Fiona Ma

Background

Fiona Ma studied accounting at the Rochester Institute of Technology, graduating in 1988, and moved from Long Island, New York, to San Francisco. She worked at Ernst & Young, then opened her own accounting practice and served as president of the Asian Business Association. She has been a certified public accountant since 1992 and also holds a master's degree in taxation and an MBA. After serving on the San Francisco Assessment Appeals Board, she was elected to the Board of Supervisors, where she represented the Sunset. In the State Assembly she passed a statewide ban on phthalates in baby products and authored 60 bills signed into law by two governors, according to a 2019 RIT profile. She then served on the State Board of Equalization.

In office

Ma was elected Treasurer on November 6, 2018, and re-elected on November 8, 2022. Her official biography says she is the first woman of color and the first woman CPA elected to the office. The Treasurer's website lists 13 boards, commissions and programs under the office, among them CalSavers, ScholarShare, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee.

On July 1, 2019, as chair of the board that oversees it, Ma announced the statewide launch of CalSavers, a payroll-deduction retirement savings program for workers whose employers offer no plan. In August 2019 she announced that Fitch Ratings had raised California's general obligation bond rating from AA- to AA. In October 2020 her office awarded $25.6 million in federal disaster tax credits for low-income housing after the 2017 and 2018 wildfires, including $16 million for Sonoma County and $4.3 million for Napa County.

In 2021 Judith Blackwell, a former staffer, sued Ma, alleging sexual harassment, racial discrimination and wrongful termination. Ma denied the allegations and a court dismissed some of the claims. Blackwell dropped the suit in 2024, and the state reached a separate $350,000 settlement with her. CalMatters reported in 2026 that supporters of her primary rival Michael Tubbs raised the case during the race; Ma called the lawsuit "frivolous."

In her 2026 ballot statement, Ma says that as Treasurer she financed a record number of affordable housing units, expanded down-payment assistance and helped save distressed hospitals.

On the ballot

Ma is in her second and final term as Treasurer. She announced her run for Lieutenant Governor on March 5, 2023, at a San Jose fundraiser hosted by Assemblymember Evan Low. She and Republican Gloria Romero, who says she served as State Senate majority leader and who left the Democratic Party in 2024, advanced from the June 2 primary and meet on November 3, 2026. Ma's ballot designation is State Treasurer/CPA; Romero's is Educator/Businesswoman. LAist lists the California Labor Federation and AFSCME among Ma's endorsers, and the California Republican Party and Reform California among Romero's. If elected, Ma would be the first Asian American Lieutenant Governor, the SF Standard reports. The office is next on the ballot November 5, 2030.