: Several candidates up for leadership positions at one of America's largest investment firms have histories of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and climate change advocacy, raising "serious concerns" from state treasurers over potential political bias. 

Vanguard, one of the top asset management firms, is set to hold its first board of trustees election since 2017 on Wednesday.

Vivek Malek, Treasurer of the State of Missouri and chair of Missouri’s 529 Education Plan Board, sent a letter to Vanguard's Board of Trustees expressing concerns over their candidates' ties to controversial issues.

"The outcome of this trustee election held at the Joint Special Meeting of Shareholders will undoubtedly influence the financial futures of countless families," Malek wrote to the board in a letter, obtained first by Fox News Digital.

"We have serious concerns that the individuals recommended for nomination to the board of trustees lack varying perspectives needed to engage in healthy discussions about the role Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) should or should not play in Vanguard’s fiduciary duty to clients," Malek continued.

The letter states that several candidates "exhibit the potential to prioritize political agendas over investment policies," including two nominees with histories of advocacy for DEI initiatives, according to a review of publicly available information. 

Tara Bunch, one candidate who joined the board of directors for Vanguard in November 2021, once wrote that she supports "AirPride and Trans@ [employee resource groups] to help develop that next generation of LGBTQ talent and leadership." She has also donated thousands of dollars to Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and the presidential campaigns of Biden and Hillary Clinton.

During an interview last summer, Bunch praised her company's anti-discrimination team and said it "informs everything we do" and that it's "part of our DNA." She went on to say that it "influences the way we design products, our policies and how we support our community on a day-to-day basis. It’s how we hold ourselves accountable to our own community commitment."

Another candidate of concern is the wife of Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Sarah Bloom Raskin, who "openly endorsed progressive policies incorporating climate change considerations into financial regulation."

Raskin wrote an article for Project Syndicate in September 2021, which claimed that financial regulators should address climate-related financial risks. Raskin was also previously opposed by then Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on her nomination for the position of Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve in 2022.

Mark Loughridge, another individual in the candidate field, has made nearly 70 donations of at least $1,000 to Democratic candidates and committees in the past few years, including the Biden, Harris, and Clinton presidential campaigns and the Democratic National Committee, among other top Democratic lawmakers.

"We believe the slate of trustees Vanguard has recommended is not reflective of the differing views of a fiduciary’s duty and is tone-deaf to recent legal, legislative, and regulatory pushback against politicized investment management driven by ESG factors," the letter to Vanguard reads.

The election comes as recent years have seen growing pushback on ESG-centered investing, and several states have cut ties with asset managers over their ESG practices over concerns of a conflict with investments.

Malek also highlighted that the eight-year gap between elections "could cause shareholders to be "left without a meaningful voice in the oversight of the funds to which they have entrusted their investments."

The letter was cosigned by statewide treasurers of Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Iowa, Louisiana, Tennessee and Kansas and the comproller of Texas.

"These concerns surrounding the election process and the composition of a limited slate lead us to question the slate’s ability to act impartially and in the best interest of the funds’ beneficiaries. Given these significant issues, we have collectively decided to abstain from voting in this election," the letter concluded. "Our abstention reflects our belief that the current process is misaligned with shareholder interests and lacks necessary accountability. We hope this action underscores the urgent need for reforms that promote more transparent, competitive, and shareholder-centered elections."

Major companies across the United States, including Ford, McDonald's, Target and Walmart, have announced they are dropping their DEI curriculum, and President Trump recently signed an executive order essentially terminating DEI within the federal government.