(Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)
Top job: California checks
Biggest splash: During Yee’s tenure as comptroller, her agency uncovered tens of millions of dollars of local government abuse and questionable financial practices at state agencies.
Information: Yee, 66, was born to Chinese immigrant parents and grew up in San Francisco, where the family lived in a one-bedroom apartment behind their dry cleaning business. Yee lives in the Bay Area with her husband, Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs. She is a Democrat.
Campaign launch: March 2024
Yee was state budget director under former Gov. Davis before winning a seat on the California State Board of Equalization in 2006 and again in 2010. She was elected state comptroller in 2014. Her audits and investigations by the comptroller’s office, she said, found more than $4 billion in misused funds. She won re-election in 2018 and her second term ended in January 2023.
Yee has emphasized his financial background and budgeting experience, both of which could appeal to California voters as the state grapples with a historic deficit. Budget projections suggest the next governor could find himself in a challenging fiscal environment if state revenues do not recover.
In announcing her campaign, Yee talked about how her humble beginnings crystallized her focus on the importance of financial health. As a young girl, she handled the books of the family business and saw firsthand how a bad week meant cutting back on groceries and other essential expenses for her and her five siblings, she said.
A report from the 2022 Times detailed how Yee provided behind-the-scenes advice to a politically connected company seeking a $600 million no-bid government contract to provide Covid-19 masks and collect questions about her commitment. Yee has said that she had no financial interest in the contract and that the advice was the same as she would offer potential business owners.
Yee serves as vice chairman of the California Democratic Party.
