A familiar name in commercial real estate, Ethan Penner is expanding his reach outside of the industry and into state government. The CEO of Calabasas-based Mosaic Real Estate Investments and chairman of Reven Office REIT is running for governor.

"When you ask me why I’m running, I actually don’t think California can survive four more years of the kind of leadership it’s suffered for the last 20 or 25 years," Penner told The Real Deal in a video interview.

Penner is often named as the creator of the CMBS market in the 1990s when he was working for Noruma Securities. In 2015, he founded Mosaic, and in January 2024, he and Chad Carpenter founded Reven Office REIT with the aim of raising $1B to offer financing to office owners and invest in distressed office debt. He has also taught as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School and USC’s Marshall School of Business.

"I feel like I've been teaching and selling my whole career," Penner said. "I've been creating new products and trying to persuade people of their merit. So selling and teaching and winning a coalition is, I think, the way to bring about sustained and meaningful change."

Penner touched on issues such as wildfire prevention, the high cost of living, rebuilding Los Angeles and the outmigration of Californians.

He was critical of the responses from the current government and governor to each issue. On the topic of fire prevention, he pointed to other countries with large forests, such as Austria, and noted that they had not had successive, massive wildfires. Penner said that it was "because they actually pay attention."

Officially, Democratic candidates include former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former State Controller Betty Yee.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has reached his term limit and is not able to run again.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is among the highest-profile Republican contenders so far. Candidates must file by the first week of March to take part in the June 2, 2026 primary.