Alfred Attilio Checchi was born on June 6,1948 and is an American businessman who was a candidate for Governor of California in the 1998 gubernatorial election, losing to fellow Democrat Gray Davis in the June 1998 primary.
26 Facts About Al Checchi
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Al Checchi ran as a New Democrat and called for increased spending on education.
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Al Checchi set a new record at the time for spending in a California gubernatorial race, spending over $40 million of his personal fortune.
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Al Checchi had previously enjoyed success in various business ventures, most notably serving as co-chairman of Northwest Airlines.
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Al Checchi is married to his wife Kathryn and has 3 children.
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Al Checchi was born on June 6,1948, near Boston, Massachusetts.
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Al Checchi's grandfather ran the Elba Fruit Market, a grocery in Calais, Maine.
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Al Checchi was raised in the suburbs of Washington DC to middle-class parents where he attended Our Lady of Good Counsel.
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Al Checchi's father was the No 3 man in the Food and Drug Administration from 1946 to 1960, and later ran an investment firm.
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Al Checchi began to think of running for public office when he was 12.
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At the age of 14, Al Checchi saw Martin Luther King Jr.
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Al Checchi attended Amherst College in Massachusetts because he heard it was the most difficult to get into; he graduated in 1970 with an American studies major.
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Al Checchi completed a Master of Business Administration at Harvard School of Business.
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Al Checchi first worked at Marriott Corporation where he rose quickly due to clever financing for hotel developments at home and abroad.
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In 1989, Al Checchi helped organize a $3.65 billion leveraged buyout of Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines, investing about $12 million in the transaction.
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Al Checchi amassed a net worth of around $700 million.
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Al Checchi was a New Democrat, liberal on social issues and conservative on fiscal ones.
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Al Checchi called for teachers to be tested every five years and to expand charter schools.
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Al Checchi opposed Proposition 187 because it cut benefits to children of illegal immigrants and called for the prosecution of businesses that hire undocumented workers.
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Al Checchi wanted to extend the death penalty to cover serial rapists and repeat child molesters, and he wanted a drug rehabilitation programs for the state's prisoners, with release contingent on a drug-free record.
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Al Checchi supported regional planning for growth, financial incentives to stimulate housing, and he promised to cut auto insurance rates by 10 percent.
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Al Checchi released a 90-page book detailing his policies and political positions.
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Al Checchi spent over $40 million from his personal fortune on his run for governor.
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Al Checchi's campaign featured numerous television ads and high priced political advisors and included a television ad that highlighted his Italian American heritage.
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Al Checchi ran against Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis and US Congresswoman Jane Harman.
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Al Checchi set a new record at the time for spending in a California gubernatorial race.