Fabian Núñez

Fabian Núñez
66th Speaker of the California State Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office  2004
Preceded by	Herb Wesson
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Member of the California State Assembly from the 46th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  2002
Preceded by	Gil Cedillo
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	December 27 1966 (1966-12-27) (age 41) Logan Heights, San Diego, California
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Maria Robles
Profession	Politician
Religion	Roman Catholic

Fabian Núñez (Fabián Núñez, Fabian Nuñez and less commonly Fabian Nunez) (born December 27, 1966, Logan Heights, San Diego, California, United States) is a Democratic politician and the Speaker of the California State Assembly.

Personal life

Núñez was born in San Diego, however he lived in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico until he was 8 years old. His parents, who were migrant workers (8 U.S.C. § 1324a) from Mexico, became citizens sometime later. He was one of twelve children and spent the rest of his formative years in Logan Heights, a San Diego neighborhood. At the age of 31, Núñez earned bachelor of arts degrees in both political science and education from Pitzer College in Claremont, a southern California institution. Núñez lives in downtown Los Angeles with his wife, Maria Robles, and their three children. Núñez and Robles were married twice. After the end of their first marriage in 1995, the couple remarried in 2005. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, himself a former Assembly Speaker, was Núñez's best man at the second wedding.

Early career

In his formative years, Núñez worked as a gardener for his father's landscaping business on weekends as he attended school. From 1996 to 2000, Fabian Núñez served as the Political Director for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and, between 2000-2002, worked as the Government Affairs Director for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Political career

Núñez was elected to the California State Assembly to represent the 46th District in 2002. Later, on February 9 2004 he was selected as the 66th Speaker of the California Assembly. In the 2004-2006 legislative session, Fabian Núñez forged a strong working relationship with Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governor signed into law major legislation sponsored by Núñez, including legislation to combat global warming (cosponsored with Assembly member Fran Pavley), reduce the price of prescription drugs, raise the minimum wage by a dollar, reform the Los Angeles Unified School District (Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's proposal), and increase competition among cable television companies (cosponsored by Assembly member Lloyd Levine). Due to term limits, Núñez can only serve as Speaker through 2008. However, he is actively campaigning for a statewide proposition to appear on the ballot in February 2008 to circumvent the term limits law and allow him an additional six years as speaker.

Diplomatic mission to Mexico

In August of 2005, Núñez traveled to Mexico -- for the first time as an elected official -- to meet with the then-Mexican President, Vicente Fox, and several high-level government officials and business leaders. The Sacramento Bee reported "California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez met privately with Mexican President Vicente Fox at his government office here Thursday, hoping to strengthen ties that the Los Angeles lawmaker claims have deteriorated under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. After meeting with Fox, the Democratic speaker said he hopes to serve as a bridge to help foster understanding at the highest levels of California and Mexico governments." [1] And, as reported in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Speaker "invited Fox to address the California Assembly in Sacramento." [2] Fox accepted the invitation and spoke to a special joint session of the California State Legislature. Prior to his speech, Fox met privately with the Speaker.

Criticism

On October 10, 2007, The Los Angeles Times reported that Núñez had allegedly spent tens of thousands of dollars of campaign money personal expenses, such as $1800 for a meal at a Parisian restaurant and $5000 for wine from Bordeaux. [3] Some have criticized Núñez for sponsoring major legislation because as Speaker, they believe he should allow other Democratic members to write the legislation and get the credit. Others have criticized Núñez for campaigning on behalf of measures in joint appearances with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger because Núñez was a Campaign Co-Chair for Democratic gubernatorial challenger State Treasurer Phil Angelides. In the past, Núñez has campaigned with the Governor on behalf of the Governor's Strategic Growth Plan (infrastructure bonds) but has recently ended public appearances, along with Democratic State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, possibly to appease his critics. However, on October 27,2006 Núñez attended a rally before a sprawling crowd on the campus of the University of Southern California for Phil Angelides' campaign for governor in the United States House elections on November 7 2006.[4] In 1995, Nunez spoke before the "Latino Summit Response to Prop 187" at UC Riverside and allegedly gave the following speech: "and those rednecks that are out there making decisions for the betterment of their communities will think twice before they push forward anti-immigrant legislation against our community... so you can be as revolutionary as you want, you can be Chicano nationalist, you can believe in the concept of Aztlan, you can believe in the concept of multi-culturalism, we don't have to give our lives, we're not at that point." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIW-BZ8oLrk

Newspaper profiles

• Sacramento Bee, "On the rise," February 7, 2004
• Los Angeles Times, "Nuñez travels the world like a high-roller," October 5, 2007

External links

• Official California State Assembly profile
• Political History at Join California
• Interview with the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy

Succession Boxes