Xavier Becerra speaks to supporters during election night in Sacramento on November 3, 2026.
(Andri Tambunan / For Time)
SACRAMENTO — Governor-elect Xavier Becerra has named the team that will oversee his transition and help strengthen his administration as he prepares to take office in early January. His transition team includes several of his former advisers and others who worked for Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“This transition has only one job: ensuring that my administration is ready to act on day one,” Becerra said in a statement. “Together, we aim to make California a place people can afford, with results they can see and feel in their daily lives. Our work begins now, to build a California we can afford and protect the California we cannot afford to lose.”
Liz Saldivar, Becerra’s longtime assistant, will lead the transition. Saldivar advised Becerra’s campaign and worked for him during his tenure in Congress and as state attorney general.
Senior advisers to the transition will be Lindsey Cobia, a Newsom administration veteran who now heads his Campaign for Democracy PAC, and Kyle Layman, a Democratic operative who joined Becerra’s campaign early on.
Another former Becerra aide, Arsenio Mataka, will lead transition policy. Mataka advised Becerra on environmental policy for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the California Department of Justice. Also a former student of then-Gov. In Jerry Brown’s administration, Mataka most recently served as deputy at the Bay Area Air District.
After advising his campaign on policy, Nicole Elliott will serve as the agency’s director of review. Elliott advised Newsom on cannabis policy before appointing her to head the state Department of Cannabis Control in 2021. She began working for Newsom in 2009, when he was mayor of San Francisco. Her husband, Jason Elliott, is a close adviser to Newsom who worked for him during his tenure as mayor and governor.
The transition’s external affairs officials are Courtni Pugh, a Democratic strategist close to Newsom, and Kenneth Maxey II, president of the San Francisco Bay Area Urban League.
Becerra defeated his Republican opponent Steve Hilton in the November 3 election and will be sworn in on January 4.
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