Lanhee Chen seeking to become rare Republican to win statewide office in California
As November 8 Election Day approaches, KPIX 5 offers a series of reports highlighting the candidates as well as measures and issues affecting voters.
In the race for state controller, some political analysts believe Lanhee Chen is the GOP's best chance to win a statewide office since Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger won re-election in 2006.
The state of California collected close to $250 billion in tax revenue last year. Chen believes a lot of that is wasted by agencies led by Democrats, and how your money is watched and spent needs to change beginning with the controller's office.
Chen says he is keenly aware of rising prices. It's not inflation crippling consumers he's zeroing in on, but rather wasted tax dollars in the tens of billions.
"Where's the money going in our state?" said Chen. "It's about restoring a little bit of confidence that somebody's actually watching out for them versus just spending the money without any effort at restoring accountability or demanding results."
He's a lon-time policy expert who has taught at Stanford University and served on the Social Security Advisory Board under the Obama administration but is running for political office for the first time.
"People let you into their lives and their homes," said Chen. "They talk about the tough time they're having with gas prices or why their kids' schools aren't better or how can they ever afford to buy a house where they want to live in California."
"This race is the one statewide race that has a chance of being competitive," said UC San Diego political science professor Thad Kousser.
Leading up to the general election, there's a stark difference in what Chen and Malia Cohen are talking about.
"The right to abortion. That's an issue that she's pushed. She's been talking about Donald Trump and does Lanhee Chen support him or not" said Kousser. So I think she's really gonna focus on the core issues that are motivating Democrats this year, abortion rights, Donald Trump.
"I've expressed concerns about, for example, what the former president did, his governing style," said Chen. "What happened on January 6th, I've argued, is an abomination. I don't think the election was stolen."
A child of immigrants, Chen has quickly climbed the world of academia and politics. He believes how the controller audits hundreds of billions in tax revenue now, can impact social and economic mobility for working families.
"When I grew up it really felt like a place of limitless opportunity where people could come and buy a house, grow a business, raise a family. Nowadays, I think it's just much more challenging," said Chen.
Chen has outraised Cohen and emerged as the top vote-getter in the June primary ahead of a pack of Democrats including Cohen, but has spent significantly less, leaving a healthy coffer ahead of the two-person general election.
"There's something in politics we talk about called losing up. You might not win in your first race, just as Barack Obama lost his first race, just as George W. Bush lost his first race," said Kousser. "But as voters get to know you get to hear what you're all about, they might become more comfortable with you. If the GOP can creep back to relevance he could be one of the new faces of the California Republican Party."
The biggest thing that the controller can do is to provide transparency for people," said Chen. "You want somebody who's going to be a political independent in some ways who's going to watch out for taxpayers first and not politicians."
A Democrat has held the office of state controller for nearly 50 years.
