Golden California

 Elect Eleni Kounalakis as Governor of California 2026

California’s Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis has announced that she plans to run for governor in 2026. 

She has declared her mission in her own words : “I will fight fiercely to build a future where everyone — regardless of race, class, or immigration status — has the same opportunity that my family and I had.”

Kounalakis is a seasoned Democrat with roots in Sacramento. She is the first major candidate to announce an early bird bid for the state’s Governor race nearly four years away. If elected, she would create history to become the first woman elected governor in state history.

Kounalakis was sworn in as the 50th Lieutenant Governor of California by Governor Gavin Newsom on January 7th, 2019. She is the first woman elected Lt. Governor of California.

Earlier, she served as an ambassador (From 2010 to 2013) to Hungary under former President Barack Obama. She was the first Greek-American woman – and at age 43 one of America’s youngest – to serve as U.S. Ambassador.

Kounalakis is the daughter of Angelo Tsakopoulos, a Greek immigrant who moved to Sacramento in the 1950s and built California’s most respected housing development firm, AKT Development Corporation. Prior to her public service, Kounalakis was the president of AKT Development. She built master-planned communities and delivered quality housing to the Sacramento region’s working families. 

Kounalakis is so passionate about early childhood development, and she served as a member of California’s First 5 Commission and the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism.

After announcing that she plans to run for governor in 2026, Kounalakis declared in a Facebook post : “I will fight fiercely to build a future where everyone — regardless of race, class, or immigration status — has the same opportunity that my family and I had.”

Newsom has completed only four months in his second four-year term as governor. It's somewhat rare for major candidates to announce their candidacies so early for gubernatorial election. But her team argues that it does have some advantages.

By announcing her candidacy this early, it gives Kounalakis a head start on mobilising everything for the most effective campaign.

Kounalakis has declared through the media that she wants to focus on addressing state problems like homelessness and housing, mental health, the fentanyl crisis and the high cost to live in California.