Developer Enters Race for State Treasurer’s Post

Sacramento developer and former state Democratic Party official Phil Angelides formally entered the race for state treasurer Wednesday, promising to increase the investment of state funds in stocks of California firms.

Angelides said he would use the authority of the treasurer, who invests billions of dollars for the state, to strengthen the state’s economy for future generations.

“I will invest more of our portfolio in California. It is the best place in the world to invest. We will do well by our state and do well by our investments,” he said.

The 44-year-old former chairman of the California Democratic Party is making his second bid for treasurer. He lost to Republican Matt Fong in 1994.

Fong is leaving the treasurer’s office this year to run for the U.S. Senate. Former Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle of Garden Grove and Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith of Poway are seeking the Republican nomination. So far, Angelides is the only Democrat in the race.

Angelides said his combination of political activism and private sector experience as an entrepreneur and investment manager qualify him to be state treasurer.

A graduate of Harvard University, Angelides worked for eight years as a Democratic aide in the Assembly, leaving state government in 1984 to start an investment and management business that developed the environmentally friendly Laguna West planned community near Sacramento.

He remained politically active as key California fund-raiser for Michael Dukakis’ 1988 presidential campaign, and he served as chairman of the California Democratic Party from 1991 to 1993.

In the past two years, Angelides has headed civic groups in Sacramento that have tried to reform Sacramento’s troubled school district and that negotiated a loan agreement between the Sacramento Kings and the city of Sacramento to prevent the NBA team’s threatened move.

Angelides and his wife, Julie, live in Sacramento.