Eleni Kounalakis
2019 - Present
2027
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Eleni Kounalakis (Democratic Party) is the Lieutenant Governor of California. She assumed office in 2019. Her current term ends on January 4, 2027.
Kounalakis (Democratic Party) is running for election for Governor of California. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Kounalakis is a former ambassador to Hungary and a senior advisor for the Albright Stonebridge Group. During the 2016 election cycle, she was a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and part of Clinton's foreign policy advisory team.[1]
Career
Early career
After graduating from Dartmouth in 1989 with a degree in English, Kounalakis spent time in Greece before returning to her home state of California to pursue her M.B.A., which she received from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1992. After graduation, she began her career as a real estate developer in Sacramento, California, with her family's land development company, AKT Development.
Community outreach
While working in development, Kounalakis also began interfaith community work, including a time developing faith forums for the World Council of Religions for Peace. She told Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, "An interfaith forum is an incredibly powerful venue for understanding how people think—a close-up opportunity to talk to people who believe completely different things from one another and have more than a bilateral conversation."[2] She and her husband, journalist Markos Kounalakis, established two endowed chairs of Greek studies, The Eleni and Markos Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Chair at Georgetown University in 2006 and the Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Chair in honor of Constantine Mitsotakis at Stanford University in 2005. For her work in interfaith dialogues, the Greek Orthodox Church of America awarded Kounalakis its highest honor, the Medal of St. Paul, in 2009.[3]
Lieutenant Governor of California (2019-present)
Kounalakis was elected lieutenant governor of California on November 6, 2018. She assumed office in January 2019.
San Francisco Port Commission (2016)
In February 2016, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee nominated Kounalakis to serve as a member of the city's Port Commission.[4] She was confirmed to fill the remainder of Mel Murphy's term, which expired on May 1, 2016.[5]
U.S. Ambassador to Hungary (2010-2013)
In 2010, she was appointed by President Barack Obama as U.S. ambassador to Hungary, a position she filled until 2013.
After leaving her post in 2013, Kounalakis published Madam Ambassador, a memoir about her time in Budapest and the work of an ambassador generally speaking.
Hillary Clinton presidential campaign (2008)
Democratic National Convention
In 2008, Kounalakis served as a delegate for the Democratic National Convention, one of four times she had been selected.
Elections
2026
See also: California gubernatorial election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Governor of California
The following candidates are running in the general election for Governor of California on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Toni Atkins (D) | |
 | Xavier Becerra (D) | |
 | Eleni Kounalakis (D) | |
 | Katie Porter (D) | |
 | Raji Rab (D) | |
 | Tony Thurmond (D) | |
 | Antonio Villaraigosa (D) | |
 | Betty Yee (D) | |
 | Michael Younger (D) | |
| Chad Bianco (R) | ||
 | Sharifah Hardie (R)  | |
 | Brandon Jones (R) | |
 | Kyle Langford (R) | |
 | Leo Zacky (R) | |
 | Javen Allen (American Independent Party) | |
| Nicholas Thompson (L) | ||
| Tony Fitzpatrick (No party preference) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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Kounalakis received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
2022
See also: California lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022
General election
General election for Lieutenant Governor of California
Incumbent Eleni Kounalakis defeated Angela Underwood Jacobs in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of California on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eleni Kounalakis (D) | 59.7 | 6,418,119 |
 | Angela Underwood Jacobs (R) | 40.3 | 4,332,602 | |
| Total votes: 10,750,721 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Lieutenant Governor of California
The following candidates ran in the primary for Lieutenant Governor of California on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eleni Kounalakis (D) | 52.7 | 3,617,121 |
| ✔ | | Angela Underwood Jacobs (R) | 19.9 | 1,365,468 |
 | David Fennell (R) | 13.4 | 922,493 | |
| Clint Saunders (R) | 4.5 | 306,216 | ||
 | Jeffrey Highbear Morgan (D) | 3.3 | 229,121 | |
 | Mohammad Arif (Peace and Freedom Party) | 2.7 | 183,150 | |
 | William Saacke (D) | 2.5 | 171,800 | |
 | David Hillberg (Independent) | 1.1 | 74,289 | |
 | James Orlando Ogle III (No party preference) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 25 | |
| Total votes: 6,869,683 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Scott Sebel (R)
- Boris Romanowsky (Independent)
Campaign finance
2018
General election
General election for Lieutenant Governor of California
Eleni Kounalakis defeated Edward Hernandez in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of California on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eleni Kounalakis (D) | 56.6 | 5,914,068 |
 | Edward Hernandez (D) | 43.4 | 4,543,863 | |
| Total votes: 10,457,931 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Lieutenant Governor of California
The following candidates ran in the primary for Lieutenant Governor of California on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eleni Kounalakis (D) | 24.2 | 1,587,940 |
| ✔ | | Edward Hernandez (D) | 20.6 | 1,347,442 |
 | Cole Harris (R) | 17.5 | 1,144,003 | |
 | Jeff Bleich (D) | 9.9 | 648,045 | |
| David Fennell (R) | 7.9 | 515,956 | |
| Lydia Ortega (R) | 6.4 | 419,512 | ||
 | David Hernandez (R) | 6.2 | 404,982 | |
 | Gayle McLaughlin (Independent) | 4.0 | 263,364 | |
 | Timothy Ferreira (L) | 1.5 | 99,949 | |
 | Cameron Gharabiklou (D) | 1.2 | 78,267 | |
| Danny Thomas (Independent) | 0.7 | 44,121 | ||
| Total votes: 6,553,581 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Marjan Fariba (Independent)
- Matthew Rizzie (D)
Endorsements
Kounalakis was endorsed by former President Barack Obama (D) in the general election.[6]
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2022
Eleni Kounalakis did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Eleni Kounalakis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kounalakis' responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
Economy: As the chair of the Commission for Economic Development, I will advance policies that ensure our state's economy works for everyone, fight to build more affordable homes, ensure equal pay for women, and prepare California's economy for the 21st Century. We need to create more good-paying jobs while also protecting our environment. Higher Education: The cost of higher education is out of control. I have pledged to oppose all tuition increases for California students attending the UC and CSUs. I paid $2K per year in tuition for my MBA at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Now, the same program costs over $60K per year. I will fight to make higher education affordable and to build more affordable student housing. Environment: As Lt. Governor, I will serve on the State Lands Commission. I will use my skills as a diplomat, and my experience working on the policies that led to the Paris Climate Accord as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, to protect the environment and ensure California is a global leader in the effort to fight climate change. I'll fight to protect our coasts and stop the Trump administration from expanding offshore oil drilling.
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
I am the only woman in this race, and if elected, I'll bring down a high, hard glass ceiling as the first woman elected Lt. Governor of California. If we make history in this way, there is no greater cause for me to take on than to fight for gender parity in leadership and increase security for women. This includes protecting women from sexual harassment and ensuring equal pay and economic security.
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
My very first paid job was working as a staffer at the California Democratic Party in 1992, helping elect two women to the U.S. Senate and turning California blue. Since then, I have been an activist promoting good government and a supporter of qualified Democratic candidates for elected office.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016
| Eleni Kounalakis | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | Albright Stonebridge Group |
| Role: | Senior advisor |
| Location: | San Francisco, Calif. |
| Affiliation: | Democratic |
| Education: | •Dartmouth College •University of California, Berkeley |
For the 2016 presidential election, Kounalakis joined Hillary Clinton's campaign. While she served as part of Clinton's foreign advisory team, Kounalakis was also involved in fundraising for the campaign in California.[7] In November 2015, she hosted a San Francisco fundraising event for Clinton that raised $2,700 per attendee.[8] In a 2015 opinion piece for CNN, Kounalakis described her experiences with Clinton and why she supported her presidential run: "Diplomatically, without bluster or bullying, without stealing headlines or focusing on her own legacy, Hillary Clinton rebuilt the network of American relationships around the globe. This is certainly her most important legacy and fundamental to the future of American leadership in the world."[9]
Ballot measure activity
The following table details Kounalakis' ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia:
| Ballot measure support and opposition for Eleni Kounalakis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballot measure | Year | Position | Status |
| California Proposition 1, Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment (2022) | 2022 | Supported[10] |  Approved |
| California Proposition 27, Legalize Sports Betting and Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Fund Initiative (2022) | 2022 | Opposed[11] |  Defeated |
| San Francisco, California, Proposition C, Authorize and Regulate Sale of Electronic Cigarettes and Vapor Products Initiative | 2019 | Opposed[12] | Defeated
|
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate Governor of California |
Officeholder Lieutenant Governor of California |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Albright Stonebridge Group, "Eleni Kounalakis," accessed May 31, 2016
- ↑ Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, "Journey to Budapest," December 2010
- ↑ International Coordinating Committee "Justice for Cyprus" (PSEKA), "Eleni Tsakopoulos-kounalakis Receives Greek Orthodox Church Of America’s Highest Honor," February 19, 2009
- ↑ San Francisco Examiner, "Mayor Ed Lee’s Port Commission pick sails through board committee," February 11, 2016
- ↑ San Francisco Board of Supervisors, "Confirming Appointment, Port Commission - Eleni Kounalakis," February 23, 2016
- ↑ Twitter, "Barack Obama tweet August 1, 2018," accessed August 13, 2018
- ↑ GreekReporter, "Eleni Kounalakis On Her Ambassadorship, New Book and Hillary Clinton," March 31, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Hillary Clinton confronts her 43 percent problem," January 29, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "Hillary Clinton revived America's reputation in world," August 17, 2015
- ↑ Protect Abortion CA, "Our Coalition," accessed December 6, 2022
- ↑ No on 27, "Our Coalition," accessed December 7, 2022
- ↑ SF Chronicle, "California lieutenant governor slams Juul’s SF ballot measure," accessed October 11, 2019
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Lieutenant Governor of California 2019-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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 |
State of California Sacramento (capital) |
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