31 Facts About Phil Angelides

Phillip Nicholas Angelides is an American politician who was California State Treasurer and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of California in the 2006 elections.

Phil Angelides was born in Sacramento, California, to Helen and Jerry Phil Angelides, who were Greek immigrants.

Phil 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 1999 Phil Angelides launched the ScholarShare college savings trust, described by the Los Angeles Times as one of "the nation's best," and sponsored a $25 billion bond to relieve overcrowding and repair damaged schools.

Phil Angelides 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 early 2005, Phil 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.

Phil 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.

Phil Angelides received the endorsement of the liberal San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Phil Angelides called for reducing tax breaks for corporations and individuals earning $500,000 or more per year, in a plan to earn revenue to increase funding for public K-12 education and higher education.

Phil Angelides stated his opposition to sending National Guard troops to the California-Mexico border and wanted to seek closer ties with the then-President of Mexico, Vicente Fox.

On May 23,2006, Phil Angelides wrote Barbara Boxer, a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, urging her to support net neutrality.

Phil Angelides presented himself as a more progressive and liberal candidate, and accused Westly of working too closely with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Westly accused Phil Angelides of being an anti-environment real estate developer.

On June 6,2006, Phil Angelides won the Democratic primary over Westly with 48 percent of the vote over his opponent's 43 percent.

An unauthorized MySpace web page for Phil Angelides was embraced by his campaign.

Phil Angelides stated his intent to increase high school funding by $200,000,000 to hire more counselors in high schools and middle schools as well as increasing admission quotas for the UC and CSU systems by 20,000 students.

Phil Angelides has stated that he would "seriously consider" lowering the minimal voting age from 18 to 16 if elected governor.

Katie Levinson, a spokeswoman for the Schwarzenegger campaign wanted Phil Angelides to "denounce the unethical actions taken on his behalf", stating that he was trying to personally smear Schwarzenegger.

Phil Angelides's campaign did not air a single biographical ad until very late into the campaign.

Schwarzenegger spent around $42 million during the whole of 2006, likely most of it in the general election as he did not face a serious primary challenge, while Phil Angelides was estimated to only spend around $10 million after winning the nomination.

The attacks failed to register and perhaps backfired, because Phil Angelides' failed to take into account Schwarzenegger shift back to the political center, moderating his policies and returning to close co-operation with the Democratic-dominated assembly since his widely unsuccessful 2005 special election.

In 1986, Phil Angelides founded his own land development company, River West.

Tsakopoulos has donated over $3,200,000 to Phil Angelides' campaigns beginning in 1993 and for the 2006 gubernatorial race, Tsakopoulos has donated $3,750,000 to Mr Phil Angelides with his daughter, Eleni Tsakopoulous-Kounalakis donating $1,250,000.

On July 15,2009, Phil Angelides was named Chairman of the bi-partisan 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.