Steve Westly
Encyclopedia
Steven Paul Westly is an American
venture capitalist and politician
. He was the State Controller
and Chief Financial Officer
of California
from 2003 to 2007 and was one of the top candidates in the Democratic
primary for Governor of California
in the 2006 election
. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by California State Treasurer
Phil Angelides
, who later lost to Republican
Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger
in the November 2006 elections. During the 2008 Presidential Election, Westly served as California Campaign Co-chair for Obama for America and also as a member of Obama for America's national finance committee. Westly was briefly considered for a cabinet level position in the Obama administration. Currently, Westly is a Managing Partner at The Westly Group, a clean technology
venture capital
firm he founded.
, Westly received an A.B.
in history
from Stanford University
in 1978, where he served as student body co-president. He received an M.B.A.
in Public Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business
in 1983.
He married Anita Yu (Chinese: 余慧雯), an immigrant from Hong Kong
, in 1997. They have a daughter, Christina, born in 2000, and a son, Matthew, born in 2001.
His brother, Dean Westly, practices law in the Silicon Valley
region of Northern California
where he advises high tech companies.
A member of the Democratic Party
, Westly worked for Congressman
Leo Ryan
in 1978 as his first job out of college. Later that year, after Ryan's death on foreign soil at the hands of the Peoples Temple
cult, he worked in the U.S. Department of Energy
's Office of Solar and Conservation under President Jimmy Carter
until 1980. After working in the Carter Administration, he joined the California Public Utilities Commission
as Assistant to the President.
In 1994, he became the Director of Netcom
, one of the early large Internet service providers and in 1995, became Vice President of WhoWhere?, then the largest Internet directory. In 1997, Westly joined eBay
as one of its early executives. He began as Vice President and subsequently gained the title of Senior Vice President for Marketing, Business Development, and International. He retired from eBay in 2000 when he and his wife, Anita Yu, established the Steve and Anita Westly Foundation.
In March 2007, Westly joined the board of Tesla Motors
, a pioneering northern California manufacturer of electric sports cars. He is now a Managing Partner and founder of The Westly Group, a clean technology-oriented venture capital firm located in Menlo Park, California.
. Despite that loss, Westly continued his activism within the party by being elected to the Democratic National Committee
in 1988, as the highest vote getter, and was reelected in 1992, 1996, and 2000.
Westly ran for California State Controller in 2002 against State Senator
Tom McClintock
and won by a margin of 22,730 votes (out of 7,258,758 votes cast). Westly garnered 3,289,839 (45.4%) votes while McClintock won the support of 3,273,028 (45.1%) people. Three other candidates won 695,891 (9.5%) votes.
's plan to change Proposition 98, which requires a certain amount of the state's budget to go towards funding public education and community colleges, http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050212/news_1n12schools.html and in 2005, he created a tax amnesty plan that allowed individuals and corporations who owed back taxes to prevent facing criminal charges and increased penalties if they would immediately pay their back taxes. Westly's plan brought in a gross amount of $4 billion revenue for the State of California. The state's non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office states that after refunds and advance payments the net profit of the tax amnesty plan was $380 million http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/19/BAGIPIBFUO1.DTL. http://www.ftb.ca.gov/amnesty/summary.html
Westly also introduced the ReadyReturn plan to simplify tax preparation by offering to send taxpayers a prefilled form from the state, and allowing them to sign and automatically file their tax refund in a pilot program started in 2005. Westly is also in favor of enforcing current laws requiring Californians to pay sales tax on Internet purchases. http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14259087p-15073366c.html
.
Despite entering the race long after his primary opponent, California State Treasurer
Phil Angelides
, Westly's campaign picked up considerable momentum, receiving endorsements from such figures as Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante
, Congressmembers Grace Napolitano
, Diane Watson
, and Brad Sherman
, State Senators Carole Migden
, Martha Escutia
, and Nell Soto, County Supervisor Yvonne Burke, Assembly Members Judy Chu
, Ted Lieu
, Rudy Bermudez, and Nicole Parra, former Assembly Speaker and current Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson
, the majority of the Los Angeles City Council, and other elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels. Westly also gained the support of 85% of the major newspapers that endorsed in the race, including the San Francisco Chronicle
, San Jose Mercury News
, Los Angeles Daily News
, LA Weekly
, Fresno Bee, and many others. Several organizations also endorsed Westly, such as the California Sierra Club
, California Police Chiefs Association, California NOW, and the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association.
In the months leading up to the election, Westly overcame an early Angelides advantage and gained the edge in various polls, leading by as much as 13 points. Moreover, unlike Angelides, he consistently beat Governor Schwarzenegger in hypothetical general election matchups.
Despite Westly's momentum and resources, the California Democratic Party endorsed Angelides at the State Democratic Party Convention. The race turned extremely negative, highlighting environmental controversies surrounding Angelides' background as a real estate developer and Westly's broken pledge to keep his campaign clean. Westly's candidacy also was hurt by an unprecedented multi-million dollar independent expenditure by Sacramento real estate developer and longtime Angelides patron Angelo Tsakopoulos
. As election day neared, Westly's momentum dissipated and the race tightened. A Field Poll held on June 2, 2006 had Westly leading Angelides by one percentage point, 35% to 34% with 26% undecided and an error size of +/- 4.5 points. http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/RLS2198.pdf
The high number of undecided voters led to the lowest turnout in a California primary election in over half a century. Despite over $80 million spent on the race, including over $35 million of Westly's personal fortune, only 30.8% of California Democrats came out to vote, the lowest number in recent history. Angelides finished on election night with 48% of the vote compared to Westly's 44%. Westly endorsed Angelides' candidacy at a unity breakfast the morning after election night.
Angelides' Republican opponent, Arnold Schwarzenegger
, has since used quotes from Westly's campaign to attack Angelides. Westly, who endorsed Angelides after the primary, countered, "Governor Schwarzenegger has shown great interest in what Steve Westly has to say about 2006. He is right here to tell you that we all need to vote for the Democratic candidate Phil Angelides in November 2006."
Phil Angelides
was defeated in a landslide by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
during the general election held on November 7, 2006. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/11/08/EDG6PKE1EA1.DTL
in November 2008, it was rumored that Westly was being considered for appointment as US Secretary of Energy, though Dr. Steven Chu
was ultimately named to that position.
Westly's name was also figured in political speculation as a possible candidate for Governor to succeed Schwarzenegger in 2010. Former Governor Jerry Brown
won the Democratic nomination and defeated Republican Meg Whitman
in November 2010. Westly supported Brown for governor and hosted a Brown fundraiser in October 2010.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
venture capitalist and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He was the State Controller
California State Controller
The State Controller is the Chief Financial Officer of the State of California in the United States. The post has broader responsibilities and authority than the California State Treasurer...
and Chief Financial Officer
Chief financial officer
The chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
from 2003 to 2007 and was one of the top candidates in the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
primary for Governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
in the 2006 election
California gubernatorial election, 2006
The 2006 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 2006. The primary elections took place on June 6, 2006. The incumbent Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, won re election for his first full term. His main opponent was California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the...
. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by California State Treasurer
California State Treasurer
The California State Treasurer is responsible for the state's investment and finance. The post has more narrow responsibilities and authority than the California State Controller...
Phil Angelides
Phil Angelides
Philip Nicholas "Phil" Angelides is an American politician who was California State Treasurer and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of California in the 2006 elections...
, who later lost to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Governor
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
in the November 2006 elections. During the 2008 Presidential Election, Westly served as California Campaign Co-chair for Obama for America and also as a member of Obama for America's national finance committee. Westly was briefly considered for a cabinet level position in the Obama administration. Currently, Westly is a Managing Partner at The Westly Group, a clean technology
Clean technology
Clean technology includes recycling, renewable energy , information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, Greywater, and many other appliances that are now more energy efficient. It is a means to create electricity and fuels, with a smaller environmental...
venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
firm he founded.
Education and Family
Raised in the San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, Westly received an A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1978, where he served as student body co-president. He received an M.B.A.
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
in Public Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business
Stanford Graduate School of Business
The Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of the professional schools of Stanford University, in Stanford, California and is broadly regarded as one of the best business schools in the world.The Stanford GSB offers a general management Master of Business Administration degree, the Sloan...
in 1983.
He married Anita Yu (Chinese: 余慧雯), an immigrant from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, in 1997. They have a daughter, Christina, born in 2000, and a son, Matthew, born in 2001.
His brother, Dean Westly, practices law in the Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
region of Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
where he advises high tech companies.
A member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, Westly worked for Congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Leo Ryan
Leo Ryan
Leo Joseph Ryan, Jr. was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. Representative from California's 11th congressional district from 1973 until he was murdered in Guyana by members of the Peoples Temple shortly before the Jonestown Massacre in 1978.After the Watts Riots...
in 1978 as his first job out of college. Later that year, after Ryan's death on foreign soil at the hands of the Peoples Temple
Peoples Temple
Peoples Temple was a religious organization founded in 1955 by Jim Jones that, by the mid-1970s, included over a dozen locations in California including its headquarters in San Francisco...
cult, he worked in the U.S. Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
's Office of Solar and Conservation under President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
until 1980. After working in the Carter Administration, he joined the California Public Utilities Commission
California Public Utilities Commission
The California Public Utilities Commission is a regulatory agency which regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies...
as Assistant to the President.
Business
In 1983, Westly became the New Business Manager at Sprint Telecommunications. In 1986, he became an investment banker at Bridgemere Capital in San Francisco. In 1988, Westly became President of Codd & Date, a leading relational database consulting & services firm. In 1991, Westly became the Deputy Director of the City of San Jose Office of Economic Development and began teaching at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a position he held for the next five years.In 1994, he became the Director of Netcom
Netcom
Netcom may refer to:*U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command /9th Signal Command *China Netcom, telecom company in mainland China*NetCom , Norwegian mobile phone operator...
, one of the early large Internet service providers and in 1995, became Vice President of WhoWhere?, then the largest Internet directory. In 1997, Westly joined eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
as one of its early executives. He began as Vice President and subsequently gained the title of Senior Vice President for Marketing, Business Development, and International. He retired from eBay in 2000 when he and his wife, Anita Yu, established the Steve and Anita Westly Foundation.
In March 2007, Westly joined the board of Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors, Inc. is a Silicon Valley-based company that designs, manufactures and sells electric cars and electric vehicle powertrain components. It was the only automaker building and selling a zero-emission sports car, the Tesla Roadster, in serial production...
, a pioneering northern California manufacturer of electric sports cars. He is now a Managing Partner and founder of The Westly Group, a clean technology-oriented venture capital firm located in Menlo Park, California.
Political career
In addition to his professional career, Westly has maintained a concurrent career in the Democratic Party. At age 23 in 1981, he was elected as Northern Treasurer of the California Democratic Party, the youngest party officer ever. He was subsequently elected State Controller of the California Democratic Party in 1983, Northern Chair of the California Democratic Party in 1985, and Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party in 1987. In 1989, he was defeated as State Chair of the California Democratic Party by former Governor Jerry BrownJerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
. Despite that loss, Westly continued his activism within the party by being elected to the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
in 1988, as the highest vote getter, and was reelected in 1992, 1996, and 2000.
Westly ran for California State Controller in 2002 against State Senator
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
Tom McClintock
Tom McClintock
Thomas Miller McClintock II is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a former Assemblyman and state Senator...
and won by a margin of 22,730 votes (out of 7,258,758 votes cast). Westly garnered 3,289,839 (45.4%) votes while McClintock won the support of 3,273,028 (45.1%) people. Three other candidates won 695,891 (9.5%) votes.
California State Controller
As Controller, Westly opposed Governor Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
's plan to change Proposition 98, which requires a certain amount of the state's budget to go towards funding public education and community colleges, http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050212/news_1n12schools.html and in 2005, he created a tax amnesty plan that allowed individuals and corporations who owed back taxes to prevent facing criminal charges and increased penalties if they would immediately pay their back taxes. Westly's plan brought in a gross amount of $4 billion revenue for the State of California. The state's non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office states that after refunds and advance payments the net profit of the tax amnesty plan was $380 million http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/19/BAGIPIBFUO1.DTL. http://www.ftb.ca.gov/amnesty/summary.html
Westly also introduced the ReadyReturn plan to simplify tax preparation by offering to send taxpayers a prefilled form from the state, and allowing them to sign and automatically file their tax refund in a pilot program started in 2005. Westly is also in favor of enforcing current laws requiring Californians to pay sales tax on Internet purchases. http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14259087p-15073366c.html
2006 Governor's Race
On June 19, 2005, Steve Westly announced his candidacy for the 2006 California gubernatorial electionCalifornia gubernatorial election, 2006
The 2006 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 2006. The primary elections took place on June 6, 2006. The incumbent Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, won re election for his first full term. His main opponent was California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the...
.
Despite entering the race long after his primary opponent, California State Treasurer
California State Treasurer
The California State Treasurer is responsible for the state's investment and finance. The post has more narrow responsibilities and authority than the California State Controller...
Phil Angelides
Phil Angelides
Philip Nicholas "Phil" Angelides is an American politician who was California State Treasurer and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of California in the 2006 elections...
, Westly's campaign picked up considerable momentum, receiving endorsements from such figures as Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante
Cruz Bustamante
Cruz Miguel Bustamante 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...
, Congressmembers Grace Napolitano
Grace Napolitano
Graciela Flores Napolitano is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She previously served in the California State Assembly and the Norwalk, City Council....
, Diane Watson
Diane Watson
Diane Edith Watson is a former US Representative for , serving from 2003 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party...
, and Brad Sherman
Brad Sherman
Bradley J. "Brad" Sherman is an American politician. He has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing ....
, State Senators Carole Migden
Carole Migden
Carole Migden is an American politician from San Francisco, California who represented the third district of the California State Senate from 2004 to 2008 and the 13th district of the California State Assembly from 1996 to 2002....
, Martha Escutia
Martha Escutia
Martha M. Escutia is a Democratic politician who represented the areas surrounding Los Angeles in the California State Senate from 1998 until 2006 and in the California State Assembly from 1992 until 1998. She is currently one of the founding attorneys of The Senators Firm, LLP.-Senate...
, and Nell Soto, County Supervisor Yvonne Burke, Assembly Members Judy Chu
Judy Chu
Judy May Chu, Ph.D. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. She is a member of the Democratic Party....
, Ted Lieu
Ted Lieu
Ted W. Lieu is a Democratic Party California State Senator, who has represented the 28th Senate District since February 18, 2011, after being elected to fill the seat of deceased Senator Jenny Oropeza...
, Rudy Bermudez, and Nicole Parra, former Assembly Speaker and current Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson
Herb Wesson
Herb J. Wesson, Jr. is an American politician. He currently serves as a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 10th district. He served in the State Assembly representing the 47th district from 1998 until 2004. He served as Speaker of the California State Assembly from 2002 until 2004...
, the majority of the Los Angeles City Council, and other elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels. Westly also gained the support of 85% of the major newspapers that endorsed in the race, including the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
The San Jose Mercury News is a daily newspaper in San Jose, California. On its web site, however, it calls itself Silicon Valley Mercury News. The paper is owned by MediaNews Group...
, Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....
, LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, Fresno Bee, and many others. Several organizations also endorsed Westly, such as the California Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
, California Police Chiefs Association, California NOW, and the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association.
In the months leading up to the election, Westly overcame an early Angelides advantage and gained the edge in various polls, leading by as much as 13 points. Moreover, unlike Angelides, he consistently beat Governor Schwarzenegger in hypothetical general election matchups.
Despite Westly's momentum and resources, the California Democratic Party endorsed Angelides at the State Democratic Party Convention. The race turned extremely negative, highlighting environmental controversies surrounding Angelides' background as a real estate developer and Westly's broken pledge to keep his campaign clean. Westly's candidacy also was hurt by an unprecedented multi-million dollar independent expenditure by Sacramento real estate developer and longtime Angelides patron Angelo Tsakopoulos
Angelo Tsakopoulos
Angelo Tsakopoulos is a prominent real estate developer in Sacramento, California and the founder and owner of AKT Development. Tsakopoulos was fined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for a violation of the Clean Water Act. Tsakopoulos sued the government and was able to bring...
. As election day neared, Westly's momentum dissipated and the race tightened. A Field Poll held on June 2, 2006 had Westly leading Angelides by one percentage point, 35% to 34% with 26% undecided and an error size of +/- 4.5 points. http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/RLS2198.pdf
The high number of undecided voters led to the lowest turnout in a California primary election in over half a century. Despite over $80 million spent on the race, including over $35 million of Westly's personal fortune, only 30.8% of California Democrats came out to vote, the lowest number in recent history. Angelides finished on election night with 48% of the vote compared to Westly's 44%. Westly endorsed Angelides' candidacy at a unity breakfast the morning after election night.
Angelides' Republican opponent, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
, has since used quotes from Westly's campaign to attack Angelides. Westly, who endorsed Angelides after the primary, countered, "Governor Schwarzenegger has shown great interest in what Steve Westly has to say about 2006. He is right here to tell you that we all need to vote for the Democratic candidate Phil Angelides in November 2006."
Phil Angelides
Phil Angelides
Philip Nicholas "Phil" Angelides is an American politician who was California State Treasurer and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of California in the 2006 elections...
was defeated in a landslide by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
during the general election held on November 7, 2006. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/11/08/EDG6PKE1EA1.DTL
Political Future
After the election of President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in November 2008, it was rumored that Westly was being considered for appointment as US Secretary of Energy, though Dr. Steven Chu
Steven Chu
Steven Chu is an American physicist and the 12th United States Secretary of Energy. Chu is known for his research at Bell Labs in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, along with his scientific colleagues Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and...
was ultimately named to that position.
Westly's name was also figured in political speculation as a possible candidate for Governor to succeed Schwarzenegger in 2010. Former Governor Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
won the Democratic nomination and defeated Republican Meg Whitman
Meg Whitman
Margaret Cushing "Meg" Whitman is an American business executive. She is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard. A native of Long Island, New York, she is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School...
in November 2010. Westly supported Brown for governor and hosted a Brown fundraiser in October 2010.