Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Kristin Bertolina Faust

39: Kristin Bertolina Faust

To rise to Gov. Newsom’s level, you need to do a lot of fundraising. And indeed, the governor employs some fantastic fundraisers in Stefanie Roumeliotes and Ryan Baukol. But his top overall rainmaker is Kristin Bertolina Faust, who has also raised big bucks for Kamala Harris and served as campaign manager for Alex Padilla in his successful run to the U.S. Senate in 2022. Not that she’s resting on those laurels. Bertolina Faust is now working both as a fundraiser and advisor to Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis on her run to follow Newsom into the governor’s office, and you can bet she will be hitting it hard for Harris in the coming months as well. Bertolina Faust founded BB&G, a Sacramento-based fundraising and political consulting firm, in 1999, and quickly built a roster of dozens of the “who’s who” in Golden State Democratic politics. In that role she has proven to be invaluable to the rise of both Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris.

Updated Aug. 7, 2024