Malia M. Cohen

LAist's general-election guide to the Controller race, republishing CalMatters material (updated October 19, 2026). It says Cohen is running for re-election on 'transparency, efficiency and fairness' and urged caution during budget talks, and that Morgan wants to use the office to investigate fraud.

• Cohen: incumbent since 2023; key endorsements California Democratic Party, California Labor Federation, Equality California.
• Morgan: chief investment officer; key endorsements California Republican Party, California Republican Assembly, Unity Party of California.
• Links to both campaigns' endorsement lists.

CalMatters' 2026 Voter Guide page for the Controller race. It describes the office and gives short profiles of Malia M. Cohen (D) and Herb W. Morgan (R), with key endorsements and campaign-finance table headings (the tables themselves did not appear in the stored text).

• Cohen campaigns on governing finances with 'transparency, efficiency and fairness' and urged caution during budget talks.
• Morgan runs on exposing fraud in government and founded an investment firm later acquired by Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors.
• Endorsements: Cohen — California Democratic Party, California Labor Federation, Equality California; Morgan — California Republican Party, California Republican Assembly, Unity Party of California.

The index page of CalMatters' 2026 California Voter Guide. It covers key dates, the governor's race, propositions and legislative races, and links to individual race pages; it does not discuss Malia Cohen or the Controller race in its text.

• Hub for CalMatters' nonpartisan 2026 voter guide, with links to race pages.
• Lists election dates: ballots mailed Oct 5, registration deadline for mail ballots Oct 19, Election Day Nov 3.
• No content specific to the Controller race or Cohen.

CalMatters profile of the 2026 Controller race. It reports that Cohen has raised more than $1.2 million, urged caution in budget talks, and cleared a backlog of late Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports by releasing four in two years. It also reports that she did not carry out her 2022 pledges to scrutinize homelessness spending, EDD and DMV, which she attributes to the state auditor having already reviewed them; she focused instead on modernizing FI$Cal and the payroll system. It briefly profiles challengers Herb Morgan and Meghann Adams.

• Cohen has raised more than $1.2 million and has served since 2023.
• CalMatters says Cohen improved delivery of the chronically late ACFR, releasing four reports in two years; she told CalMatters the next would be about two months late.
• CalMatters says Cohen did not meet 2022 promises to scrutinize homelessness spending, EDD and DMV; she said the state auditor had already examined them.
• Cohen is quoted: 'Californians deserve to know where their money is going.'
• Morgan pledges to scrutinize homelessness spending and use AI to monitor nonprofit transactions; Adams (Peace and Freedom) is also running.

KPBS republication of the CalMatters candidate explainer for the Controller race. It describes the office and gives short profiles: Cohen, the incumbent since 2023, campaigns on governing state finances with 'transparency, efficiency and fairness' and has urged legislators to spend with caution; Morgan runs on exposing fraud.

• Cohen has served since 2023 and is seeking re-election.
• She campaigns on 'transparency, efficiency and fairness.'
• Top endorsements listed: California Democratic Party, California Labor Federation, Equality California.
• Morgan's listed endorsements: California Republican Party, California Republican Assembly, Unity Party of California.

Commentary in the California Globe by Marc Joffe, a Visiting Fellow at the California Policy Center. It reports that on May 12, 2026 Cohen released the 2024-25 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, 42 days past the standard nine-month deadline but much less delayed than in recent years, and that the state received a clean (unmodified) audit opinion for the first time since 2019. Joffe credits Cohen with 'a marked improvement' while saying she 'seemed like a questionable replacement' given her experience, and argues that internal-control weaknesses remain, especially in Medi-Cal.

• ACFR for FY2024-25 released May 12, 2026, 42 days after the nine-month deadline.
• First clean audit opinion since 2019, per the author.
• Joffe says filing delays began under former Controller Betty Yee, peaking around 12 months for fiscal 2021.
• Joffe says Cohen 'deserves credit for overseeing a marked improvement.'
• He cites the State Auditor's internal-control report on material weaknesses at the Department of Health Care Services and says the federal government is withholding $1.3 billion in Medi-Cal matching payments.

The official printed voter guide's Controller statements (p. 86), the same text as the SoS web page. Cohen runs on her record: expanded access to financial and payroll data, timely monthly cash reports, unclaimed property reunited with all 58 counties, and payroll-system modernization.

• Cohen: running 'to ensure taxpayer dollars are managed with transparency, accountability, and fairness.'
• Says 'budgets are moral documents that should reflect our shared values and invest in people, not special interests.'
• Lists labor, health-care worker and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California support.

Op-ed by her opponent, Herb Morgan, arguing that Cohen failed to use the Controller's pre-payment review power (Gov. Code §12410) to demand funding-sufficiency studies and milestone registers before approving high-speed rail payments.

• Morgan: 'There is no clear public evidence that Controller Malia Cohen's office imposed these basic safeguards.'
• He attributes the outcome to her 'lack of financial experience.'
• He concedes the project's failures 'span multiple administrations.'

Morgan campaign release calling for Cohen to resign, or for a legislative review of her office, after an O'Keefe Media Group undercover video in which her press secretary, Bismarck Obando, discusses staffing limits and audits not being completed.

• Morgan: 'Controller Malia Cohen's office has acknowledged significant limitations in its audit capacity.'
• He says the Legislature should act only 'if the concerns outlined in the video are substantiated.'

Cohen's written answers to GrowSF's June 2026 primary questionnaire. She lists priorities in order: accountability and transparency in state spending (modernized audits and reporting), preserving commitments to education, health care, climate and infrastructure, expanding contracting for small and underrepresented businesses, oversight of homelessness and behavioral-health spending, and modernizing financial systems and cybersecurity. She answers questions on unclaimed property, local financial reporting, fiscal resilience, modernization, and nonpartisan oversight.

• Top goal: strengthening accountability and transparency because 'public trust is foundational.'
• Says the office 'cannot unilaterally rewrite policy' but can shape behavior through audits and public reporting.
• Unclaimed property: says in 2025 the office reunited all 58 counties with more than $2.3 million; goal to 'significantly increase claim participation' through outreach and simpler claims; no numeric target.
• Proposes an expanded long-term fiscal outlook dashboard tracking reserves, debt, revenue volatility and spending trends.
• Names the California State Payroll System project as a modernization priority; cites $804 million in bond authority she approved for affordable student housing.

Morgan's 'Radical Transparency' white paper and release. As criticism of Cohen it lists late annual financial reports (FY2021-22 about 20 months after year-end; FY2022-23 17-18 months; FY2023-24 about 15 months), notes the State Auditor's high-risk designation for late reporting since 2020, and says she 'lacks the necessary experience, background, and skill.'

• Release headline calls out 'Malia Cohen's Incompetence.'
• Lags shrink across the three years Morgan lists, but he presents them as 'a pattern of incompetence and neglect.'
• Says the Controller's withholding powers 'have gone largely unused across multiple administrations.'

Official State Controller's Office press release with Cohen's statement on Gov. Newsom's proposed 2026-27 January budget. She supports the plan to preserve and rebuild reserves, limit borrowing and keep spending aligned with revenues, and cites her December cash report showing receipts and expenditures both above Budget Act estimates as reason for restraint.

• Cohen: 'I support the Governor's plan to preserve and rebuild reserves, keep borrowing in check, and maintain flexibility in the budget.'
• She says strong revenue years 'do not eliminate California's long-term fiscal challenges.'
• She warns against 'locking in ongoing commitments that cannot be sustained over the long term.'

The Secretary of State's official voter guide page for the Controller race, carrying candidate-supplied statements. Malia M. Cohen's statement describes her as the incumbent chief fiscal officer seeking re-election and lists accomplishments she claims as Controller: expanded public access to financial and payroll data, monthly cash reports, reuniting all 58 counties with unclaimed property, honoring local governments for financial reporting, and advancing payroll-system modernization. It closes with a list of supporting groups.

• Cohen's statement says she is running for re-election 'to ensure taxpayer dollars are managed with transparency, accountability, and fairness.'
• She describes herself as a lifelong Californian and working mom who believes 'budgets are moral documents.'
• She claims to have expanded access to financial and payroll data, released timely monthly cash reports, reunited all 58 counties with millions in unclaimed property, and advanced payroll modernization.
• She lists support from teachers, nurses, firefighters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and several building-trades and labor groups.
• The page also describes the office's duties: state accountant and bookkeeper, payroll, unclaimed property, audits, and board service.

Homepage of Cohen's 2026 re-election campaign. It says she was born and raised in San Francisco and is 'determined to fight for an equitable, healthy future for all Californians,' and lists seven priorities: housing, retirement security, an economy that works for all, affordable health care, reproductive access, equal rights, and protecting the planet.

• Tagline: 'Building a Better Future — together.'
• Seven listed priorities: housing crisis, retirement security, economy for all, affordable health care, reproductive access, equal rights, climate.
• No detail on Controller-specific plans on the page itself.

GrowSF, a San Francisco political group, recommends voting for Malia Cohen for Controller in its November 2026 guide. It cites her prior chairing of SF Board of Supervisors budget and audit committees, her leadership of the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System, her seats on the CalPERS and CalSTRS boards, her charter-school fraud task force, and her office's publication of public-pay data. It also says it would like to see the office return more of the roughly $15 billion in unclaimed property.

• GrowSF endorses Cohen: 'Cohen knows public finance, and she knows San Francisco.'
• It credits her with leading a task force that produced 20 fixes for state school-finance audits after the state's largest charter school fraud.
• It notes her office publishes pay data for more than 2 million government workers.
• It says it wants the office to return $15B in unclaimed property automatically, as it says other states do.
• Links to both candidates' GrowSF questionnaires.

Cohen campaign endorsement list. It names Gov. Gavin Newsom, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Sen. Adam Schiff, Treasurer Fiona Ma, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón and others, plus dozens of labor unions and groups including the California Labor Federation, SEIU State Council, California Professional Firefighters, the California Democratic Party, Equality California and California Environmental Voters.

• Statewide elected endorsers include Newsom, Kounalakis, Weber, Schiff and Ma.
• Extensive labor support, including AFSCME, IBEW, UA, Teamsters, SEIU and the State Building and Construction Trades Council.
• Also lists the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association and California State Retirees.

CalMatters account of an 80-minute 2022 interview with then-candidate Malia Cohen, with extended direct quotes. Cohen describes the Controller's job as both administrative and a platform to advance equity and diverse leadership, pledges to scrutinize EDD, DMV and homelessness programs and to audit R&D tax-credit recipients, and describes a collaborative rather than 'gotcha' audit style. CalMatters notes she declined positions on some pending issues, such as a stimulus payment, a gas-tax pause, and divesting pension funds from Russian companies.

• Cohen: 'I think that we do need to elect strong people with strong values that are not afraid to stand up and are not afraid to speak out.'
• She pledged to scrutinize the EDD, DMV and state homelessness programs and audit R&D tax-credit recipients.
• She described her style: 'My style is not, ‘I got you, aha.’' and favors private conversations about audit findings.
• She declined to take positions on a stimulus payment, a gas-tax pause, and pension divestment from Russia, saying she needed more information on the last.
• She expressed concern about the state's long-term fiscal direction.

Bond Buyer report that Cohen released recommendations from the task force she led, formed in 2023 after the San Diego A3 charter-school fraud, to strengthen charter school auditing. The recommendations cover auditor expertise, authorization requirements, the K-12 Audit Guide and audit disclosures; Cohen said she wants them applied across the K-12 system.

• Task force formed by a September 2023 court order of San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert C. Longstreth in People v. Sean McManus.
• Cohen led the task force with the San Diego District Attorney's Office and the case's successor receiver.
• Cohen called the recommendations 'a critical road map for ensuring trust, accountability, and transparency.'
• The fraud involved about $400 million paid for non-existent students; the state hoped to recoup $215 million.

CalMatters 2024 report that California was late producing its Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the sixth consecutive year. Cohen's office attributed delays of the 2021-22 report to unanticipated 2023 tax-filing extensions and agencies' transition to FI$Cal, said the delays had not harmed bond ratings, and said Cohen had pledged to get reports on track by March 2026.

• Sixth consecutive year the ACFR missed the March 31/April 1 federal and bond deadlines; the latest available covered FY ending 2022, published March 2024.
• Cohen's office blamed 2023 tax extensions and FI$Cal transition difficulties.
• The office said delays had not yet harmed bond ratings because other data sources exist.
• Cohen pledged in the March 2024 report to return to timely reporting by March 2026.
• Truth in Accounting ranked California 48th in financial transparency in April 2024.

California Black Media report, republished by The Windy City Word, that Cohen would chair a statewide multi-agency task force to develop audit criteria and best practices to prevent charter school fraud, formed by a San Diego Superior Court judge after the A3 Education case. It includes a direct statement from Cohen.

• Task force formed by San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert Longstreth after 11 defendants were charged in a roughly $400 million fictitious-enrollment fraud at A3 Education.
• Cohen says lead defendants agreed to turn over A3 assets and $215 million to the state.
• Cohen: 'I could not in good conscience allow this matter to proceed through the judicial system without offering my office's assistance in drafting guidelines.'

KQED Political Breakdown podcast episode page from July 2022 in which then-Board of Equalization chair Malia Cohen discusses her childhood in San Francisco, a meeting with then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein, Lowell High School, and her run for Controller. KQED's summary line says she 'promises to bring progressive values to top watchdog role.' The stored page contains only the episode description, not a transcript.

• Audio interview (about 28 minutes) from the 2022 campaign.
• KQED describes her as promising 'to bring progressive values to top watchdog role.'
• No transcript in the stored text.

A 2022 CalMatters candidate profile, republished by Patch, presenting Cohen's background as a 'resume.' It covers her Board of Equalization chairmanship, eight years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, leadership of SFERS' $100 million fossil-fuel divestment, and her consulting firm, and says she pledged a collaborative approach including consulting fellow Democratic leaders before issuing reports.

• BOE chair from 2019; first African-American woman on the board (per profile).
• SF Supervisor 2011-2019, board president in 2018, Budget and Finance Committee chair.
• As SFERS chair, led a $100 million fossil-fuel divestment.
• Founded the consulting firm Power Forward after being fired from another consulting job.
• CalMatters says she pledged to consult fellow Democratic leaders before issuing reports.

California Black Media report (via ONME News) on Cohen's 2021 announcement that she would run for Controller in 2022, with endorsement from then-Controller Betty Yee. It includes a one-line quote from Cohen on why she was running.

• Cohen announced at the 2021 California Democratic Party convention.
• Cohen: 'I am running because I am committed to equity, empowerment, hope and opportunity for all Californians.'
• Betty Yee endorsed her; CDP Black Caucus chair Taisha Brown expressed support.