By Arturo Castañares – Editor-at-Large / La Prensa / Jan. 29, 2026
A member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has launched a campaign for County Treasurer-Tax Collector against the person a majority of the Supervisors just recently appointed to the position, while his own Party is considering supporting another candidate to run against him.
Supervisor Joel Anderson, a longtime elected Republican, just entered the second year of his second four-term on the County Board of Supervisors, but recently filed to run for County Treasurer in this year’s election cycle.
Joel Anderson
If Anderson were to win the election in November, he would vacate his Supervisor seat halfway through his term and create a vacancy his Democratic colleagues could fill.
The race for a usually low-profile position comes after longtime Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister announced his unexpected resignation on August 2nd after having been elected to the post six times over the past 24 years. McAllister’s current term expires in January 2027.
Under the County’s Charter, Supervisors must appoint someone to fill a vacancy in a Countywide elected position to serve through the next election with no restriction on the person then running for a full term.
Before the Board began its process to fill McAllister’s vacancy, Anderson asked the County’s lawyer for a legal opinion on whether a sitting Supervisor could be appointed to fill the vacancy, indicating his interest in serving in the position.
Anderson, who was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in November 2020 and re-elected in November 2024, but will be termed out of serving on the Board of Supervisors in 2028. Anderson previously served eight years in the California State Senate and four years in the Assembly.
Legislators are exempt from the state’s pension system, so Anderson did not accrue any retirement credits during his 12 years in Sacramento, and has only earned five years in the County’s retirement system so far during his tenure on the Board.
Unlike Supervisors, the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s position has no term limits and has a base salary of over $248,000, even higher than the Supervisor’s salary of $220,000.
Anderson’s run is unprecedented because there has never been a sitting San Diego County Supervisor who ran for one of the County’s other elected positions, including District Attorney, Tax Assessor, or Treasurer-Tax Collector.
On September 29, La Prensa San Diego broke the news of a backroom deal where Anderson would be the fourth vote on the Board of Supervisors to put a countywide sales tax increase measure on the 2026 ballot and Democrats would then support him for the Treasurer-Tax Collector election this year. The article was the first to mention Anderson’s interest in running for the position.
Democrats and labor unions want to run a countywide sales tax increase ballot measure after a 1/2-cent tax increase was rejected by voters in November 2024. The Board can place a measure directly on the ballot with four or five votes without having to raise thousands of voter signatures, but Democrats currently only hold three seats.
Just one day after the La Prensa San Diego article, Anderson recused himself from the appointment process and walked off the dais at the Board meeting before they began the first round of interviews of nine candidates, saying he was recusing himself because he was “considering running for the Treasurer-Tax Collector position.”
That was Anderson’s first public indication that he was interested in running for the position.
The remaining Supervisors interviewed the candidates and voted to forward four finalists to a subsequent public meeting: David Baker, Lawrence Cohen, Christian Peacox, and Detra Williams.
Two weeks later, Anderson launched his campaign committee for Treasurer-Tax Collector while the Board was still waiting to consider the candidates to fill the vacancy.
On November 4th, as the Supervisors began the item to vote among the four finalists, Anderson walked off the dais and avoided the interviews.
In the end, after four rounds of voting, the three Democratic Supervisors voted to appoint Lawrence “Larry” Cohen, a former political staffer and medical industry executive who most recently served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Juan Vargas. Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond supported another candidate, Detra Williams.
Larry Cohen
Cohen, a registered Democrat, previously worked for over 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry as a senior business development manager, sales director, and drug discovery specialist after having worked for Vargas from 1993 to 1996 when the now-Congressman served on the San Diego City Council.
“Maintaining safety and liquidity standards for the County Investment Pool to ensure funding for schools, public safety, health and human services, and other essential programs is one of my top priorities,” Cohen told La Prensa San Diego in an exclusive interview.
Cohen, a resident of Carlsbad, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego, and a Masters in Business Administration from Strayer University.
“I have already opened a campaign committee and intend to win election to a full four-year term,” Cohen said.
Cohen filed his campaign statement of organization on November 19th, the day after he was officially sworn in as the Treasurer-Tax Collector, and began raising money for his campaign.
Cohen shared his up-to-date fundraising report with La Prensa San Diego this week showing he raised over $200,000 since November, including $95,000 he loaned his campaign, over $80,000 raised through December 31st from family and friends, and $23,000 donated by the San Diego County Democratic Party.
Anderson confirmed he has not raised money for the Treasurer-Tax Collector race.
The other candidate indicating she is also running for Treasurer-Tax Collector is Shirley Nakawatase, an Imperial Beach Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who was one of the nine applicants for the Treasurer vacancy.
Shirley Nakawatase
Nakawatase, who ran for Imperial Beach Mayor in 2022, told La Prensa San Diego this week that she is committed to running but has not yet opened a campaign account. Republican Party Chair Paula Whitsell confirmed Nakawatase asked for and is being considered for endorsement by the Party. Anderson did not seek his Party’s endorsement.
Mariko Nakawatase, Shirley’s daughter, currently serves as District Director in Anderson’s office. Mariko Nakawatase was appointed to the Imperial Beach City Council in October 2025 to fill the vacancy left when then-Mayor Paloma Aguirre won a July special election to the County Board of Supervisors after Nora Vargas resigned in January 2025.
Under current election laws, if only two candidates file to run for a seat there is no Primary Election and the two automatically advance to the General Election.
If more than two people file to run for Treasurer, the candidates will face off in a June 2nd Primary Election with the top two candidates continuing on to the November 2nd General Election.
For the balance of this article, please go to La Prensa here.
