Gubernatorial Candidate Chiang Speaks at Democratic Club

I recently attended the Culver City Democratic Club meeting, to listen to John Chiang speak about his run for office of Governor of California.

His speech was very intriguing, and gave some insights into who he is and what his platform stands for. His parents immigrated to the United States from Taiwan. They came here for the American dream that led them to a middle class neighborhood in Chicago. John was one of the first Asian-Americans on the block. He graduated from the University of South Florida and went on to study law at Georgetown University.

He soon fell in love with politics.

John Chiang was elected as California's 33rd state treasurer in 2014. Mr. Chiang currently serves as California's state banker, overseeing trillions of dollars in transactions every year.

At the meeting Mr. Chiang talked about standing up and calling out bad behavior. He feels strongly about education. He wants to give kids a better future and chance to thrive. He also talked about being stronger together as a community and about providing affordable housing for those in need, and that one in five families live in poverty.

Here are some of Mr. Chiang's other accomplishments listed on his website (johnchiang.com): As State Controller, John was in charge and watched over our state's finances figuring out over $9.5 billion waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. He held the democrats accountable by withholding the pay of state legislators when they failed to pass a balanced state budget on time, as required by the state constitution. He took on Governor Schwarzenegger by refusing to put in an order to cut the salaries of state workers to the minimum wage in order to balance the state budget. He also cut-off corrupt Wall Street banks, like Wells Fargo, from their most profitable lines of business with the State of California to protect residents from their predatory practices. Furthermore, he Increased transparency in government by making pay and benefits of all state and local public employees available online.

Do some research before you vote! The other top candidates running for Governor are Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa. The California Governor election will be held on November 6, 2018.