John Garamendi

Infobox Lt_Governor
name= John Garamendi


caption=
order= 46th Lieutenant Governor of California
state=
term_start= January 8 2007
term_end=
governor= Arnold Schwarzenegger
predecessor= Cruz Bustamante
successor= Incumbent
birth_date= birth date and age |1945|01|24
birth_place= Mokelumne Hill, California
death_date=
death_place=
party= Democratic
profession=
spouse= Patricia W. Garamendi
footnotes=

John Raymond Garamendi (born January 24 1945) is a U.S. politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He became the 46th Lieutenant Governor of California on January 8 2007 . He had previously been the California State Insurance Commissioner from 2003 - 2007, having previously been the first occupant of that office from 1991 - 1995. He was the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 1995 - 1998. Garamendi literally means "height of the mountain" in the Basque language.

Early years

Born in Mokelumne Hill, California of Basque descent, Garamendi received a Bachelor's degree in business from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. He served in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia from 1966 to 1968. Garamendi is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. Garamendi is also a member of Sigma Chi, as a brother of the Alpha Beta Chapter at Berkeley.

Political career

Garamendi won election to the California State Assembly in 1974, representing most of Sacramento County as well as all or part of seven other counties to the east and south, and to the State Senate in 1976. He ran unsuccessfully in the 1982 Democratic gubernatorial primary, where he was defeated by Tom Bradley, and in the 1986 Democratic primary for California State Controller, when he lost to Gray Davis; but in 1990 he was successful in his campaign to become California's first Commissioner of Insurance, an office that brought him much controversy due to the state seizure of Executive Life Insurance Company, a bankruptcy that was coincidental with the creation of the state Department of Insurance.

Instead of seeking re-election to the Insurance Commissioner's office in 1994, Garamendi ran for Governor of California but lost the Democratic primary by 15% to State Treasurer Kathleen Brown, [http://vote96.ss.ca.gov/Vote96/html/stats/SOVp94.htm] who in turn lost the general election by incumbent Republican Governor Pete Wilson. [http://www.lk.cs.ucla.edu/LK/Presentations/facultylecture/calelection/returns.html]

Shortly thereafter, President Bill Clinton appointed Garamendi to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Interior, the second-highest post in the U.S. Department of the Interior.

After four years in the private sector, Garamendi won election to a second term as Insurance Commissioner by less than 5% [http://vote2002.ss.ca.gov/Returns/ins/00.htm] . Seven months into his term as Insurance Commissioner, on August 7 2003, Garamendi announced his candidacy for Governor in the gubernatorial recall election but dropped out two days later in favor of Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante.

Halfway through his term as Insurance Commissioner, on July 16 2004, Garamendi announced his candidacy for the 2006 race to replace the term-limited Bustamante as Lieutenant Governor [http://www.garamendi.org/Lt.%20Governor%20Announcement.html] . Bustamante had run to replace Garamendi as Insurance Commissioner.

Former Vice President Al Gore had endorsed Garamendi for Lt. Governor. Garamendi was also endorsed by the Sierra Club, the California Teachers Association, the California League of Conservation Voters, the Peace Officers Research Association of California, the California Professional Firefighters Association, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, to name a few.

In the June 6 2006 Democratic primary, Garamendi defeated state senators Liz Figueroa and Jackie Speier, receiving 43% of the vote. The margin of votes between Garamendi and Speier was very tight during much of the election night, with each receiving about 40% of the vote, but in later returns Garamendi pulled ahead. In November 2006 he faced Republican Tom McClintock and several candidates from smaller political parties in the general election. California elects governors and lieutenant governors separately; state treasurer Phil Angelides was the Democratic nominee for Governor, but Garamendi could not, in any formal sense, be called Angelides' running mate. Garamendi was elected Lieutenant Governor with 49% of the vote to 45% for Tom McClintock.

Garamendi has announced that he will run for Governor of California in 2010.

Electoral history

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
-bgcolor=#cccccc!colspan=6 style="background: #ccffff;" | Public Offices
-! Office! Type! Location! Elected! Term began! Term ended
-style="background: #ccffcc;"
State Assemblyman
Legislature
Sacramento
1974
December 7 1974
December 2 1976
-style="background: #ccffcc;"
State Senator
Legislature
Sacramento
1976
December 2 1976
December 8 1980
-style="background: #ccffcc;"
State Senator
Legislature
Sacramento
1980
December 8 1980
December 3 1984
-style="background: #ccffcc;"
State Senator
Legislature
Sacramento
1984
December 3 1984
December 5 1988
-style="background: #ccffcc;"
State Senator
Legislature
Sacramento
1988
December 5 1988
December 3 1990
-style="background: #ccffcc;"
Insurance Commissioner
Executive
Sacramento
1990
January 7 1991
January 2 1995
-style="background: #ccffcc;"
Insurance Commissioner
Executive
Sacramento
2002
January 6 2003
January 8 2007
-style="background: #ccffcc;"
Lieutenant Governor
Executive
Sacramento
2006
January 8 2007
January 3 2011
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
-bgcolor=#cccccc!colspan=6 style="background: #ccffff;" |California State Legislature service
-! Session! Chamber! Majority! Governor! Committees! District
-Party shading/Democratic
1975–1976
Assembly
Democratic
Jerry Brown|
7
-Party shading/Democratic
1977–1978
Senate
Democratic
Jerry Brown|
13
-Party shading/Democratic
1979–1980
Senate
Democratic
Jerry Brown|
13
-Party shading/Democratic
1981–1982
Senate
Democratic
Jerry Brown|
13
-Party shading/Democratic
1983–1984
Senate
Democratic
George Deukmejian|
5
-Party shading/Democratic
1985–1986
Senate
Democratic
George Deukmejian|
5
-Party shading/Democratic
1987–1988
Senate
Democratic
George Deukmejian|
5
-Party shading/Democratic
1989–1990
Senate
Democratic
George Deukmejian|
5
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = John Garamendi
votes = 3,770,717
percentage = 52.2
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Wes Bannister
votes = 2,736,577
percentage = 37.9
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Libertarian Party (United States)
candidate = Ted Brown
votes = 431,317
percentage = 6.0
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Peace and Freedom Party
candidate = Tom Condit
votes = 281,276
percentage = 3.9
change =Election box total
votes = 7,220,508
percentage =
change =Election box majority
votes = 1,034,140
percentage = 14.3
change =Election box turnout
votes =
percentage =
change =Election box new seat win
winner = Democratic Party (United States)
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = John Garamendi
votes = 3,346,937
percentage = 46.5
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Gary Mendoza
votes = 2,998,243
percentage = 41.6
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party (United States)
candidate = David Ishmael Sheidlower
votes = 277,667
percentage = 3.9
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Libertarian Party (United States)
candidate = Dale F. Ogden
votes = 236,688
percentage = 3.3
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = Raul Calderon
votes = 192,001
percentage = 2.7
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = American Independent Party
candidate = Steven A. Klein
votes = 148,893
percentage = 2.1
change =Election box total
votes = 7,200,429
percentage =
change =Election box majority
votes = 348,694
percentage = 4.9
change =Election box turnout
votes =
percentage =
change =Election box hold with party link
winner = Democratic Party (United States)
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = John Garamendi
votes = 1,045,097
percentage = 42.5
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Jackie Speier
votes = 975,530
percentage = 39.7
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Liz Figueroa
votes = 436,849
percentage = 17.8
change =Election box total
votes = 2,457,476
percentage =
change =Election box majority
votes = 69,567
percentage = 2.8
change =Election box turnout
votes =
percentage =
change =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = John Garamendi
votes = 4,189,584
percentage = 49.1
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Tom McClintock
votes = 3,845,858
percentage = 45.1
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party (United States)
candidate = Donna J. Warren
votes = 239,107
percentage = 2.8
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Libertarian Party (United States)
candidate = Lynnete Shaw
votes = 142,851
percentage = 1.7
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = American Independent Party
candidate = Jim King
votes = 68,446
percentage = 0.8
change =Election box candidate with party link
party = Peace and Freedom Party
candidate = Tom Condit
votes = 43,319
percentage = 0.5
change =Election box total
votes = 8,529,165
percentage =
change =Election box majority
votes = 343,726
percentage = 4.0
change =Election box turnout
votes =
percentage =
change =Election box hold with party link
winner = Democratic Party (United States)
swing =

Family

Garamendi is married and has six children.

ee also

*2003 California recall

References

* " [http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.whatispc.notable.gov Notable Former Volunteers / Government] ". Peace Corps official site. Accessed 5 January 2007.

External links

* [http://www.ltg.ca.gov Official Website]
* [http://www.garamendi.org/ Campaign Website]
* [http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=59720 Article About Primary Win]

###@@@KEYEND@@@###

Persondata
NAME=Garamendi, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=California politician
DATE OF BIRTH=January 24 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH=Mokelumne Hill, California
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=