Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Gabriel Petek

45. Gabriel Petek

Gabriel Petek is just the sixth person to serve as the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst since the office was founded in 1941. If you’re reading this, you don’t need us to explain how influential the Legislative Analyst’s Office is. Its analysis of California’s fiscal matters is the gold standard – and Petek has headed up the whole operation since February 2019. He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in political science from Loyola Marymount University, with a portion of his undergraduate course completed at the Hansard Scholars Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also obtained a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Before joining the LAO, he worked for two decades at S&P Global Ratings, where he was an analyst for Illinois and California.

Updated Aug. 7, 2024.