Eleni Kounalakis (née Tsakopoulos; born March 3, 1966) is an American politician, businesswoman, and diplomat serving as the 50th

lieutenant governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest Executive (government), executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The Lieutenant governor (United States), lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-yea ...

since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first

Greek American Greek Americans ( ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. There is an estimate of 1.2 million Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. According to the US census, 264,066 people o ...

and the first woman elected to the office. Kounalakis graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree before attending

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where she obtained a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

. After graduation, she worked for AKT Development Corporation, a Sacramento-based real estate company founded by her father, Angelo Tsakopoulos, eventually serving as president of the company until 2010. Kounalakis was appointed by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

to serve as the

United States Ambassador to Hungary This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Hungary. Until 1867 Hungary had been part of the Austrian Empire, when the empire became Austria-Hungary. Hungary had no separate diplomatic relations with other nations. The United States h ...

from 2010 to 2013. She was elected lieutenant governor of California in 2018, and reelected in 2022. As lieutenant governor, she attempted to disqualify

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

from the

2024 presidential election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

following the

Colorado Supreme Court The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in Denver, the court was established in 1876. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices who are appointed by the Governor of Colorado from a ...

's ruling in Anderson v. Griswold. She was subsequently

doxxed Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly providing personally identifiable information about an individual or organization, usually via the Internet and without their consent. Historically, the term has been used to refer to both the aggregat ...

and

swatted Swatting is a form of criminal harassment that involves deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police or emergency response team to another person's location. This is achieved ...

, part of a pattern of criminal intimidation nationwide. On April 24, 2023, Kounalakis announced her candidacy for

governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The Governor (United States), governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constit ...

in the

2026 California gubernatorial election The 2026 California gubernatorial election will take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the next governor of California. The nonpartisan top-two primary election will take place on June 2, 2026. Incumbent Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is ...

Early life

Eleni Kounalakis is the daughter of Angelo Tsakopoulos, a Sacramento developer. Kounalakis is of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

descent and grew up a member of the

Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...

. Kounalakis received her undergraduate degree from

and a Master of Business Administration from the

Haas School of Business The Walter A. Haas School of Business (branded as Berkeley Haas) is the business school of the University of California, Berkeley, a Public university, public research university in Berkeley, California. It was the first business school at a pub ...

Career

Private career

Before 2009, Kounalakis was President of AKT Development Corporation, a family-owned real estate, farming, ranching, water, minerals, building, land development and property investment company, based in Sacramento, California, founded by Angelo K Tsakopoulos, her father, in 1964. Kounalakis and her husband, print and broadcast journalist

Markos Kounalakis Markos Kounalakis (; born December 1, 1956) is an American syndicated journalist and scholar who is the second gentleman of California as the husband of lieutenant governor Eleni Kounalakis. He writes a syndicated weekly foreign affairs column f ...

, founded two university chairs in Hellenic studies, the Markos and Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis chair at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, held by the scholar of late Classical and early Hellenistic Greek literature, Alexander Sens, and the Tsakopoulos Kounalakis chair in honor of

Constantine Mitsotakis Konstantinos Mitsotakis (, ; – 29 May 2017) was a Greek politician who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. His son, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was elected as the Prime Min ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, held by

Josiah Ober Josiah Ober is an American historian of ancient Greece and classical political theorist. He is Tsakopoulos- Kounalakis Professor in honor of Constantine Mitsotakis, and professor of classics and political science, at Stanford University. His t ...

. Both chairs focus on the understanding of the origins of

Athenian democracy Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Ancient Greece, Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Classical Athens, Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, and focusing on supporting lib ...

. They also established the Tsakopoulos Kounalakis lecture series at the

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topi ...

to focus on democracy and international relations. Kounalakis served for nearly ten years as a Trustee of the World Council of

Religions for Peace Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, tra ...

. In recognition for her work with the WCRP, she was awarded the medal of St. Paul, the Greek Orthodox Church of America's highest honor. San Francisco Mayor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

appointed her to serve as a Trustee of the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. San Francisco Mayor

Ed Lee Edwin Mah Lee (May 5, 1952 – December 12, 2017) was an American politician and attorney who served as the 43rd Mayor of San Francisco from 2011 until his death in 2017. Born in Seattle to Chinese American parents, Lee was a member of the D ...

appointed her to serve on the Port Commission Board. She is a friend and former mentee of

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

Political career

Kounalakis served four times as a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

and as an at-large member of the California State Democratic Central Committee. She also served as a member of the First 5 California Commission, and the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism. She served as a Trustee of Robert Redford's Sundance Preserve and on the Conservation Fund's National Forum on Children and Nature. She is also a senior advisor at

Albright Stonebridge Group Albright Stonebridge Group, part of DGA Group, is a global business strategy firm based in Washington, D.C., United States. It was created in 2009 through the merger of international consulting firms The Albright Group, founded in 2001 by former ...

. In 2009, Kounalakis accepted President

's nomination to an ambassadorship. On April 24, 2017, Kounalakis announced her bid for the office of

Lieutenant Governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest Executive (government), executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The Lieutenant governor (United States), lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-yea ...

in the 2018 election. After her candidacy announcement, she visited all 58 counties in California during her campaign. Her grassroots campaign earned the recognition of ''Time'' magazine for engaging hundreds of volunteers to text over 1 million voters before Election Day. She came in first place on June 5, 2018, in the top-two statewide primary; Democratic State Senator

Ed Hernandez Edward Paul Hernández (born October 17, 1957) is an American politician who previously served in the California State Senate. A Democrat, he represented the 24th Senate district from 2010 until he was redistricted to the 22nd Senate district, w ...

placed second. On November 6, Kounalakis was elected by a 56.6% to 43.3% margin against her opponent, becoming the first female elected Lieutenant Governor of California in history;

Mona Pasquil Mona Pasquil Rogers (born Simeona Fortunata Pasquil; April 3, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 47th and acting lieutenant governor of California from November 4, 2009 to April 27, 2010. Upon taking office, Pasquil Rogers became th ...

was appointed in an acting capacity in 2009 following the resignation of

John Garamendi John Raymond Garamendi ( ; born January 24, 1945) is an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party who has represented areas of Northern California between San Francisco and Sacramento, including the cities of Fairfiel ...

but was not elected to the post. Kounalakis and Governor-elect

took office on January 7, 2019. Kounalakis was re-elected lieutenant governor in 2022. She announced her candidacy for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

in the 2026 election on April 24, 2023. Kounalakis serves on the Regents of the University of California (the

holds one seat). In September 2023, she voted to delay approval of an eight-story, 545-bed dorm for UCLA students in Los Angeles's affluent Westwood neighborhood due to concerns of undersized dorms. The board approved the project in November 2023. Following her efforts to disqualify

from the

, she was

and

, part of a series of similar events nationwide.

Personal life

Eleni Tsakopoulos married

in 2000. They have two sons. In 2011, she received an Honorary Doctor of Law from the

American College of Greece The American College of Greece (ACG) is a private college, graduate business school and high school in Agia Paraskevi, Greece. It is the oldest American-accredited college in Europe and a not-for-profit institution. History ACG was founded i ...

. She is

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

and received the St. Paul Medal, "the Greek Orthodox Church of America's highest honor."

Electoral history

2018

2022

Notes

References

External links

Eleni Kounalakis
at

opensecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and ...

Official website
of the California Lt. Governor
Campaign website
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kounalakis, Eleni 1966 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century California politicians 21st-century American women politicians Ambassadors of the United States to Hungary American people of Greek descent American businesspeople in real estate American women ambassadors Businesspeople from Sacramento, California Democratic Party state constitutional officers of California Dartmouth College alumni Haas School of Business alumni Lieutenant governors of California Living people Politicians from Sacramento, California Women in California politics