NEW YORK – Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis took time out of her busy schedule to talk with The National Herald about her run for Lieutenant Governor of California. During the interview, she spoke about her campaign, her dedication to public service, and her Greek roots.
When asked if she always wanted to go into politics, Kounalakis told TNH, “I was raised in it. My earliest jobs in high school, growing up in Sacramento, were at the capitol, I interned in Washington, DC. I went to a girls’ school for high school, and dressed up as Walter Mondale and debated a girl dressed up as Ronald Reagan. My very first paying job in my life was at the California Democratic Party in 1992, I worked for Phil Angelides and it was a big election. California turned blue and we haven’t looked back.”
Married to veteran journalist Markos Kounalakis with whom she has two teenaged sons Neo and Eon, the former US Ambassador to Hungary told TNH that her family is from “outside of Tripoli, Rizes in Arcadia and my husband’s family is from Chania.”
When asked what inspired her to run for Lieutenant Governor of California, Kounalakis said, “California is a very big state. Depending on the level exchange rates, the California economy is either 5th or 6th largest in the world and I chair the California Advisory Council on International Trade and Investment. There is in California always a recognition that a state of 40 million people with a robust economy and trade relationships is a special environment, but it also became clear to me that after the [2016] election that it was more important than ever that California continue to lead the way not only in the country but in the world. We have a very strong sense of our values in California. We have a society that is by and large extremely welcoming of each other’s differences, ethnic differences, other differences, and we celebrate our diversity, we celebrate that we will fight to defend women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, these things are important and there’s a growing recognition that these values are connected to the fact that we have this robust, growing economy. The growth rate of the California economy was twice the national average last year.”
Kounalakis noted that California is so rich in innovation. She said, “[There is] huge investment in alternative energy… in California we recognize that climate change is real, we recognize that our immigrant communities help drive our economy and enrich our society, we recognize that women leadership is important, we recognize that paying taxes is an investment in our kids, our students, and in our infrastructure. This forms a policy platform but it comes from California values and so in California I hope to help lead the way forward when there is growing concern that policies in Washington want to take us back.”
Referring to the challenges, Kounalakis said, “Well, it’s a very big state, and campaigning in a big state requires a lot of days on the road, we have 58 counties in California, a population of almost 40 million people and I spent the summer on a road trip and crisscrossed the state. I’ve now been to almost every one of them, I think I have three left, but getting out there and talking to people and recognizing that views in rural parts of the state are different than views in more urban parts, the challenges vary from one part to the other, whether you’re in a farming community or in the mountains, whether you’re dealing with the pine bark beetle infestation of the forested lands or you’re struggling because wells are going dry there are very, very different challenges, but there are some things that are common and again, one of them is this feeling that we want to hold onto our values and the civility with which we try to treat each other.” She added, “Another common concern is the growing inequities between those for whom the economy is working and for those who are struggling because it is not. Income inequality is a challenge across the country. It affects California as well but with the growing economy there are more opportunities to be able to adjust and make sure the economy is working for everyone… We need more housing in California. I’m a housing expert. I spent 18 years in the housing industry. Our housing costs have gone up dramatically and it is significantly impacting the ability of families to make ends meet.”
Education is another vital issue in the campaign. Kounalakis said, “The Lieutenant Governor has an important role to play in the economy and in higher education because you sit on the board of the CSU and the UC, and this is very personal for me because my father went to Sacramento State University and he paid his way through on a waiter’s salary and I look at the story of my family, my grandmother in Greece never learned to read or write. She let her son go to America to work in the fields at age 14 and her granddaughter was sent back to Europe by the President of the United States as an American Ambassador and the pivot point was Sacramento State on a waiter’s salary. Ours is an extreme example, but there are millions of families in California that have traveled the same route, so we need to make absolutely sure that we’re able to offer that education at the CSU, the UC, and our community colleges, not just to be comparably less expensive than private institutions, but that they are within reach of any Californian who wants to pursue that education. It has become too expensive, so I’ll be working to fight to bring that cost down.”
She noted that “if you end up finishing school with $20,000; $50,000; $100,000 in debt, how are you going to work that off unless you are phenomenally successful, which it would be wonderful if you are, but most people are looking for that pathway into the middle class. How do you buy a home, how do you invest in a small business, how do you invest in your own children’s education, if you have all this debt hanging over you? It’s a terrible problem and in California because we have an excellent CSU, UC, and community college system we’re doing better, but we have to bring the cost down even more.”
Kounalakis said, “We know that Plato was skeptical of democracy. He argued that democracy was one step away from dictatorships and that step in between was chaos, and so we have to be very careful with our democracy in the United States and recognize that the institutions that we built need protecting and that the political philosophy that has worked for us here continues to be not just respected but strengthened. What do I mean by that? The idea that in a democracy majority rules, but minorities have rights and are protected, the recognition that we need a free press and, of course, now in this challenging environment people need to know what they can believe, the fact that we have a judiciary that is independent from political pressure and well-functioning universities to educate our kids, if we stop fighting to strengthen these institutions then Plato’s prediction can come true here. We just need leadership to recognize that it is within our power, within our control, to keep our democracy strong and that is something that inspires me.”
Kounalakis concluded, “If elected, I will be the first woman elected lieutenant governor of California. So it’s a glass ceiling race… but the voters in California probably because of what happened in November are very interested in seeing women on the ballot. So that’s given a certain energy to the campaign as well, and of course, Senator Kamala Harris’ endorsement is very important.”
More information on Eleni Kounalakis and her campaign is available online at: EleniforCA.com.
Madam Ambassador, her memoir of her time as US Ambassador to Hungary is also available online and in bookstores.
The post Amb. Eleni Kounalakis for Lieutenant Governor of California, Talks to TNH appeared first on The National Herald.