, water and healthcare as priorities for the district’s rural communities. Littau’s campaign also emphasizes immigration enforcement, parental rights, cutting regulations and support for law enforcement.
State Assembly: Lucan vs. Elward
State official, District 12 voters
Assemblymember Damon Connolly, D-San Rafael, is running for state Senate, and two Democrats are competing to succeed him in a district that covers Marin and part of Sonoma County, including Rohnert Park and a portion of Petaluma.
Marin Supervisor Eric Lucan of Novato, a former three-term Novato councilmember and mayor, led the June primary with 28.3%. Rohnert Park Councilmember Jackie Elward, a former mayor and educator who fled political violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was second at 22.6%. Republican Eryn Cervantes, a San Quentin corrections counselor, ran second in early returns but finished third at 19.4%, and Tiburon’s Holli Thier, a Democrat, was fourth at 14%.
Lucan is running on affordability, housing, child care, lower utility bills and transportation, including the SMART train. Elward, who says Rohnert Park has cut its homelessness by 60%, backs universal healthcare, reproductive rights and a moratorium on new AI data centers.
State senator: Connolly vs. Gibbs
State official, District 2 voters
Two Marin residents are running to succeed Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat and former Senate president pro tem who is termed out and running for Congress in the 1st District. Connolly, a former Marin supervisor, San Rafael councilmember and state deputy attorney general who has represented Marin in the Assembly since 2022, took 73.4% in the June primary. Republican Tief Gibbs of Novato, co-owner of Vintage Vehicles and secretary of the Marin Republican Central Committee, was second at 16.2%.
The district runs from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border, taking in Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino and Trinity counties and part of Sonoma. Connolly lists wildfire prevention, drought, affordable housing and defending California’s coast, healthcare and clean energy among his priorities. Gibbs, endorsed by the California Rifle & Pistol Association, opposes abortion and backs lower taxes, parental rights, secure borders, more oil drilling and new water and fire-prevention infrastructure.
Proposition 1: Housing and veterans bond
Legislative statute, all voters
A yes vote would let the state borrow $11.25 billion: $10 billion for housing programs — including $7.2 billion for affordable rental housing, $1.1 billion for homeownership help, $450 million for farmworker housing and $350 million for University of California and California State University student housing — and $1.25 billion for CalVet home loans, which veterans’ own loan payments repay.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates repaying the housing portion would cost the state general fund $500 million to $600 million a year for about 25 years. Newsom, the California Democratic Party and the California Apartment Association back the bond, and no argument against it was submitted for the state voter guide.
Proposition 2: Rainy-day fund
Legislative constitutional amendment, all voters
A yes vote would double the cap on the state’s rainy-day fund, from 10% to 20% of general fund taxes, require larger deposits when capital-gains revenue surges and extend required extra debt payments from 2030 through 2040. Money deposited in the fund would no longer count against the state’s constitutional spending limit, known as the Gann limit, until it’s withdrawn.
Newsom and lawmakers of both parties back the amendment, which passed the Senate 29-2 and the Assembly 59-8. Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel signed the argument for it. Opponents, including Republican Assembly Budget Vice Chair David Tangipa and Reform California’s Carl DeMaio, argue it lets the state sidestep the spending limit and makes taxpayer rebates less likely. The analyst’s office says only that reserves would be higher.
Proposition 3: High-income tax rates
Initiative constitutional amendment, all voters
A yes vote would make permanent the higher income-tax rates on the state’s top earners that voters approved in 2012 as Proposition 30 and extended in 2016, which are set to expire after 2030. The three added brackets — 10.3%, 11.3% and 12.3% — apply to income above about $371,000 for single filers and about $743,000 for joint filers. Without the measure all three would fall back to 9.3%.
The analyst’s office says the rates bring in $5 billion to $15 billion a year, depending on the stock market. It estimates roughly 40% of the money would go to schools and community colleges and the rest to other state programs. The California Teachers Association leads a coalition of school, nursing and health groups in support. The California Taxpayers Association and Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association oppose it.
Proposition 4: Public campaign financing
Legislative statute, all voters
A yes vote would lift the state’s ban on public financing of campaigns, letting state and local governments create programs that give public money to qualifying candidates who agree to spending limits. Charter cities such as San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles already may. The measure creates no program itself and bars using money earmarked for schools, transportation or public safety.
The League of Women Voters of California, California Common Cause and the California Nurses Association support it. The California Taxpayers Association, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and former Fair Political Practices Commission Chair Dan Schnur oppose it, arguing it sets no limit on how many candidates could draw public money or how much.
Proposition 5: Recall elections
Legislative constitutional amendment, all voters
A yes vote would drop the second question from statewide recall ballots — the one asking who should replace the official if the recall succeeds. A recalled governor would instead be succeeded by the lieutenant governor. Legislative vacancies would go to special elections, and other offices would be filled by appointment by the governor.
The amendment’s author, Democrat Josh Newman, was recalled from his state Senate seat in 2018. Supporters, including the League of Women Voters and California Common Cause, point to the 2021 attempt to recall Newsom, which cost more than $200 million. Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones and the California Republican Party oppose it.
Proposition 37: Middle-income homebuyer loans
Initiative statute, all voters
A yes vote would create a state loan program for middle-income buyers of newly built homes, funded by up to $25 billion in revenue bonds repaid by the homeowners’ loan payments. The California Housing Finance Agency would lend up to 17% of the purchase price to first buyers of new homes priced below county limits of about $1 million to $1.5 million, provided they put at least 3% down, live in the home and earn no more than twice their area’s typical income. Builders who meet higher labor standards would get more flexible construction-defect rules.
The analyst’s office projects no direct state or local cost. The California Conference of Carpenters, veterans groups and Treasurer Ma back it, and no argument against it was submitted.
Proposition 38: Immunology research bond
Initiative statute, all voters
A yes vote would let the state borrow $8.4 billion for immunology and immunotherapy research, at least half of it for cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. About half would go to a single research institute meeting criteria that, according to CalMatters, appear to fit only the UCLA-affiliated California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, co-founded by billionaire Gary Michelson, who with a nonprofit he founded, the Michelson Center for Public Policy, has given the campaign at least $8.2 million. The rest would be awarded in competitive grants.
Repayment would cost the general fund $500 million to $600 million a year for about 20 years, the analyst’s office estimates, partly offset by a 10% state share of any revenue from resulting discoveries. The Alzheimer’s Association and Michael J. Fox Foundation support it. Robert Kaplan of Stanford University, who signed the lone argument against it, says research spending belongs in the regular state budget.
Proposition 39: Voter ID
Initiative constitutional amendment, all voters
A yes vote would require in-person voters to show government-issued identification and mail voters to write the last four digits of a government ID number on their ballot envelopes, matching one on file. Elections officials would also have to try to verify registered voters’ citizenship, and the state would issue free voter ID cards on request. The rules would apply to local elections, too.
The analyst’s office puts state and local costs at tens of millions to low hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Californians for Voter ID backs it. The ACLU of California, the League of Women Voters and California Common Cause oppose it.
Proposition 40: Billionaire tax
Initiative constitutional amendment and statute, all voters
A yes vote would impose a one-time tax equal to 5% of the wealth of billionaires who were California residents Jan. 1, 2026, due in 2027 or payable over five years. Real estate and retirement accounts are generally excluded, and 90% of the revenue must go to healthcare, with the rest to education, food assistance and administration.
The analyst’s office estimates tens of billions of dollars spread over several years and a possible ongoing loss of less than $1 billion a year in income-tax revenue. Backers put the take at about $100 billion.
SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, which has raised about $31 million for the campaign, Sen. Bernie Sanders and the California Democratic Party back it. Newsom, the California Medical Association and the California Teachers Association oppose it, as does Building a Better California, a committee backed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin that has raised more than $187 million to defeat Proposition 40, including $131 million to pass Propositions 41 and 42.
If either Proposition 41 or 42 gets more yes votes than Proposition 40, the analyst’s office says the billionaire tax could be stopped from taking effect even if a majority approves it.
Proposition 41: Special-tax audits and spending limit
Initiative constitutional amendment, all voters
A yes vote would bar the state from collecting any tax enacted or taking effect on or after Jan. 1, 2026, that is exempt from the state’s constitutional spending limit, as Proposition 40’s revenue is. It would also require the state auditor to audit new state special taxes every four years and to review programs funded by proposed ones before they reach the ballot, identifying 10% in possible savings.
The California Taxpayers Association and California Society of CPAs back it, along with Brin’s committee. The union behind Proposition 40 opposes it. The analyst’s office estimates auditor costs in the low millions of dollars a year. It would not affect local taxes.
Proposition 42: Personal-property taxes
Initiative constitutional amendment, all voters
A yes vote would bar any state tax enacted on or after Jan. 1, 2026, on owning retirement accounts, financial assets or other personal property — everything other than real estate — and would bar new state taxes that apply retroactively, except for up to a year during a declared emergency. Taxes already being collected by the end of 2025, such as the vehicle license fee, would be unaffected.
Small-business and veterans groups and California Professional Firefighters back it, as does Brin’s committee. The union behind Proposition 40 opposes it. The analyst’s office says future state revenue could be lower by an unknown amount.
Proposition 43: Two-thirds vote for citizen-initiated local taxes
Legislative constitutional amendment, all voters
Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, a yes vote would require two-thirds voter approval for any new, increased or extended local special tax proposed by citizen initiative. Under current court rulings such taxes need only a simple majority — the threshold that applies on this ballot to the county’s Measure P childcare parcel tax and the Marin Healthcare District’s Measure CC hospital parcel tax, both of which qualified by petition. Special taxes placed on the ballot by a city council or district board already need two-thirds.
The Legislature placed it on the ballot in a June deal with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which withdrew its own broader local-tax initiative. The California Taxpayers Association and Howard Jarvis back it. Firefighter, nurse and school-employee unions and the California Democratic Party oppose it.
Proposition 44: Clinic spending
Initiative statute, all voters
A yes vote would require nonprofit community health clinics known as federally qualified health centers, which serve many low-income patients, to spend at least 90% of their revenue each year on patient care, with penalties for falling short. Such clinics now average about 80%, according to the analyst’s office, which estimates state enforcement costs in the low tens of millions of dollars a year, paid by clinic fees, along with uncertain other effects, including possible clinic closures.
SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, the union behind Proposition 40, sponsored it. The California Medical Association, California Primary Care Association, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, California Hospital Association and California Democratic Party oppose it.
Proposition 45: Environmental review
Initiative statute, all voters
A yes vote would let applicants for housing, water, clean-energy, health, public-safety, wildfire-prevention, broadband, school and most transportation projects opt into a faster track under the California Environmental Quality Act, the state law requiring environmental review of development. It would set a deadline of 365 business days to finish an environmental-impact report, cap public-comment periods, allow a single project alternative and let courts halt only the deficient part of a challenged project rather than the whole thing. Delta water conveyance, nuclear and high-speed rail projects are excluded.
The California Chamber of Commerce wrote it, and the California Building Industry Association and California Housing Consortium back it. Environmental groups including the Sierra Club and California Environmental Voters oppose it, as does the California Democratic Party. California YIMBY took no position. The analyst’s office estimates initial state and local costs in the high tens of millions of dollars a year, partly covered by fees.
Reach Kevin Hessel at 415-435-2652.