Robert Wesley Naylor (born January 21, 1944) is a former California State Assemblyman, who represented the San Francisco Bay Area's 20th Assembly District from 1978–1986, who was Assembly Republican Leader from 1982–1984 and California Republican Party Chair from 1987–1989.
Born in Reno, Nevada,[1] Naylor earned his A.B. from Stanford University in 1966. While at Stanford, he was editor of The Stanford Daily and earned Phi Beta Kappa honors.[2] Naylor earned his LL.B. from Yale Law School in 1969 and was admitted to the California bar in January 1970.[3] Naylor was a United States Army Lieutenant and served in the Vietnam War. where he was co-director of the Vietnam Orphans Airlift in 1975. Upon returning from Vietnam, Naylor became an attorney, working on political and tax law.[2][4]
In 1978, Naylor was elected to represent southern San Mateo County as the Assemblyman for the 20th District.[2] Re-elected to a second term in 1980, he was elected Assembly Republican Leader in 1982.[1] During his tenure as Assembly Republican Leader, Naylor helped craft legislation tying increases in funding for public education with education reform measures, and pushed for pro-growth economic policies and a balanced state budget without tax increases.[2] Re-elected to the Assembly in 1982 and 1984, Naylor did not seek a fifth term in the Assembly, instead choosing to seek the Republican nomination for the United States Senate, but won only 3.1% of the vote.[1]
Shortly after leaving the Assembly at the end of his term in 1986, Naylor was elected Chairman of the California Republican Party, serving from 1987–1989.[1][2] As party chair, he presided over Republican efforts to win California in the 1988 presidential election, which proved to be the last time Republicans have carried the state in a presidential election.[5] Naylor has represented California as a delegate to ten Republican National Conventions,[2] including in 1972, 1976, and 1980 (he was an alternate delegate in 2008).[1]
In 1991, President George H. W. Bush appointed Naylor to the Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, where Naylor served from 1991–1995.[1][4] He was also Chairman of the Association for California Tort Reform and was a founding member of the Board of Directors of Calnet Business Bank, headquartered in Sacramento.[2] He also served as a director of the Civil Justice Association of California.[4] He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Leland Stanford Mansion Foundation[2][6] and as Co-Chair of Californians for an Effective Legislature.[7]
He joined the law firm of Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Mueller & Naylor as a partner, specializing in government law.[2] The firm was renamed Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Gross & Leoni when Naylor left the firm in 2011 to launch Robert W. Naylor Advocacy.[8][9]
Naylor resides in the Encino area of Los Angeles with his wife, Linda Kasem. They have two daughters: Karen and Kristen.[2]
| California Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Dixon Arnett |
California State Assemblyman 20th District December 8, 1978 – November 30, 1986 |
Succeeded by Bill Duplissea |
| Preceded by Carol Hallett |
California State Assembly Republican Leader January 11, 1982 – November 8, 1984 |
Succeeded by Pat Nolan |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Mike Antonovich |
Chair of the California Republican Party 1987–1989 |
Succeeded by Frank Visco |