Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis dropping out of CA gubernatorial race, running for treasurer instead
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis has announced she's no longer running for governor and will run for treasurer instead.
Her website was changed on Friday morning from her run for governor to her campaign for state treasurer.
In a statement posted to X, Kounalakis said, "This decision was not made lightly. Over the course of my campaign for governor, I have had the opportunity to engage with Californians across the state - listening to their concerns, hopes, and ideas for a stronger, more equitable future."
Kounalakis is from San Francisco and is the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor.
Governor Gavin Newsom will term out next year.
MORE: Who's the frontrunner in CA governor's race now that Harris is out? Here's a look at the field
Kounalakis' departure comes just weeks after former Vice President Kamala Harris said she would not run for governor.
It also comes as a new Emerson College poll released Friday shows her getting just 3% support from likely voters -- way behind Katie Porter's 18%.
"Given the way the California primary system now works, where the top two candidates go into the general, something like 18% is pretty significant," UCSC political analyst Nolan Higdon said. "Given the amount of people that can run and the very fact that the lieutenant governor could not muster up enough percentage votes in the polls to compete with that probably indicates that her campaign saw there wasn't really a path to victory."
Seven candidates are now left in the running for governor and Higdon says the race won't just have an impact on the state, but possibly the entire nation in a hyper-partisan time.
"California is generally seen as the resistance from the Democrats," Higdon said. "So whoever steps into this governor's seat will have big shoes to fill for multiple reasons, but one of the reasons is they're going to find themselves at odds with the president of the United States, certainly for the first two years of their governorship."
