The race for California’s No. 2 job has come down to Democratic state Treasurer Fiona Ma and Republican former state Sen. Gloria Romero as the lieutenant governor-hopefuls look to use the role to shape state policy on issues like student housing and college entrance exams.

The office, which is currently held by soon-to-be-termed-out Eleni Kounalakis, has often been dismissed as largely ceremonial — Gov. Gavin Newsom, who held the job for eight years, famously described it as a “backwater.”

The lieutenant governor sits on several influential boards, including those for the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges, and serves on the State Lands and Coastal commissions. They also step in as acting governor when the governor leaves the state, and preside over the state Senate, giving them the power to cast any tie-breaking votes. The lieutenant governor, like the vice president, is next in line in case the governor dies or is removed from office.

But both candidates say they are looking to go beyond the day-to-day job description and use the office’s bully pulpit to push forward their priorities.

Fiona Ma

Ma, 60, came in first place in the June primary with 19.1% of the vote among the 18 candidates running. In an interview, she called herself a “workhorse” who specializes in complex problems and bringing together stakeholders to push legislation forward.

Ma has been the state Treasurer since 2018, acting as California’s banker and financier, managing an investment portfolio $150 to $250 billion annually and overseeing the disbursement of $3.7 trillion dollars a year.

Prior to her current role, she served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the California Board of Equalization and in the state Assembly, where she was speaker pro tempore. Her long list of government experience, she said, has give her a “holistic perspective of what is working here in California and what is not working.”

As a member of several higher education boards, Ma said she wants to push for more public-private partnerships, noting that there’s a “disconnect between the private sector and our universities.” The collaboration would help students with training and mentorship to increase their chances of finding an entry level job upon graduation.

“I think that has been missing, but is really needed now because of what’s happening in the AI space and all the disruptions,” she said.

Ma also wants to build more housing for college students utilizing state-owned land. The need, she says, is the greatest for California State University and community college students. In her current position, she used bond revenue through the California School Finance Authority to help fund more than 300 homes at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Ma’s other priorities include working with the state Legislature to exempt military retirement pay from state income taxes, raising awareness in schools about the risks of fentanyl and strengthening emergency preparedness at county fairground sites.

She is endorsed by Kounalakis, the California Democratic Party, Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla and a number of labor organizations including the California Teachers Association, the California Nurses Association and the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.

Gloria Romero

Romero, 71, came in second place in the June primary with 17.8% of the vote. She served in the California state Legislature from 1998 to 2008, which included a stint as the Democratic state Senate majority leader. She left the party in 2024 and registered as a Republican.

Romero has also served as a member of the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees and worked as a professor at California State University, Los Angeles.

In an interview, she said she has a deep understanding of how Sacramento works and would be a “strong character” who could lead with “vast expertise” as lieutenant governor. In a state where Democratic voters outnumber Republicans nearly two-to-one, Romero said that her previous membership in the Democratic Party gave her an “inside” look at the party.

One of her top priorities is the state’s higher education system, which she said is “crying out for some leadership.”

Romero wants to bring back the SAT and reinstate standardized testing as a requirement for admission to the state’s public colleges and universities. The UC Board of Regents removed it as a requisite in 2020, but many university professors have advocated to bring it back.

“Too many students are graduating … and going into the university system and they are unprepared to take on college level work,” Romero said.

She supports greater school choice for parents and the abolition of the federal Department of Education.

Romero’s priorities also include combatting human trafficking and examining the state’s animal cruelty laws, though she did not detail how that would relate to the job’s functions. As a member of the State Lands and Coastal commissions, Romero said she would support new oil exploration and clearing underbrush to prevent wildfires.

Romero is running for lieutenant governor on a “golden ticket” alongside Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and two other GOP statewide candidates. The lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor, but both candidates have said they want to highlight their agenda.