California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis has officially launched her campaign to become the first woman governor of the nation’s most populous state.

The Democrat reminded potential supporters in her announcement that she is well qualified for the post because of the combination of her experience in government — two terms in her current office as well as serving as U.S. ambassador to Hungary during the Obama administration — as well as her years of work in the private sector, in which she led a Sacramento development company founded by her father.

Kounalakis said in an exclusive interview with Politico that she wanted to tackle a long list of problems plaguing the state, from homelessness, income inequality and the soaring cost of living to the housing crisis, issues around mental health and rising deaths linked to fentanyl.

A victory in 2026 would be historic as the state of 40 million people has never had a female governor.

Kounalakis owes much of her grit and hard work to her Greek immigrant roots. She is the daughter of real estate developer and philanthropist Angelo Tsakopoulos, a Greek immigrant whose story is the epitome of the American dream. As a recent arrival to the United States as a refugee, he worked in fields with other immigrants, sold melons on the street and became a waiter in the Governor’s Mansion. He eventually began working in real estate and within a few years, had built a development empire.