Shirley N. WeberIncumbent
Candidate for Secretary of State
Shirley Nash Weber was born September 20, 1948, in Hope, Arkansas. Her parents were sharecroppers. They had fled the Jim Crow South. She earned three degrees from UCLA, including a Ph.D. She then joined the faculty at San Diego State University, where she taught for about four decades. She helped start a new department there, for Africana Studies. She led that department for several terms, as its chair. Her first elected job was on the San Diego school board. She served there from 1988 to 1996. She was also its president. In 2012 she won a state Assembly seat. She represented the 79th District, in the San Diego area. She served four terms, from 2012 to 2021. Her bills included one in 2020, Assembly Bill 3121. That bill set up a task force. Its job is to study reparations for Black Americans. In December 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom picked Weber for Secretary of State. Lawmakers confirmed her, and she was sworn in on January 29, 2021. She became the state's 30th person to hold that job. She was also the first Black person to hold it. She won a full term in November 2022. She beat Republican Rob Bernosky. She got 6,462,164 votes (60.1%). She now wants a second full term. In the certified June 2, 2026 primary she came in first, among four hopefuls. She won 5,092,491 votes (58.7%). She now faces Republican Donald P. (Don) Wagner on November 3, 2026. He got 3,187,180 votes (36.7%) in the primary. Much news coverage centers on how votes get counted. Weber backs a slower, accuracy-first count. Her rival wants faster results instead. Many groups back her this year. One is the state Democratic Party, which named her on August 2, 2026. Another is the California Teachers Association. Others are labor groups: the California Professional Firefighters, the California Federation of Teachers, SEIU, and IBEW. The San Francisco Chronicle editorial board backs her too. Born September 20, 1948. Home: San Diego area, California. Job: Secretary of State, the incumbent. Prior office: Secretary of State since 2021. She was first appointed in January 2021. She won a full term in 2022. State Assembly, 79th District, 2012-2021. San Diego school board, member and president, 1988-1996.
Positions in brief
No stated public positions were found for this candidate.
On the issues
- Government, Elections & Democracy
Says her office is working with local elections officials to protect and expand ballot access, paired with an aggressive statewide voter-outreach campaign.
“Working hand-in-hand with our local elections officials to strengthen, protect, and expand access to the ballot”
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
Says she is working to improve transparency in California's elections, lobbyist-registration, and campaign-finance disclosure systems.
“Improving transparency in our elections, lobbyist registration, and campaign finance systems so that every Californian can make an informed decision”
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
Frames a priority of restoring trust in her office by fixing delayed financial filings and enforcing rules consistently, with stated bipartisan support.
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
Says she is upgrading the Secretary of State's cybersecurity policies to protect California's elections from attempts to undermine them.
“Monitoring and upgrading the Secretary of State's cybersecurity policies to ensure our elections are protected from attempts to undermine our democratic processes”
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
Defends California's roughly 30-day ballot-counting and certification timeline, saying getting the count right matters more than getting it fast.
“For me, accuracy is far more important.”
Source →
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