Carl DeMaio

He and his family moved to Orange County, California in the late 1970s.

He attended St. Catherine's Military Academy, a Catholic school in Anaheim, through eighth grade.

Carl David DeMaio (born September 14, 1974) is an American politician from San Diego, California.

DeMaio hosts a radio show on NewsRadio 600 KOGO.

He also founded and served as Chairman of Reform California, a conservative political action committee.

DeMaio was born in 1974 in Dubuque, Iowa to a pair of teachers, Carl Joseph DeMaio and Diane M. DeMaio (née Elgin).

In 1989, he got a scholarship to Georgetown Preparatory School, a Jesuit boarding school in Maryland.

His mother died of breast cancer in 1990 when he was 15 years old; his abusive father abandoned the family two weeks prior to her death.

DeMaio became separated from his brother and sister and began attending Georgetown Prep.

He graduated in 1993, then attended Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he received a degree in international politics and business in 1996.

After college, he established The Performance Institute, a for-profit think tank that provided training for government officials on performance measurement, strategic planning, zero-based budgeting, project management and other management improvement topics.

Between 1994-1999, DeMaio worked for the Congressional Institute, serving as the Institute's Director of Planning.

In this position DeMaio developed training programs and retreats for Members of Congress and their staff on the budget process and ways to conduct oversight investigations of federal programs using the Government Performance and Results Act.

In 2000, DeMaio joined the Reason Foundation to lead a project to develop a bipartisan management improvement plan for the incoming Presidential Administration.

C-Span broadcast a series of Townhall hosted by DeMaio that eventually led to a management reform plan that was accepted by incoming President George W. Bush.

DeMaio moved to San Diego in 2002.

That year he appeared on behalf of the Reason Foundation in front of the San Diego City Council to present an award to the city for having the most efficient government in California.

He later alleged this award was based on "false and misleading" financial data provided to him by the city.

In 2003 DeMaio founded a second company, the American Strategic Management Institute, which provided financial and management training to corporations.

In 2004, DeMaio launched the San Diego Citizens Budget Project that issued a report claiming that San Diego's predicted budget deficit of $27 million was in fact closer to $80–$100 million.[5] The report also advocated for change in San Diego's budget process.

Between 2004 and 2012, DeMaio was Chairman of San Diego Citizens for Accountable Government – a 527 political action committee that raised funds to oppose tax increases and sponsor policy research and initiatives to reform government in San Diego county.

He sold both companies to the Thompson Publishing Group in late 2007.

DeMaio is married to Jonathan Hale, owner of Hale Media which publishes San Diego Gay and Lesbian News and SDPix.

A member of the Republican Party, DeMaio served a single term as a member of the San Diego City Council, representing District 5 from 2008 to 2012.

DeMaio was a candidate for Mayor of San Diego in the 2012 election, but narrowly lost to former congressman Bob Filner.

He ran for California's 52nd congressional district in the 2014 election, but narrowly lost to incumbent Scott Peters.

In April 2015, DeMaio joined KOGO Radio (AM-600), first as a co-host with Bob Sullivan of a midday radio show (1-4 pm) with Bob Sullivan, and then starting in November 2015 as a solo host of his own show during the afternoon drive (3-6pm).

In addition to offering commentary on news and politics as a traditional radio host, DeMaio has used his radio show platform to promote and advance a number of political causes and campaigns.

In 2015, DeMaio launched Reform California – a 527 political action committee that raises funds to oppose tax increases and sponsor policy research and initiatives to reform government throughout California.

DeMaio serves as Chairman and principal officer for Reform California.

In 2015 DeMaio, warning that unfunded government pension liabilities were growing too large, announced Reform California would partner with former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed to propose and pass a statewide Pension Reform Initiative.

Josh Newman recall effort

In 2017 DeMaio announced a recall against Democratic state senator Josh Newman citing Newman's vote for the car and gas tax increases.

In January 2018 DeMaio signed a new five-year contract with KOGO.

DeMaio led a coalition to collect more than 65,000 signatures to force a recall onto the June 2018 ballot.

On August 5, 2019, DeMaio announced he would run for Congress in 2020 to represent the 50th district, running against incumbent Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, a fellow Republican.

Hunter announced his resignation from Congress on December 6, 2019, which became effective January 13, 2020.

In August 2019, he took a leave of absence to launch his 2020 Congressional race and began airing his own Podcast as a way to stay connected with his followers.

"The Carl DeMaio Show" airs one to two episodes a week and is available on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In the primary election on March 3, 2020, DeMaio failed to qualify for the November runoff.