Herb Morgan seeks California controller seat Nov. 3

Herb W. Morgan, a Republican finance executive, is running for California controller in the Nov. 3 general election against Malia Cohen, a Democrat, according to BallotReady.

Asked why he is seeking the office, Morgan said in our candidate questionnaire: "California's finances lack the independent, real-time oversight the Constitution assigns to this post. The Controller is the state's chief fiscal officer and auditor, not a policy advocate. That role has not been used to its full extent."

Candidate information

Party: Republican

Family: "Married 35 years, two adult children," Morgan said in our questionnaire.

Education: "My education is a B.A. in Economics with honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz," Morgan said in our questionnaire. He also holds a high school diploma from El Camino High School, according to BallotReady.

Hometown: Morgan "grew up in Westminster and Oceanside, California, and attended local public schools," according to his campaign website.

Experience and public service

Morgan said in our questionnaire: "I am a finance executive and investment adviser with roughly forty years in capital markets. I began on Wall Street with Dean Witter, J.&W. Seligman, Dreyfus, and LPL Financial. In 2004 I founded Efficient Market Advisors, the first ETF-managed-account platform, which grew to about $1.5 billion in assets and was sold to Cantor Fitzgerald in 2017. I remained Senior Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of that division until I retired to run for Controller."

Efficient Market Advisors had approximately $1.1 billion in assets under advisement when Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors acquired it in March 2017.

Morgan also said in our questionnaire: "I also served on the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System board, appointed in 2009 and reappointed in 2013, and served as both vice president and president of the board."

He is a board member at The Private Shares Fund, a position he has held since 2023, according to BallotReady. Morgan has no prior elected office.

On the issues

Critical differences from opponent: Morgan said in our questionnaire: "My opponent has treated the post as a platform for broader political priorities and has not delivered continuous, public scrutiny of how state dollars are spent." He added: "I will publish state payments on a public ledger and apply continuous audit tools to high-risk programs so findings arrive while money is still moving. The current approach relies on periodic reports that appear long after the funds are gone."

Morgan also drew a contrast in background: "My record is markets, portfolio construction, and pension-board oversight … The contrast is a career in finance and fiduciary control versus a career in elective politics."

Government reform: Morgan said he proposes creating a system where every time a state-funded nonprofit pays for anything, that transaction goes into a state database, and then using AI to monitor those purchases and flag anything suspicious, according to CalMatters.

Homelessness spending: Morgan said he will carefully scrutinize the state's spending on homelessness if elected, according to CalMatters.

Best advice received: Morgan said in our questionnaire: "Work Hard - Be so good, they can't say 'NO'"