Phil Angelides

Phillip Nicholas Angelides (born June 12, 1953) is an American politician who was California State Treasurer and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of California in the 2006 elections.

Angelides served as the chair of the Apollo Alliance and of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

Angelides was born in Sacramento, California, to Helen (née Papadopoulos) and Jerry Angelides, who were Greek immigrants.

Growing up, Phil and his brother Kimon were encouraged by their father to learn about geography and the United States government.

Their father would quiz them weekly on these topics.

Angelides' interest in politics was ignited in 1971, during his college freshman year, when he met anti-war activist Allard Lowenstein.

In 1973, while in college, Angelides unsuccessfully ran for Sacramento City Council against a popular incumbent.

Angelides was educated at The Thacher School in Ojai, California and graduated from Harvard University in 1974, majoring in government as a Coro Foundation Fellow.

Angelides and his wife, Julie, reside in Land Park with their three grown daughters, Megan, Christina, and Arianna.

From 1975 to 1983, Angelides worked for California's Housing and Community Development agency.

During that time, he again ran unsuccessfully for city council in 1977.

Angelides was an early supporter and fundraiser of the eventual 1988 Democratic Presidential Nominee, Michael Dukakis, and maintains a strong friendship to the present.

Dukakis has referred to Phil as "one of the five or 10 best people in American politics today."

Angelides was also endorsed by former vice president Al Gore, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, Former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, United States Senator from Massachusetts and 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the California Labor Federation, the California Teachers' Association, the California Professional Firefighters, the California Sierra Club, California League of Conservation Voters, California NOW, Vote the Coast and Clean Water Action.

Following his primary defeat on June 6, California State Controller Steve Westly endorsed the victorious Angelides as did Assemblyman Mark Leno and San Francisco Supervisor Fiona Ma.

For a time, Angelides used California Democratic Party political operative Bob Mulholland., and Political media consultants Sidney Galanty and Mark Galanty.

His work with Dukakis led him to serve as the chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1991 to 1993.

Angelides first ran for State Treasurer in 1994, losing in the general election to Matt Fong.

He served as Co-Chair of the Sacramento Mayor's Commission on Education and the City's Future from 1995 to 1996.

He then ran again for State Treasurer in 1998 as a Democrat and won, and was re-elected in 2002.

From 1999 to 2007, Angelides served as California State Treasurer.

As Treasurer, he was an ex-officio member of the boards of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), which are the nation's first and third largest public pension funds.

In 1999 Angelides launched the ScholarShare college savings trust, described by the Los Angeles Times as one of "the nation's best," (a subsection of the scholarship portion of the ScholarShare program was discontinued due to lack of funds after only a year) and sponsored a $25 billion bond to relieve overcrowding and repair damaged schools.

He was considered a leader in the corporate reform movement and advocated for investment in socially and environmentally conscious businesses and for businesses with increased standards of financial disclosure.

In 2003, the CalPERS investment committee approved of Angelides' Investment Protection Standards, which require that investment banking firms who do business with CalPERS separate their research and investment banking practices.

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer complimented Angelides' plan saying, "I applaud Treasurer Angelides for his actions. Today's announcement is an important first step in ensuring that these reforms become the new market standard."

Angelides, along with 10 other state treasurers and controllers, called on the SEC to approve

a rule giving shareholders the right to nominate candidates for corporate boards of directors.

In early 2005, Angelides announced his intention to run against the current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, having made little secret of his ambition for the Governor's Office from the time that Schwarzenegger was elected in 2003.

His eldest daughter, Megan Garcia-Angelides, was the campus coordinator for his 2006 campaign.

For example, in April 2006 CalSTRS board members unanimously supported Angelides' motion to divest from Sudan to pressure an end to the government-backed genocide in Sudan.

His Green Wave Initiative invested $950,000,000 into environmental businesses and technologies and his Double Bottom Line Initiative invested 14 billion dollars into inner-city and underserved communities.

On April 29, 2006, Angelides was endorsed by the California Democratic Party at the California State Democratic Convention in Sacramento.

Despite this, polls from around that time showed that his opponent in the race, California State Controller Steve Westly, had an advantage in the primary.

Angelides then won the endorsements of the Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times, two of California's largest newspapers, and the California League of Conservation Voters, after a head-to-head debate with Westly.

He also received the endorsement of the liberal San Francisco Bay Guardian.

A Field Poll held on June 2, 2006, had Westly leading Angelides by one percentage point, 35% to 34% with 26% undecided.

On July 7, 2006, Angelides expressed his support for gay rights, and pledged to legalize same-sex marriage if elected governor, stating "I would sign the marriage equality bill because I believe if we can get behind people to build a lasting relationship, that is a good thing."

A 2007 CalPERS report estimated that the funds lost an estimated $400 million due to a decision, again advocated by Angelides, to divest from companies located in India, Thailand, and China due to their labor practices.

A 2008 CalSTRS report stated that the two funds had collectively missed an estimated $1 billion in profits due to their decision, advocated by Angelides early during his tenure, to divest from tobacco companies.