Malia M. Cohen (born December 16, 1977) is an American politician serving as the

California State Controller The state controller of California is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of California. Thirty-two individuals have held the office of state controller since statehood. The incumbent is Betty Yee, a ...

following the 2022 election. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, Cohen previously served as the Chair of the California

California State Board of Equalization The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) is a public agency charged with tax administration and fee collection in the state of California in the United States. The authorities of the Board fall into four broad areas: sales and use taxe ...

from the 2nd district, which covers 23 counties in California and a population of approximately 9.5 million people, and as President of the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...

, representing District 10.

Early life and education

Cohen grew up the eldest of five girls in the Richmond District in San Francisco and graduated from Lowell High School. Her mother was a social worker and her father a telecommunication worker. Cohen later moved to

Portola Portola may refer to: * ''Portola'' (album), a 1998 album by Rose Melberg * Portola, California * Portola, San Francisco, California People with the surname * Gaspar de Portolá (ca. 1717-aft.1784), Spanish soldier, first governor of the Californi ...

neighborhood before buying a condominium in the Bayview neighborhood by

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 un ...

in 2006. The condo was foreclosed before 2010 following the 2007–2008 financial crisis. Cohen earned a bachelor's degree in political science from

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

and a graduate degree in political science from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Career

Cohen worked as a field organizer for

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...

in the

2003 San Francisco mayoral election The 2003 San Francisco mayoral election occurred on November 4, 2003. The incumbent, Willie Brown, was termed out of office and could not seek a third term. The general election included three top candidates including then Supervisor Gavin Newso ...

and as his confidential secretary for two years when he was mayor. After the Mayor's Office, Cohen worked as a legislative aide for San Mateo Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson. In the 2010 election for District 10 of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, she initially finished third out of a field of 22, but eventually won the election based on ranked choice voting. 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. In 2013, Cohen and

Jane Kim Jane Kim (born July 9, 1977) is an American attorney and politician, and the first Korean American elected official in San Francisco. She represented San Francisco's District 6 on the Board of Supervisors between 2011 and 2019. She is a member o ...

authored the Fair Chance ordinance, a "

ban the box Ban the Box is the name of an American campaign by advocates for ex-offenders aimed at removing the check box that asks if applicants have a criminal record from hiring applications. Its purpose is to enable ex-offenders to display their qualificat ...

" legislation barring employers and landlords from asking applicants to state their criminal history on applications, which passed the Board of Supervisors unanimously. In 2014, Cohen was re-elected for a second term to represent District 10 after being challenged by Marlene Tran and Tony Kelly. In 2015, Cohen publicly defended San Francisco's

sanctuary city Sanctuary city (; ) refers to municipal jurisdictions, typically in North America, that limit their cooperation with the national government's effort to enforce immigration law. Leaders of sanctuary cities say they want to reduce fear of deport ...

laws, which drew the attention of

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

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. 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 The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

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. Cohen succeeded

London Breed London Nicole Breed (born August 11, 1974) is an American politician who is the 45th and current mayor of the City and County of San Francisco. She was supervisor for District 5 and was president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Board ...

as president of the Board of Supervisors on June 26, 2018, following Breed's election as

mayor of San Francisco The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by t ...

. Later that year, she was elected to represent District 2 on the California State Board of Equalization. According to the

California Franchise Tax Board The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) administers and collects state personal income tax and corporate franchise and income tax of California. It is part of the California Government Operations Agency. The board is composed of the Californi ...

, Cohen's social media consulting firm, Power Forward, was suspended in March 2021 for failure to pay and file taxes. Cohen won the 2022 election for

Personal life

She married workers' compensation attorney Warren Pulley in May 2016.

Electoral history

2018

References

External links

Office of Chair Malia Cohen

Campaign website
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Malia 1977 births 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American city council members in California Carnegie Mellon University alumni Democratic Party state constitutional officers of California Fisk University alumni Living people San Francisco Board of Supervisors members State Controllers of California Women city councillors in California