By admin 
Democrat Malia Cohen wants to keep quiet about her re-election bid for state controller because she knows Republicans don’t have enough registered voters from their party to win statewide elections anymore.
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If the choice for controller were based solely on the merits and not party affiliation, voters would elect Republican Herb Morgan and oust Cohen. The collective editorial boards of The Sacramento Bee, Modesto Bee, Merced Sun-Star, Fresno Bee and San Luis Obispo Tribune endorse Morgan because he is the most qualified person for the office. Cohen did not respond to our interview requests and our board does not endorse candidates who won’t meet with us. Four years ago, we endorsed Cohen’s Republican candidate because she is an uninspiring candidate.
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Morgan is a longtime chief investment officer who served under former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. Morgan helped Sanders rescue the city’s beleaguered pension system. Morgan has a private-sector mentality that embraces big changes in financial management for California.”
Just as an air traffic controller guides the landings and takeoffs of aircraft, the California controller manages the comings and goings of the state’s money. The controller is the primary accountant, a crucial auditor, the disperser of funds and the administrator of the state employees’ payroll system. The controller sits on 70 boards and commissions. It’s a big job.
The backbone of all this is something called Fi$Cal, or the Financial Information System for California. It’s how the state tries to keep track of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of transactions annually, and it hasn’t kept up with the times.
As we wrote in our endorsement of Morgan in the June primary, he wants to update FI$Cal so it can function in real time whenever possible. Instead of reconciling expenditures after the fact, FI$Cal could receive transaction information in real time from state and local governments. With artificial intelligence able to monitor a mind-numbing amount of data, FI$Cal could evolve from an information system into a watchdog over how California’s money is spent.
This is the kind of idea that can be realized only when there is a leader with a vision to achieve it.
Morgan is the candidate who is a creative thinker. Cohen, meanwhile, is comfortably living as the incumbent Democrat, taking for granted the votes of party faithful.
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Voters have elected only Democrats to state constitutional offices for 15 years. But it’s in the interests of all voters to take down-ballot races seriously, particularly the ones involving constitutional officers who oversee our money. In this area, Morgan has years more experience and is more qualified to be state controller. If experience matters to you, vote Herb Morgan for state controller.
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What are editorials, and who writes them?
Editorials represent the collective views of the editorial boards of McClatchy Media’s California opinion teams.
They do not reflect the individual opinions of board members or the views of reporters in the news sections of The Sacramento Bee and its sister publication, the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Reporters do not participate in editorial board deliberations or weigh in on board decisions.
In Sacramento, the board includes Executive Editor Chris Fusco, California Opinion Editor Marcos Breton, opinion writers Robin Epley, Tom Philp, LeBron Antonio Hill, Cathie Anderson and op-ed editor Hannah Holzer.
In San Luis Obispo, it includes Opinion Editor Stephanie Finucane.
We base our opinions on reporting by our colleagues in the news section, and our own reporting and interviews. Our members attend public meetings, call people and follow-up on story ideas from readers just as news reporters do.
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This story was originally published October 1, 2026 at 10:00 AM.