Cruz Bustamante

Cruz Bustamante
45th Lieutenant Governor of California
In office January 4, 1999 – January 8, 2007
Governor	Gray Davis (1999–2003) Arnold Schwarzenegger (2003–2007)
Preceded by	Gray Davis
Succeeded by	John Garamendi
62nd Speaker of the California State Assembly
In office December 2, 1996 – February 26, 1998
Preceded by	Curt Pringle
Succeeded by	Antonio Villaraigosa
Personal details
Born	Cruz Miguel Bustamante ( 1953-01-04) January 4, 1953 Dinuba, California
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Arcelia
Residence	Fresno, California
Alma mater	California State University, Fresno
Profession	Politician

Cruz Miguel Bustamante (born January 4, 1953) is an American politician. He was the 45th Lieutenant Governor of California, a former Speaker of the State Assembly and a member of the Democratic Party. He served with Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger and was succeeded by John Garamendi on January 8, 2007.

Early life and family

The eldest of six children, Cruz Bustamante was born in Dinuba, California. His family later moved to San Joaquin, California. He attended and graduated from Tranquillity High School in the 1970s, where he excelled in both football and wrestling, and later attended Fresno City College and California State University, Fresno.

With his wife Arcelia, Bustamante has three daughters.

Political career

As a resident of Fresno, Bustamante was elected to the California State Assembly in a special election in 1993, and became the Speaker of the Assembly in 1996. He was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1998, the first Latino elected to statewide office in California in more than 120 years. He was also the highest-ranking elected Latino officeholder in the United States until Bill Richardson became Governor of New Mexico in 2003. Bustamante earned his B.A. via distance learning from the California State University, Fresno in 2003.

2003 recall election

He was the most prominent Democrat to run in the 2003 California recall election to remove Governor Gray Davis, and placed second to Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, with about 2.7 million votes, 31.5% of votes cast (see full election results).

Bustamante had an apparently icy relationship with Governor Davis, a fellow Democrat, during his tenure. They reportedly had not talked in months before the recall election approached. Bustamante's decision to run in the recall election was controversial, as many supporters of Governor Davis had urged prominent Democrats not to run, in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the event. During the recall election, Bustamante ran on a platform slogan of "No on Recall, Yes on Bustamante,"^[1][2] indicating he opposed the recall.

2006 Insurance Commissioner election

Bustamante was the Democratic candidate for California Insurance Commissioner.

In Bustamante's official candidate statement, he says "I want to become an example to others to lead healthier lives by losing weight myself. Obesity in California costs $7.7 billion a year."

Bustamante claims to have recently shed 43 pounds to 235 pounds by means of diet and exercise.^[3]

Bustamante easily won the June 6, 2006 Democratic primary, receiving 70.5% of the vote and defeating his challenger, John Kraft. In the June Primary Bustamante received 1,606,913 Democratic votes, Kraft 674,309 Democratic votes, and Poizner 1,472,729 Republican votes. Many political analysts believed that Kraft, who ran a low-key campaign where he took no campaign contributions, received those votes as a protest for Bustamante's behavior during the 2003 recall election.^[4] However, Kraft planned to actively campaign for Bustamante, and donated a significant portion of his fortune as an heir to Kraft Foods to Bustamante.^[5]

Bustamante ran against Republican Steve Poizner in November. Bustamante announced that he would not be returning insurance industry contributions to his campaign, a position criticized by Poizner and campaign ethicists. Bustamante also failed to meet a deadline to submit a campaign statement to voters. According to the Field Poll, on November 3, 2006, Bustamante trailed Poizner by 9%.^[6] and lost to Poizner by 12% in the general election.

Bustamante was speculated to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in California's 21st congressional district in 2012,^[7] but ultimately did not get in.

Electoral history

References

External links

• California June Primary Results
• Cruz Bustamante on Manny Fernandez Internet Media Mogal

v t e Speakers of the California State Assembly White Bigler Hammond Wall Fairfax Stow Farley Beatty Whiteside Stratton Moore Burnell Barstow Machin Sears Yule Ryland Rogers Shannon Estee Carpenter Berry Cowdery Parks LaRue Parks Jordan Howe Coombs Gould Lynch Coombs Anderson Pendleton Fisk Prescott Beardslee Stanton Hewitt Young Wright Merriam Levey Little Craig Jones Peek Garland Lyon Collins Silliman Lincoln R. Brown Unruh Monagan Moretti McCarthy W. Brown Allen Setencich Pringle Bustamante Villaraigosa Hertzberg Wesson Núñez Bass Pérez

v t e Lieutenant Governors of California McDougall Broderick* Purdy R. Anderson Walkup Downey Quinn* de la Guerra* Chellis Machin Holden Pacheco Irwin* Johnson Mansfield Daggett Waterman White* Reddick Millard Jeter Neff A. Anderson Porter Wallace Eshleman Stephens Young Fitts Carnahan Merriam Hatfield Patterson Houser Knight Powers G. Anderson Finch Reinecke Harmer Dymally Curb McCarthy Davis Bustamante Garamendi Pasquil* Maldonado Newsom * acting