California lieutenant gubernatorial election

Greek-American businesswoman eyes California office

Former US ambassador to Hungary Eleni Kounalakis finished first in a tight race to qualify for the November general election to replace Gavin Newsom as California's lieutenant governor.

Kounalakis, a Democrat, won 23.4 percent of the vote, while State Senator Ed Hernandez, also a Democrat, came second with 20.8 percent. She agreed to an email interview with Kathimerini.