Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Kristin Bertolina Faust

29. Kristin Bertolina Faust

If Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis becomes Treasurer Eleni Kounalakis in 2026, Kristin Bertolina Faust will have certainly played a big role in the victory. A major fundraiser for Kamala Harris – she was the Vice President’s fundraising co-chair, helping the campaign raise a record $1 billion in just over 100 days – and a campaign manager for Alex Padilla, Bertolina Faust is all in on the Kounalakis campaign, serving as her top fundraiser and an advisor to the one-time gubernatorial hopeful turned aspiring Treasurer. Bertolina Faust founded BB&G, a Sacramento-based fundraising and political consulting firm in 1999, and alongside her colleagues Angie Georgoulias and Rhianon See-Barnato it has become the go-to fundraising firm for almost every major Dem heavyweight since then. In addition to Harris and Padilla, she is also without question Gov. Gavin Newsom’s top cash collector. Kounalakis may have opted out of trying to become California’s first female governor, but it sure wasn’t because she was going to fall short of money.

Updated Aug. 26, 2025