Arthur Torres
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| Arthur Torres | |
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Chairman of the California Democratic Party
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1996 |
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| Preceded by | Bill Press |
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| Born | 1946 |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Children | Joaquin and Danielle |
| Residence | Los Angeles |
Arthur "Art" Torres is the current Chairman of the California Democratic Party, a position he has held since 1995, and is the first Latino in the California Democratic Party to have been nominated for statewide office when he won the Democratic primary for insurance commissioner in 1994.
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[edit] Background
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Earlier in his career, he served for 8 years as a state Assembly member (1974-1982), and for 12 as a State Senator (1982-1994). While serving in the state legislature, he served as chairman of the Insurance Committee, Assembly Health Committee, Senate Joint Committee on Science and Technology, and the Senate Committee on the Entertainment Industry. Torres co-authored legislation that created the Museum of Tolerance, in Los Angeles and the California Clean Water Act.
Two years before Torres was first elected to the State Assembly, he lost a previous attempt for the same office. After losing that race, he became the national legislative director for the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO.
On January 14, 1995, speaking at the University of California, Riverside to a group composed mainly of Latinos, Torres said that Proposition "187 was the last gasp of white America in California."
In March 2006, Torres had surgery to remove cancer. The operation was successful, but it prevented him from chairing the 2006 California State Democratic Convention in late April. Former San Francisco mayor Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. substituted for Torres as convention chair[1].
He attended on October 27, 2006 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.[2]
Torres was an opponent of California Proposition 187, the state ballot proposal that would have cut off government benefits to illegal aliens. The proposal passed by 59-41%, but was nullified when it was declared unconstitutional in a court challenge.
[edit] Education
Torres graduated from Montebello High School in 1964 where he was the ASB President his senior year; he was a classmate of actor Edward James Olmos. He holds a Bachelor's degree from UC Santa Cruz and a Juris Doctor from UC Davis School of Law.
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| Preceded by Unknown |
California State Assemblyman 56th District 1974-1982 |
Succeeded by Gloria Molina |
| Preceded by Unknown |
California State Senator 24th District 1982–1994 |
Succeeded by Unknown |
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