The simple act of voting affirms a tradition that has served Americans well for 250 years. True, the United States is not a pure democracy. If it were, Californians would not have 2 percent of the representation of each North Dakotan in the US Senate. Also, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia would have voting congressional representation. And we would elect presidents based on popular vote rather than through an electoral college that’s biased towards whiter flyover states while disenfranchising the more diverse and educated coastal ones.
A clear example of that kind of undemocracy transpired in 2000, when popular vote-losing George W. Bush managed to stop Florida recounts that would have likely elected Al Gore, thanks to a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. Talk about making one vote count.
The attacks on voting rights have continued with ID law initiatives and restrictions on mail voting. We now see a massive increase in democratic-erosion events, from press restrictions and pardons of election disruptors and presidential family members to Department of Justice investigations of political opponents—which began under Biden and accelerated under Trump.
Fighting back against naked power grabs is an act of patriotism that begins with a cast ballot. Now more than before, it’s time to study the issues, the candidates and the ballot measures, then exercise our right to participate in guiding our future. Without that participation, we just give a green light to the rising tide of global authoritarianism.
This guide was prepared by Stephanie Uchida, Eric Parker and Dan Pulcrano
The national political divide is playing out in California, with Democrat Xavier Becerra trying his best to cast Republican Steve Hilton as a proxy for unpopular midterm president Donald Trump. UK-immigrant Hilton has created AI-generated ads cleverly portraying Becerra, the son of a Mexican immigrant and a U.S. born father, as a machine-selected candidate of Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris. The attorney general took the Trump administration to court at least 120 times with some success. Hilton promises Californians $3 gas and to remove the $800 annual state tax on business entities, which disproportionately impacts small businesses and startups. The victor in this race will take office in early 2027 and lead the state’s executive branch.
In the race for lieutenant governor, Democrat Fiona Ma, the current state treasurer and a certified public accountant, faces Republican Gloria Romero, a former longtime Democratic state senator turned Republican, educator and charter school founder. Ma emphasizes affordability, opportunity and bipartisanship drawn from her small business and legislative record, while Romero is running on education reform, college accountability, fire recovery and an active role for the office.
In the race for secretary of state, Democrat Shirley Weber, the incumbent and California’s first Black secretary of state, faces Republican Don Wagner, an Orange County supervisor, former Irvine mayor and ex-assemblymember. Weber emphasizes voting access, transparency in election filings and cybersecurity, drawn from her record overseeing the state’s elections and her years as a professor and four-term assemblymember, while Wagner is running on election integrity, voter ID, faster ballot counting and a more business-friendly, modernized office.
In the competition for state controller, Democrat Malia Cohen, the incumbent and California’s first African American controller, squares off against Republican Herb Morgan, a chief investment officer and investment firm founder. Cohen emphasizes transparency, efficiency and fairness in managing state finances, drawn from her record as a Board of Equalization chair, San Francisco supervisors president and seat on the CalPERS board, while Morgan is campaigning on exposing government fraud, a real-time blockchain ledger of state spending and proactive audits.
In the race for state treasurer, Democrat Eleni Kounalakis, the current lieutenant governor and California’s first woman elected to that office, faces Republican Jennifer Hawks, a retired Silicon Valley businessperson and first-time candidate. Kounalakis emphasizes affordable housing through public finance, investing in children and families and protecting pensions, drawn from her record as a housing developer, U.S. ambassador to Hungary and member of the UC Regents and CSU Trustees, while Hawks is running as an outsider on transparency, independent oversight and exposing waste, fraud and mismanagement.