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Lanhee Chen (R) conceded defeat to Malia Cohen (D) Tuesday in the race to become California’s next state controller after running one of the most closely watched campaigns in the U.S.
Chen faced an uphill battle in his bid to become the first Republican elected to statewide office in California since 2006, and the first Republican to serve as state controller since 1975.
"While more votes remain to be counted … it has become clear that I will not be able to win this election," Chen said in a statement Tuesday evening.
"Our campaign was about improving governance in our state but also working to create a place that our kids and grandkids will want to call home," added Chen, who said he reached out to congratulate Cohen earlier in the day. "The hard work of creating a better state goes on. And I look forward to continuing to dedicate my time and energy to this important work."
His campaign centered on his ability to hold the Democrat-controlled California state budget—which exceeded $300 billion in the 2022-2023 fiscal year—to account. As a Republican, he said he would serve as a necessary check in a state with one of the largest economies in the world.
Rather than having the state controller office serve as just a “rubber stamp” on spending, Chen proposed measures like publishing state transaction records and giving letter grades to state programs for their spending.
“Instead of clamoring to have new and more taxes, which the governor and the Legislature seem always willing to do, why don’t we figure out where the tax money is going and whether it’s being spent effectively?” he said in a KCRA interview. “We have a bunch of policymakers running around who are interested in ideology first rather than actually solving problems.”
The moderate Republican took the rare step of distancing himself from former President Donald Trump throughout the race, firmly stating that Trump lost the 2020 election and denouncing the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Cohen, the chair of California’s Board of Equalization, slammed Chen on his record with abortion and accused him of trying to discredit her with misleading political ads. Chen nonetheless reined in endorsements from several editorial boards, including the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Chen would've been the third Asian American in a row—following outgoing State Controller Betty Yee and former California Treasurer John Chiang—to manage the state’s bank account. “The dearth of Asian American elected officials and candidates at the statewide level is a function of the fact that the pipeline has been pretty narrow,” Chen told POLITICO in September. “And we have to widen that pipeline.”
The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Chen has served in a variety of policy advisory positions, including as the policy director for Mitt Romney’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. He was a presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed member of the federal Social Security Advisory Board from 2014 to 2018 under President Barack Obama.
Leading up to the election, Chen trailed behind Cohen overall but polled higher among independent and Asian American voters.
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