Malia Cohen
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Official portrait as State Controller
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| 33rd Controller of California | |
| Assumed office January 2, 2023 | |
| Governor | Gavin Newsom |
| Preceded by | Betty Yee |
| Member of the California State Board of Equalization from the 2nd district | |
| In office January 7, 2019 – January 2, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Fiona Ma |
| Succeeded by | Sally Lieber |
| President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors | |
| In office June 26, 2018 – January 7, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | London Breed |
| Succeeded by | Norman Yee |
| Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from the 10th district | |
| In office January 8, 2011 – January 7, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Sophie Maxwell |
| Succeeded by | Shamann Walton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1977-12-16) December 16, 1977 (age 46) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Warren Pulley (m. 2016) |
| Education | Fisk University (BA) Carnegie Mellon University (MA) |
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Malia M. Cohen (born December 16, 1977)[1] is an American politician serving as the 33rd Controller of California since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Cohen previously served as Chair of the California State Board of Equalization from the 2nd district from 2019 to 2023 and as President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from District 10 from 2011 to 2019.
Cohen was born in San Francisco on December 16, 1977. The eldest of five girls, she grew up in the Richmond District in San Francisco and graduated from Lowell High School.[2] Her mother was a social worker and her father a telecommunication worker.
Cohen earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Fisk University and a graduate degree in political science from Carnegie Mellon University.[2]
Cohen worked as a field organizer for Gavin Newsom in the 2003 San Francisco mayoral election and as his confidential secretary for two years when he was mayor.[2] After leaving Newsom's office, Cohen worked as a legislative aide for San Mateo County supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson.[3][2]
In the 2010 election for District 10 of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, she was third in receiving first place votes out of a field of 22, but eventually won the election based on ranked choice voting.[4][3]
In October 2013, Cohen introduced legislation that expanded an existing San Francisco law making it illegal to sell firearms with magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. The gun-control legislation passed unanimously.[5]
In 2013, Cohen and Jane Kim authored the Fair Chance ordinance, a "ban the box" legislation barring employers and landlords from asking applicants to state their criminal history on applications, which passed the Board of Supervisors unanimously.[6]
In 2014, Cohen was re-elected for a second term to represent District 10 after being challenged by Marlene Tran and Tony Kelly.[7]
In 2015, Cohen publicly defended San Francisco's sanctuary city laws, which drew the attention of Fox News Host Bill O'Reilly. After the shooting death of Kathryn Steinle by an illegal alien, O'Reilly had been critical of San Francisco and its elected officials. O'Reilly said that Cohen should be placed under arrest for her comments defending San Francisco's sanctuary city policy.[8]
In 2016, Cohen introduced legislation, in reaction to lobbying by sitting judges, that could result in pension boosts for some of those judges or for other individuals who become judges after working for the city government. The San Francisco Examiner reported that according to analysis by the San Francisco Employees Retirement System (SFERS), the proposal would increase the pensions of four current judges, with an average expected additional lifetime benefit of $147,000 per judge affected. The SFERS report did not name those judges, and SFERS spokesman Norm Nickens said the agency does not release the names of active members.[9]
Cohen succeeded London Breed as president of the Board of Supervisors on June 26, 2018, following Breed's election as mayor of San Francisco.[10] Later that year, she was elected to represent District 2 on the California State Board of Equalization.
According to the California Franchise Tax Board, Cohen's social media consulting firm, Power Forward, was suspended in March 2021 for failure to pay and file taxes.[3]
Cohen ran in the 2022 election for California State Controller against Republican Lanhee Chen winning the race with 55% of the vote, the lowest margin of victory for any statewide candidate that election cycle.[11][12][13]
After the death of Senator Dianne Feinstein in September 2023, Cohen was discussed as one of several possible people to serve the remainder of Feinstein’s term.[14][15]
She married workers' compensation attorney Warren Pulley in May 2016.[16]
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Malia Cohen | 723,355 | 38.7 | |
| Republican | Mark Burns | 502,143 | 26.9 | |
| Democratic | Cathleen Galgiani | 480,887 | 25.7 | |
| Democratic | Barry Chang | 163,102 | 8.7 | |
| Total votes | 1,869,467 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Malia Cohen | 2,482,171 | 72.8 | |
| Republican | Mark Burns | 927,949 | 27.2 | |
| Total votes | 3,410,120 | 100.0% | ||
| Primary election | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Lanhee Chen | 2,533,305 | 37.22% | ||
| Democratic | Malia Cohen | 1,542,397 | 22.66% | ||
| Democratic | Yvonne Yiu | 1,024,707 | 15.06% | ||
| Democratic | Steve Glazer | 756,518 | 11.11% | ||
| Democratic | Ron Galperin | 690,484 | 10.15% | ||
| Green | Laura Wells | 258,053 | 3.79% | ||
| Total votes | 6,805,874 | 100.0% | |||
| General election | |||||
| Democratic | Malia Cohen | 5,936,852 | 55.35% | ||
| Republican | Lanhee Chen | 4,789,340 | 44.65% | ||
| Total votes | 10,726,192 | 100.0% | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
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| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from the 10th district 2011–2019 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors 2018–2019 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Controller of California 2023–present |
Incumbent |
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Statewide elected officials and legislative leaders of California
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| U.S. senators |
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| State government |
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| Senate |
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| Assembly |
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| Supreme Court (appointed, retention elections) |
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