Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Jason Elliot

5. Jason Elliott

Titles are always hard to figure out in the Newsom administration, and nowhere is that truer than with Jason Elliott, a senior counselor to the governor. He’s also been a chief deputy cabinet secretary, director of intergovernmental affairs, senior adviser, and more. But the bottom line is that he tackles difficult issues and advises the governor on how to respond, and his portfolio is expanding exponentially. His biggest challenges as we go to press are housing, homelessness and mental health care, issues that have dominated the state’s discussions this year, so he has his work cut out for him. Elliott, a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and Columbia University, has been with Newsom for years, working for him when Newsom was mayor of San Francisco and lieutenant governor. He is married to Nicole Elliott, director of the state Department of Cannabis Control.

Updated Aug. 9, 202\2