California’s new Lieutenant Governor is Greek and a mother of two; held in high esteem amongst members of her community.
Eleni Kounalakis (nee Tsakopoulos) has successfully beaten fellow Democrat Dr. Ed Hernandez to win office and was declared the winner with 55.65 per cent of the vote, CBS Sacramento reports.
A former Ambassador to Hungary, where she served from 2010-2013 under President Barack Obama, the Greek American also participated in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign as a fundraiser as well as a member of a her foreign advisory team.
Kounalakis who has a BA in English from Dartmouth and an MBA from UC Berkeley started her career as a real estate developer following her father’s footsteps before venturing into politics.
Her father, Angelo is one of the most popular and reputable Sacramento developers.